Christikon

Awaken Faith. Explore Creation. Live the Adventure.

A summer outdoor ministry (with winter office in Billings, Montana), Christikon is located up the Boulder River south of Big Timber, Montana. Programs are offered for youth (grades 5-12), including residential camps and backpacking camps in the surrounding Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness.

08/29/2026

Christikon is hosting this amazing event. Check it out!

The Transformed Listeners Initiative is a program from the ELCA churchwide office focusing on equipping lay and ordained preachers to be better listeners. Listening to themselves, listening to their community, and listening to God. Through listening practices, we can better proclaim and preach the Good News to a tired and weary world. Led by trained facilitators of the initiative.

Just $35 for all participants, lodging and meals included.

Monday October 12 4pm - Wednesday October 14 10am

For more information and to register, click over to www.montanasynod.org/nrit

08/28/2026

We are excited for Meghan, who has served on Christikon's seasonal staff for the past two years!

08/27/2026

There are Fall opportunities to spend time at Christikon in the Boulder River Valley! One of them is a new program: Songs of Christikon.

September 25-27 | Friday dinner through Sunday breakfast/worship

Building off a summer of music—Join John Hermanson and Maren Haynes Marchesini for a joyful weekend of singing songs of faith and songs of Christikon.

Singers of all kinds are welcome! The weekend will be devoted to the gift and power of singing together—whether hymns, beloved camp songs, or favorite Storyhill and John Hermanson originals. Together we will delight in bringing music to life in the beautiful mountain setting of Christikon.

Morning and evening prayer, shaped by John’s original music, will gently frame each day, along with shared meals and time in community.

Ages 12 and older are welcome.

$210 per person | $50 deposit due at registration

To register visit www.christikon.org and look at the Camps/Registration menu tab, and then New Programs 2026! Or click to: https://christikon.org/new-programs/

08/21/2026

The 2026 Season continues into the Fall! We have a few remaining opportunities to enjoy Christikon, including a Retreat in September for artists and creative seekers. The retreat runs September 18-24, and you can modify the days between to meet your needs. We will have a loose schedule for making, creating, meeting, mealtimes and worship. John Hermanson and Dr. Maren Hayes Marchesini will lead activities to build community and inspire ideas. Registration is open and you can request studio space if you'd like. Join us—camp is beautiful in the Fall!

You can find more info and register at christikon.org/new-programs (Scroll to "Contemplative Retreat 2")

08/18/2026

During the first week of August, we celebrated the 75th Anniversary of Christikon's establishment as a church camp! We had well over one hundred people who gathered at camp. It was a joyful celebration filled with fun activities such as Large Lodge Table Ping Pong, Cluestikon (Christikon-themed board game Clue), A spirited Ham & Cheese Bun Debate, GaGa Ball, Hacky-Sac, Perambulation and Canteen *Nights!* We also gathered as a community for worship: the traditional Compline; Our artist-in-residence John Hermanson's Isaiah Worship; and campfire featuring this season's theme of "Still We Sing."

We met to discuss the future of Christikon through a moderated roundtable and captured ideas and hopes for consideration by the Board and Staff. On the final afternoon of this four-day event, we marked the history and ministry of Christikon through a roving celebration around camp. Stopping at five "Trailmarkers," we were led in song, poetry, prayer and reflection by many different members of this community. At each stop we marked a specific aspect of ministry: sharing stories, memories, and names of those who have gone before us. On the final morning, our staff sent the community home with the Sending Worship they wrote in June to send campers with the reminder: "Wherever you go, Christ goes with you!"

Cheers to this beautiful place and the community it holds. May God continue to bless Christikon, the campers and guests who visit, the staff who hold it together, and everyone who has played a part in this amazing ministry!

08/13/2026

WHEW! We are just catching up from the last two full weeks. SO MANY incredible experiences and not a single minute to take a breath! What an amazing time it has been at Christikon—stay tuned for more photos and video soon recapping some really special events from this summer. Here is a photo of the staff on their final night together at camp before most of them headed down the Boulder. Our season continues into the coming weeks with several retreats and gatherings on the calendar!

07/30/2026

A week filled with song, movement, play and trust. We are so grateful to all participants and our leader, Paul Vasile, for this inspiring 2026 Continuing Education session. What joy!

07/18/2026

Our August 2-5 Reunion / 75th Anniversary Session is close to full! We will close registration tomorrow, Sunday July 19. Please register asap! We are also welcoming folks up for the day on August 4—a special ceremony will take place at 2pm to celebrate 75 years of Christikon ministry. If you have questions please reach out to the office or email [email protected]. A Reunion Schedule is now up on the website at www.christikon.org (Linked under Adult & Family Camps)

07/12/2026

We sent out four groups this morning! The hikers were highly motivated to stay ahead of the heat, and many awoke at 5am to get packing. These photos are of packs *READY TO GO* during breakfast at 7am—possibly a new Christikon record!
We have some room in a "Wayfarers" (a.k.a. base-camp trip with one main site all week and lots of day hikes) group next week if you know any middle schoolers who might like to join an adventure into the mountains! Call us at camp or email [email protected].

07/04/2026

Happy Independence Day! Many things to celebrate today, and at Christikon we celebrate two very specific things:
1. Our full staff returned from "Staff Backpack," our annual backcountry training trip. Led in two halves by Pastors Ken and Miriam, our staff completed the classic Lake Kathleen ➡ Rainbow Lakes ➡ Horseshoe Lake route, and this year made a successful bid to climb Lake Mountain! Everyone returned safely and we thank God for an amazing trip with good learning, wise leadership, and meaningful community time. We have twenty upcoming backcountry trips this season, and our staff are ready! (Reach out if your group wants to schedule, we probably could still find a way to add a group or two in the coming weeks.)
2. If you have not heard, our bell broke in mid-June. We were so excited to welcome campers to our adult session and went to ring the bell to announce their arrival—only to have it come crashing down on the first pull of the rope! Thankfully everyone was OK, but the iron yoke had split in two. We rigged a temporary system, hanging the bell by its rope (without a yoke) using a hammer to clang it (you can see evidence of that in the close-up photo 😅). Meanwhile, the yoke was brought down to Billings for a weld repair. Today we give thanks for Pastor Darren, who drove it back up yesterday and re-hung the bell! It is back in place against a bright July 4th blue sky, ready to announce the arrival of our 5-6th grade campers tomorrow!
Cheers everybody! 🔔🙏 www.christikon.org

Address

4661 Main Boulder Road
McLeod, MT
59052

Website

http://www.christikon.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Christikon posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Christikon:

Want your organization to be the top-listed Non Profit Organization in McLeod?