Bethany Beach Folk Arts Festival 1971

Just another word about Bethany Beach…

The summer before my senior year in high school, I went to the Bethany Beach Folk Arts Festival which was a camp sponsored by the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ. The theme was “Butterflies & Cocoons” and this was evident in the decorations and some of the activities we did. We were encouraged as individuals to come out of our shell to be who we are. What ‘being saved’ means to me is ‘being yourself’.

That first night we were led in a guided meditation. The lights were turned down, except for one on a fluorescent chicken-wire butterfly and we were all asked to curl up on the floor as if in a cocoon and when we were ready to come out. There was one rule – we couldn’t touch anyone else or otherwise help them out. At the end of the week, we would do this again and the trust would be there to help others out if they chose.

The week included big and small group activities, individual art projects, watching the sun come up on the beach, ‘coffeehouse’ open-mikes, and communion with ‘real’ bread & a bottle of wine (couldn’t do that these days), and celebrations of anyone who shared something of themselves – their “true selves”, the ‘Christ within’…