Students participate in recreation time at Student Life Camp in 2025. Lifeway camps will expand in 2026, adding four new locations and bringing new camps to previous locations. (Lifeway photo)
By Marissa Postell Sullivan
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — After adding eight camp locations in 2025, Lifeway camps are expanding once again in 2026, adding four new locations, in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas and South Carolina, as well as bringing new camps to previous locations.
The expansion of Lifeway camp locations reflects the sustained growth of these camps. In 2025, Lifeway camps saw their fifth consecutive year of growth, hosting over 120,000 campers representing over 4,200 churches. Among those who attended, Lifeway is aware of more than 5,100 salvations and 900 commitments to pursue a vocational ministry calling. Additionally, through MFuge camps, over 20,000 students served at 525 mission sites, contributing almost 200,000 hours of community service to local ministry partners.
“It’s been great to see the continued investment churches are making in the lives of kids and students. Camp is one of the many ways Lifeway can come alongside churches in their efforts to disciple young people,” said Brad Barnett, Lifeway’s director of camps ministry. “We have demand to host churches we haven’t been able to supply. Putting new teams on the road and opening up new locations helps us to host more churches.”
After a hiatus of about four decades, Barnett said FUGE Camps is glad to be returning to Arizona in 2026.
“We run great camps in New Mexico at Glorieta and California at Jenness Park but haven’t had a location in between those two to cut down the drive for churches from Arizona, Nevada and Utah,” Barnett said.
Lifeway is home to FUGE Camps (Centrifuge and MFuge), CentriKid, Student Life Camp and Student Life Kids Camp.
“For some churches, it works best for them to come to camp and have our staff lead the Bible studies and activities. Other groups love being able to keep the students and kids from their church together to help build community as they study God’s Word and participate in recreation or missions activities,” Barnett said. “Having four brands gives us a lot of variety in the solutions we offer churches.”
FUGE Camps
In 1979, Centrifuge opened its doors as a youth summer camp for sixth through 12th grade students. Centrifuge was created with the idea of sending teens at camp to different experiences while fixing them to an immovable center—a relationship with God.
Now known as FUGE Camps, this camp model combines small group Bible study with recreation, track times, worship and church group time. In 1995, Lifeway added MFuge, a camp that arranges missions experiences for students to participate in.
Today, FUGE Camps provide churches with the option of either a recreation-focused or missions-focused camp experience. These camps are designed for students to experience fun, discipleship and Bible study alongside their leaders and peers.
Created to allow church leaders to focus on building relationships with their students, FUGE Camps aims to take the load off leaders by taking care of core essentials like lodging, meals, programming and activities.
In addition to more than 30 returning locations, FUGE Camps will expand to two new locations in 2026—Centrifuge at Emmanuel Pines Camp in Prescott, Ariz., and Centrifuge and MFuge at Erskine College in Due West, S.C.
This summer, FUGE Camps expects to serve their 2 millionth camper.
FUGE Camps’ 2026 theme—The Good Shepherd—will be based on a study of Psalm 23. This summer, as students dive into Psalm 23 and the life of David, they will learn what it means for God to be their shepherd.
Student Life Camp
Since 1993, Student Life has served churches through inter-denominational Christian summer camps, conferences and resources. Striving to support student ministries with gospel-centered experiences that transform students into devoted followers of Jesus Christ, Student Life exists to help people know Christ through His Word.
Student Life Camp experiences are designed to inspire sixth through 12th grade students through engaging worship, sound biblical teaching and community-building in small group Bible studies. With an emphasis on discipleship that occurs within the context of the local church, Student Life Camp facilitates relationships between students and leaders from their local church that serve as a catalyst to discipleship that continues long after camp ends.
While Student Life Camp arranges programming, a camp pastor and worship, this camp model is designed to allow the local church to be the heart of week, with local church volunteers leading the Bible study time for their campers.
In 2026, Student Life Camp is expanding with locations at Samford University in Homewood, Ala., and University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark. Barnett said Student Life Camp has had a long history of hosting camps at Samford University and is pleased to return to this location for the first time in over a decade.
Although Lifeway has previously hosted CentriKid at Eagle Eyrie in Lynchburg, Va., this summer will be the first summer of Student Life Camp at this location.
This year’s Student Life Camp theme—Cultivate—is based on John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.”
Through this theme, Student Life campers will unpack three parables Jesus shared with His followers and explore how God’s Word takes root in their hearts and transforms them.
CentriKid
With a long and rich history of camping through its connection to FUGE Camps, CentriKid has offered overnight camps for church groups of second through sixth graders since 2001. Staff at these camps are trained and equipped to lead all programming and activities so church leaders can spend time with the kids in their groups. CentriKid is designed to offer kids an experience rooted in biblical teachings where they can deepen their relationships with both leaders and peers.
CentriKid offers either three-day or five-day camp experiences to help meet the needs of different churches.
After hosting FUGE Camps at Tusculum University in Tusculum, Tenn., for the first time in 2025, Lifeway is expanding CentriKid to Tusculum University this summer.
Each summer, CentriKid content falls under one of four quadrants.
“These are our cycle,” explained Alli Brown, CentriKid team lead. “As a kid goes through their time at CentriKid, they would hear about who God is, who we are (in response to who God is), what God does and what we do (in response to what God does).”
The 2026 CentriKid theme—The Storyteller: Author of all Things—is derived from the “who God is” quadrant and is the foundation of what campers will experience at CentriKid this summer. The theme is based on Romans 11:36: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.” At CentriKid 2026, campers will open the pages of God’s Word and discover how He is the author of salvation, truth, joy and the future.
Student Life Kids Camp
Student Life Kids Camp was born in 2000 and designed to support churches’ year-round ministry to third through sixth graders with a week away from distractions, allowing kids to focus on Jesus and strengthen their spiritual formation.
Relying more heavily on church leaders, this camp model emphasizes discipleship that occurs within the context of the local church. Student Life Kids Camp is intended to facilitate relationships between kids and their leaders that serve as a catalyst to discipleship that continues long after camp ends.
The Student Life Kids Camp 2026 theme—Word and Wonder: Discovering God’s Truth in Every Story—is based on Isaiah 40:8: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Through this theme, campers will look to Jesus’s parables to show them how to live with Him.
“We’re excited for another great year in 2026. The Lord has been kind to give us annual growth each year post-COVID in 2020. Our registration numbers are on pace for continued growth in 2026, and we love to see the passion this generation of students has to take their faith seriously,” Barnett said.
“We think camp is a wonderful environment in this digital age to get students away from screens and into real relationships where they can be in Christian community and learn about God.”
Marissa Sullivan is a writer for Lifeway.