Summer’s Comin’: The Busiest Season for Lutheran Camps 

Synopsis
While all the rest the country heads out for summer fun and vacation time, our Lutheran camps gear up for their busiest season. Summer is a time when lives change, memories are made and faith is formed at our Lutheran camps. National Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Association (NLOMA) and Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) are working together to make our camps better and more successful than ever before. 

Article
Tim Kurth, LCEF Vice President, Ministry Solutions, shares insights from his days as a summer camp counselor at Walcamp in Kingston, Ill.  

His bald head seemed to float across the field in the moonlight. We knew we were in serious trouble.  

Our cabin groups were on a “tarp out” under the stars in the Big Field and we’d gotten up to a grand pillow fight around “Fort Weather Station.” That was when Wes showed up. Drawn by all the noise, the Camp Director came out to get his counselors in line and get those rowdy kids back to their sleeping bags. The way Wes handled our little uprising taught me volumes about leadership and about ministry to those at camp and those in the surrounding neighborhoods. 

So much happens at summer camp when it seems everyone else is relaxing a bit and finding time for vacation. I’ve written in previous articles about how camps are the side door to ministry careers. This time let’s focus on all it takes to make summer camp happen.  

Like any business, camping has its rhythms. Recruitment of summer staff begins in the fall of the prior year. Setting the summer program also happens ten months before the first campers arrive. Most camps begin accepting summer camp registrations in January or February as families make their summer plans. At any given time, some camp somewhere is looking for full time program staff, anticipating the retirement of a long-time executive director, or in the process of finding a new executive director.  

Camps are incorporated nonprofit entities complete with a board of directors. Some camps are less than one hundred acres while others encompass hundreds of acres of property. There are liability issues, risks, budgets, legal compliance, in short, all the aspects of running a small business you can imagine.  

Strong boards and competent executive leadership give all our camps a chance at success. When boards and executive leadership struggle, NLOMA and LCEF offer our services to help. We are developing tools even now that will assist boards when searching for the right executive leader. We are building processes specifically tuned to the rhythms of camp.  

You see, Wes didn’t just show up to stop late night pillow fights. He managed staff, worked with his board, promoted camp all over the district and paved the way as the first full time Executive Camp Director in the history of Lutheran camping. He was a founding member of NLOMA and prepared numerous young men and women for their careers both in ministry and society. Together, NLOMA and LCEF continue to improve our camps and increase their impact for the sake of the Gospel. 

If your camp needs support and guidance, email LCEF. Lets explore your options together.