Who We Are
Southland Student Camps
is a not-for-profit camp ministry run by a group of youth-workers who devote lots of time and energy toward providing powerful and unique camp experiences for students in Florida and the surrounding states.
We are a joint-ministry of several churches and presbyteries that are part of the Presbyterian Church in America. As members of the PCA, we strive to be “Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed Faith and Obedient to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.”
Mission
To provide experiences and opportunities for students to connect with Christ and to connect with His Church.
Vision
Our hope is that students will be connected to Christ and own their faith, so they are ready to live out their faith after high school. Our hope is that students will be connected to one another so when they go off to college, they will already have friends through Southland that they can be roommates with, check out RUF together, and get plugged into a local church where God has taken them. In a time where many students are walking away from the faith and the church after high school, our hope is that Southland will be able to significantly assist parents and churches produce students who not only continue in the faith, but are the future leaders of the next generation of God’s Church.
VALUES
We believe in the power of the Gospel, relationships, and movement.
GOSPEL
The gospel is spiritual power for change. We will continually seek to share the good news of Jesus to both religious and irreligious people. The goal of Southland is to point students to Christ, to increase people’s faith in the gospel, and to equip students to know that the Gospel is the power to save and also is the power to grow our faith.
RELATIONSHIPS
The gospel not only reconciles us back to God, but it also reconciles us to one another. We will strive to be people who welcome all students, no matter what their background is and what their story is. We will meet students where they are at and not where we expect them to be. We will provide opportunities for students to connect and build friendships with other students who they may one day go to college with, live in the same city, or go to the same church.
MOVEMENT
The gospel continually breaks out. Southland is not enough. One church is not enough. We will pray and work for a movement of churches and students that renew our cities across Florida by meeting both spiritual and physical needs. We will measure success not by the number of students who attend our events, but by the students we encourage and build to be the light in an ever-darkening world, the joy in an increasingly apathetic culture, and to be the hope in a helpless world.
What We Believe
We believe the Bible is the written Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God’s truth and is infallible and authoritative in all matters of faith and practice.
We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one God, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We believe that all are sinners and totally unable to save themselves from God’s displeasure, except by His mercy.
We believe that salvation is by God alone as He sovereignly chooses those He will save.
We believe His choice is based on His grace, not on any human individual merit, or foreseen faith.
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who through His perfect life and sacrificial death atoned for the sins of all who will trust in Him, alone, for salvation.
We believe that God is gracious and faithful to His people not simply as individuals but as families in successive generations according to His Covenant promises.
We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells God’s people and gives them the strength and wisdom to trust Christ and follow Him.
We believe that Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to judge all mankind and to receive His people to Himself.
We believe that all aspects of our lives are to be lived to the glory of God under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
History
Southland began in 1959 in South Florida by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). They expanded to including south and central Florida churches, and invited the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod (RPCES) to join in. Later they invited the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) to join and support Southland. Southland is led by a group of pastors, youth leaders and volunteers throughout the state. In the late 1990’s, Southland expanded its ministry to include winter retreats. Southland’s High School Camp has been meeting at Whitewater Express Camp in the mountains of Tennessee. This location offers our high school students a unique environment that is very different from Florida. Middle School Camp is still at Camp Kulaqua where Southland has been going for decades. It is an amazing camp facility with a lot of options for students and groups. Southland is now over 60 years old and we are so thankful for the many ways God has used Southland to connect students to Christ and His Church! We pray it has been a benefit and an encouragement to your students and ministry. We hope you highly consider joining us as we continue to serve and love students for Jesus Christ and His Kingdom!