S4 E5: Scary Stuff from Camp
What's your favorite scary movie? This week, we're embracing the spooky season with our #QuickQampQuestion. Post yours in the comments on our website, Facebook, or Instagram! On this episode, we've got 3 "scary" things to share about traditions we prioritize and the...
Treat Camp Conference & Gathering Season Like a Wedding
What? A Wedding?Hear me out. We're approaching camp conference and gathering season, and I think we can maximize our experience at these events if we give ourselves a dose of intentionality inspired by an old wedding adage. Many camp pros absolutely love this season...
S4 E4: Camper Recruitment & Retention with Special Guest Travis Allison
"The most effective way to get campers this summer is to get last summer's campers to come back." On this episode, Travis Allison from Go Camp Pro joins us to talk through what's actually effective in recruiting and retaining campers and their families. Built from a...
Review: The Camper Recruitment & Retention Playbook
Congratulations, you're on the marketing teamIt's been a mantra of sorts for the last decade or so when I talk with church or camp leaders about the realities of communications, marketing, media, hospitality, etc. While I'm going to guess very few of you actually have...
S4 E3: Promising Strategies for Connecting Camp, Church, & Home
A meaningful camp experience can be a powerful catalyst for family faith formation. That truth is at the heart of the Rhythms of Faith Project, the Lilly Endowment, Inc. funded project that Wheaton College/HoneyRock and Sacred Playgrounds are partnering on. We've...
Parent Perspectives: Summer 2024
Parents love what camp does.The campers have gone home, the summer staff has departed, and camp staff are reviewing assessments. One major constituency to ask for feedback is your camper parents and guardians. This summer, Sacred Playgrounds helped 22 camping...
S4 E2: 3 Major Factors that Affect Camper Outcomes
Ministry is about impact. It's what we hope for, plan for, program for, recruit for, market for, evaluate for, and pray for. It's maybe the one thing that aligns the entire outdoor ministry industry. We may not even define impact in the same way (fyi, we don't!). Yet,...
3 Post-Summer Things You Might Not Be Thinking About
Dance Summer ModeOne of the things baked into the realities of outdoor ministry that many of us appreciate and thrive in is seasonality. For everything there is a season, and then another one, and then another one. It's a beautiful cycle, and we usually love it. It...
S4 E1: Season 4 Kickoff 6 Post-Summer Pulse Check Results
Season 4 of the Sacred Playgrounds Podcast is here! We're back behind the mic and behind the research for another season of camp-centric content focused on leaders like you. On this episode, we'll share a quick what-to-expect from this season, and then dive into what...
A Glimpse of the Kingdom
Another summer is in the books! I continue to marvel at the amazing ministry happening at Christian camps across the country. It is a true privilege to walk alongside camp professionals in their work of proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has come near. I often lament...
S3 E1: Season 3 Finale
finale {n.} the last and often climactic event or item in a sequence It's the last episode of season 3 of the Sacred Playgrounds Podcast! Whether it's your first time or you've been along for the ride since our first episode, thanks for listening! It's an honor, and a...
Staff Retention: 6 Rhyme-filled Tips to Keep Them All Summer & Get Them Back Next Year
You've done so much work these past few months to get to this point. You've spent hours on the road and on the phone and behind a screen tirelessly finding pathways to those that will share the best news ever at your camp this summer. You've initiated background...