Our History

Origins

The term Chinese Catholic Living Camp (CCLC) was first used by the Eastern Canada Chinese Catholic Community for its annual conference. Started in 1977, their goal was to gather young Chinese Catholics for an opportunity for fellowship and spiritual growth. The idea of a “Living Camp” is to distinguish itself from a retreat, emphasizing its livelier nature and interactive activities during the conference now known to be the Eastern Canada Chinese Catholic Living Camp (ECCCLC).

The idea of a “Living Camp” reached Western Canada in the late 1990s, and in 1997, following the same mission and objective as ECCCLC, the first Western Canada Chinese Catholic Living Camp (WCCCLC) was held. Fr. Denis Kong, S.D.B. served as the Spiritual Director and speaker of the camp, and brought this idea to the Bay Area in California after witnessing the living camps in Canada.
 

BACCLC (1998 - 2007)

In 1998, the first Bay Area Chinese Catholic Living Camp (BACCLC) was held. Since the young adults at the time consisted of a vast number of immigrants and international students from Hong Kong and Macau, BACCLC targeted Chinese Catholic young adults who spoke and understood Cantonese fluently, with all the activities and talks conducted in Cantonese. The primary objective of the camp was to provide a comfortable and nourishing environment for the Cantonese Catholics to enrich in their faith and live out a Chinese Christian life in the United States.

The profiles of the BACCLC participants gradually changed and diversified as the living camp attracted more campers. Starting in 2001, Mandarin-speaking and American-born Chinese young adults joined BACCLC even though most camp activities were conducted in Cantonese. In 2003, BACCLC was conducted in both English and Cantonese. By 2004, BACCLC had fully become an English-speaking living camp, with the exception of small group sharing. 
 

CACCLC (2008 - Present)

In 2007, after the 10th year of BACCLC and thorough discussions amongst the executive committees, BACCLC expanded into a state-wide living camp called California Chinese Catholic Living Camp (CACCLC). CACCLC draws about 100 attendees annually, with roughly equal representation from Northern and Southern California. The demographics have evolved over time to mainly second generation Asian Americans who share similar cultural backgrounds and primarily speak English.

In February 2021, we incorporated CACCLC as a California nonprofit religious corporation under the name “The Living Camp”. With The Living Camp as the umbrella organization, we can expand outside of CACCLC’s annual camp, and serve the Asian American Catholic community in other ways.

Our sister camps

Eastern Canada Chinese Catholic Living Camp (ECCCLC)

Western Canada Chinese Catholic Living Camp (WCCCLC)

CACCLC, ECCCLC, and WCCCLC all happen over Labor Day Weekend. We have a tradition of having a conference call during our camps to say hello to one another and share our camper stats! If you are based in Canada, we encourage you to check out the camp closest to you.