The 2025 Summer Camp Season in Jackson, California

Each summer, under the radiant skies of Jackson, California, the serene grounds of Saint Sava Mission become a living icon of joy, fellowship, and faith. With the blessing and paternal care of Bishop Maxim, the 2025 Saint Sava Camp season welcomed hundreds of children and teens from Orthodox parishes near and far, uniting them in a sacred rhythm of prayer, song, laughter, and spiritual growth.

Before the bells of each week chimed their welcome, a devoted team of lay directors and counselors—many of them once campers themselves—gathered in anticipation, preparing a vibrant, Christ-centered program. Their mission was singular and heartfelt: to create a memorable and transformative camp experience rooted in the beauty of Orthodox life.

Within this nurturing environment, faith was not merely taught but lived. Campers experienced Orthodoxy not as a set of rules or ideas, but as a theological playground—a living encounter with God through morning prayers, lively lessons, joyful singing, spirited games, and the quiet wonder of evening reflections. The sacred and the simple intertwined, as children learned to see the hand of God in every moment.

Bishop Maxim offered his fatherly warmth, guidance, and assurance that all things were in good order, reminding us of Christ’s and Church’s loving nearness. Some campers journeyed from afar, accompanied by their parish priests and devoted protinicas, whose presence brought both spiritual and maternal grace to the camp family.

The seamless harmony of the season would not have been possible without the tireless service of so many:

• Saint Sava Mission Managers Alexandra Kordić and Danica Pavlov, and Saint Sava Camp Administrator Protinica Radmila Bojović, whose dedication inspired all,

• Camp Directors: Beau Gillman and Jeff Votaw (with Mirjana Milanko, Ivana and Katarina Kentera as their Assistants), Delaney Brower, Aleksandra Kordić (with Goran Mitraković as her Assistant), and Steven Spilker and Jonnie Savich (with Alexis Branković and Nikola Zlatić as their Assistants), whose vision and energy lit each day,

• Priests: Djurica Gordić, Radovan Petrović, Milan Unković, Bratislav Kršić, Vidoslav Vujasin, Norman Kosanovich, Panayiotis Tekosis, and the local Jackson

clergy, discussing with our children and youth the depths and beauties of our faith as articulated in the Nicene Creed, in honor of its 1,700 years (325–2025),

• Popadija Biljana Bojović, who taught music all four weeks of the Camp, (in week 2 together with Protinica Ljiljana Bunjević, who for decades has exemplified, together with her late husband Prota Dušan, an outmost devotion to the Camp),

• And Lazar “Larry” Angier, who once again captured the soul of each session through his timeless group photographs.

Behind the scenes, and often unsung, stood the faithful hands and hearts of our Diocesan and Foundation members, priests, volunteers, cooks, lifeguards, teachers, nurses, and countless helpers—each one weaving a thread into the bright tapestry of the 2025 Camp season.

To all who served, who gave, who came and who prayed: may Saint Sava, our heavenly patron, and Saint Sebastian of Jackson, our local intercessor, remember your names before the throne of God. And may this generation, with hearts made pure by love, carry the flame of faith into the days ahead.