Regular campers, Fr. Joseph Juknialis, left to right, Fr. John Schreiter, Bishop Richard J. Sklba and Fr. Michael Newman, pose during a camping trip to the Rocky Mountains. The foursome have made yearly tent camping trips for more than 30 years. (Submitted photo courtesy Fr. Michael Newman)Leave your miter at home, we’re going camping.

When Bishop Sklba was ordained a bishop, Fr. John Schreiter promised to take him camping once a year, making him sleep on the ground to keep him humble. Decades later, he, Fr. Michael Newman, and Fr. Joe Juknialis have kept their promise and the bishop has remained unassuming.

Imagine the sun rising over the Missouri River on a summer morning.

A light breeze ruffles the trees, the loudest sound you’ve heard since you startled the two wild turkeys on the trail the night before.

Most likely, you have the land to yourself. But even if campers filled the acreage, you wouldn’t see or hear them from where you are now, nestled into a remote mosquito-infested niche of land carved off the banks of the river.

This isn’t car camping and this isn’t a night in a cozy RV.

This is real, primitive, bare bones camping, and these four men find it an enjoyable experience.

Camping carries with it a tradition of escaping from civilization and experiencing nature armed with the barest essentials.

But in recent years, camping has become less and less primitive. On prime camping weekends, state parks are filled with recreational vehicles that sport multiple luxuries. Some tents are sold with built-in power outlets so campers don’t have to spend even a few days without a fan or laptop computer.

Not so with these guys. They bring a tent, sleeping bags, cooking utensils and that’s about it. On top of that, all three proudly boast that they are a bit rough on the bishop.

“For the first few years Dick really did sleep on the ground, but then we relented and gave him a thin sleeping pad, and I credit my promise to him for keeping him humble all these years,” laughed Fr. Schreiter, pastor of St. John Neumann Parish, Waukesha. “To his credit, he has been a willing recipient of this promise and gone camping with us every summer.”

Rather than receiving special treatment due to his position as a member of the church hierarchy, they treat Bishop Sklba – well, worse. ...

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