Dear Ministry Leader,
What could your camp or congregation do if it were truly well-informed by actionable research and well-equipped by quality training? Let's talk about how we can help
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.
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...
Ministers who Value Camp, Group 1: Enthusiasts
Most congregational ministers recognize the value of outdoor ministries. When we probe a little deeper, we reveal three categories of pastoral connection to camp. We uncovered these categories in a large survey of pastors and deacons in the Evangelical Lutheran Church...
Welcome to Sacred Playgrounds
Jake Sorenson spent his early career in congregational youth ministry and camping ministry. A lack of research on Christian camping and a general disdain for camp among some of his ministry collegues led him to dive deeply into research. He earned a PhD in practical theology from Luther Seminary and an Mdiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. His research and insights into ministry spaces that serve as sacred playgrounds, such as camps and campus ministry centers, have appeared in numerous ministry publications and academic journals. He has participated in and directed multiple research projects and is a contributing author to the book Cultivating Teen Faith.
Ministry Partners and Current Projects
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.
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.