by Anna Sorenson | Dec 13, 2022 | Camp Research, Parenting
Who is your primary client? You might say the campers who attend camp during the summer. But who actually registers those campers, pays their registration fees, and often takes time off work to bring them to camp? Yup – the campers’ parents. The parents are the...
by Jared Rendell | Nov 8, 2022 | Camp Research, Parenting, Podcast
Say it louder for the folks in the back! For outdoor ministries focused mostly on kids and families – parents are your primary constituents. Camp is one of the spaces where the final decision makers are not necessarily the ones having the experience, yet their...
by Jake Sorenson | Mar 16, 2022 | Camp and Church Leadership, Camp Research, Camp Staff
This summer, thousands of young adults will serve at Christian camps across the United States and around the world. Serving on summer camp staff will be one of the most rewarding and highly impactful experiences of their lives. They will walk away from the experience...
by Jake Sorenson | Apr 13, 2021 | Camp and Church Leadership, Camp Research
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...
by Jake Sorenson | Mar 30, 2021 | Camp and Church Leadership, Camp Research
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...
by Jake Sorenson | Mar 23, 2021 | Camp and Church Leadership, Camp Research
The Christian camp experience depends on congregational support and recognition. If church leaders are skeptical of camp’s benefits or ministry methods, they will be less supportive. This has two critical impacts. First, it means fewer people experience camp, since...
