by Sacred Playgrounds | 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 Sacred Playgrounds | Feb 15, 2022 | Camp and Church Leadership, Camp to Congregation, Rethinking Church
There are four key ministry spaces that are particularly important for faith formation and call to ministry. I focus a lot of my writing on camping ministries. I do this because camping ministry has gotten surprisingly little scholarly attention over the years. This...
by Sacred Playgrounds | May 11, 2021 | Camp and Church Leadership
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...
by Sacred Playgrounds | 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 Sacred Playgrounds | Apr 6, 2021 | Camp and Church Leadership
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...
