Dear Ministry Leader,
You live and work at a sacred playground. Now, you have access to research and resources to maximize your ministry's impact. SHOW ME HOWWelcome to the premier source of research for Christian camp and related ministries.
How could your camp or congregation benefit from actionable research and quality training? Let’s find out.
CURRENTLY RESEARCHING
The Camp and Church Leadership Project seeks to cultivate church leadership among young adults who have been engaged in camping ministries. This project has a special focus on examining the key characteristics and impacts of serving on summer camp staff. It centers on camps and congregations in the ELCA.
Since 2015, the Effective Camp Project has been gathering data on the key characteristics and impacts of the Christian summer camp experience. Through 2020, we have gathered data from more than 7,000 campers and more than 2,000 parents at dozens of camps across the USA and in Canada.
The Camp2Congregation Project, funded by the Lilly Endowment, is examining the impacts of Christian Traveling Day Camp programs on congregations, families, and young leaders in the church. The project gathered data from campers, parents, camp staff, and pastors throughout 2019.
THE LATEST RESEARCH & TRAINING UPDATES
Update Your Evaluations!
With summer fast approaching, now is the time to update your camper and parent evaluations. Some of us have gone years without updating them. Especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, now is the time to freshen them up. This easy-to-use resource will walk you through the basic steps of building an end-of-week camper evaluation and a post-camp parent survey. Need more help? Contact Jake for a personalized walk-through that will help develop evaluation tools perfect for your context.
Summer Camp Staff Experiences and Call to Ministry
Call stories are unique and complex. When I was a camp program director, it was a privilege to accompany people on their faith journeys. I heard call stories from visiting pastors, retreat participants, campers, and summer staff members. I saw many camp staff called...
Ministers who Undervalue Camp, Group 3: Skeptics
Not all pastors value camp. Some are benignly dismissive, while others are almost hostile. We collectively call this group the camp skeptics. In our recent survey of ELCA pastors and deacons, just under one in five (18%) were categorized as skeptics. These folks do...
Ministers who Tolerate Camp, Group 2: Accommodators
Most congregational leaders value camping ministries. In the previous post, we took a closer look at the most fervent supporters, which we call camp enthusiasts. Those are the folks that bring congregation members to camps and retreats, give of their time and...
Let's start with a conversation.
Send me an email to schedule a 30 minute introduction conversation. I’d love to hear about where your ministry could go when informed by actionable, localized research and well-designed, well-facilitated training experiences.