by Jake Sorenson | Sep 14, 2023 | Outdoors and Wilderness, Theology and Culture
I looked out through the tree branches and stifled a laugh building deep in my belly. It was late October in Wisconsin, and I was fifteen feet up in a tree stand. The first snow of the season was slowly accumulating on the leaf-covered ground. The sight was...
by Jared Rendell | Oct 18, 2022 | Outdoors and Wilderness, Podcast
We hear it and see it from parents, youth, and society – plugged in to some kind of technology is our near-constant state of being. There are precious few places and it takes more intentionality than ever to get ourselves outside – yet it matters as much...
by Jake Sorenson | Mar 1, 2019 | Camp Research, Outdoors and Wilderness
We now have a data set from more than 5,000 summer campers at 30 different camps over 3 summers. We have been very intentional about casting a broad vision for what summer camp is, based on what the Effective Camp Project has identified as 5 fundamental...
by Jake Sorenson | Apr 24, 2018 | Camp Research, Outdoors and Wilderness
The research is screaming at us from nearly every academic field. We nod approvingly, feeling that we are wiser. And then we go on doing exactly the same thing. We sit at our desks in front of computer screens. We demand more automation in our homes and our modes of...
by Jake Sorenson | Mar 21, 2018 | Camp Research, Outdoors and Wilderness
This might be the most recognizable characteristic of camp. Think of the most iconic mental pictures of camping: a tent, a campfire, a grove of trees, a body of water. The philosophy of summer camp, from its beginnings in the late 19th century, has centered on...
by Dr. Jake Sorenson | Apr 13, 2015 | Camp Research, Outdoors and Wilderness
The Outdoor Ministry Research Project questionnaire was distributed last fall, and more than 300 camps responded. One section of the questionnaire asked camp directors to assess their camp’s overall philosophy with respect to 13 statements on a scale of 1 (strongly...
