Sacred Playgrounds Podcast

A question from a camp leader: "How are faith-based camps navigating changes to their denominations and churches as they decline in health and vitality? What novel ways have camps/conference centers found to help bolster those congregations, or train/equip them for more vital ministry?"

We had a number of questions like this from camp leaders after the summer of 2026. The hard, all-too-common truth is that camp leaders and church leaders, on the whole, may be moving apart rather than closer together in terms of trust and reliance on each other to thrive.

On this episode, we're sharing three themes that form the beginnings of a fresh blueprint for connecting camp and congregations for the sake of vital ministry, reciprocal impact, and mission alignment.

Plus, listen for our new segment, The S'more You Know Camp Trivia Challenge, and a #StatOfTheWeek on how many campers show greater interest in attending church after camp.

Quick Links:
Connecting Camp & Church: Pastor Brad Peterson
Rhythms of Faith
#StatOfTheWeek

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What if camp is life as it should be? What if camps are places and spaces where the veil is thin and the inbreaking of the kingdom of God feels close? What if the way we live and breathe and have our being at camp is exactly who we were made to be as people of God, community of Christ, and the whole of creation?

On this episode, we'll begin to break open some of these theological and philosophical ideas that give foundation and relevance to outdoor ministries. We'll talk about 4.5 of many critical observations of our culture and communities today and consider where camp excels in offering an antidote to what's broken and breaking.

We've got a #statoftheweek that speaks to the emotional reality of our youth, a #QuickQampQuestion that begins to call us to our, "What now?", and the debut of a new occasional podcast segment called More or Less.

Book Mentions:
A Common Book of Camping by Jerry Manlove
Theology of Hope by Jürgen Moltmann
Surprised by Hope by N. T. Wright
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
The Nature Fix by Florence Williams
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
Grit by Angela Duckworth
Together by Vivek H. Murthy

#StatOfTheWeek

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Season 6 is here! Welcome to the playground, whether this is your first time or you've been around for years. We're so excited to get back behind the mic for a season of camp-y conversations, stats and stories, and difference-making insights.

On this episode, we'll kick off season 6 with gusto as we share some of what you can expect from this podcast in the months ahead, including new pop-up segments like Camp Nerd Trivia, More or Less, Got Skills, and Trending, Bending, or Ending.

We'll also share the findings from our 3rd annual Post-Summer Pulse Check survey. Some things have held steady, and some shifts are coming into focus. Listen in as we unpack those insights, and download the accompanying graphics - our #StatOfTheWeek as well as a full infographic of the Pulse Check Insights.

Quick Links:
Pulse Check Infographic
#StatOfTheWeek
Camp Research Hub

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Summer is here! Camp leaders, your staff have arrived, or are arriving soon. This episode is designed specifically for them. We're speaking right to those emerging adult summer staff about to make ministry happen at camp this summer.

On this episode, we'll take a minute to share some of what we know about summer camp staff, and contextualize it for this summer's staff teams. They'll hear some words of encouragement, motivation, connection, and, some critical information about the fundamental things that make camp thrive paired with some practical ways for summer staff to embed these fundamentals into life at camp this summer.

Leadership staff, here are few ideas for how to use this episode as a training and equipping asset for your summer staff:

1. Listen to or watch the episode as a full team in staff training, and discuss in small groups or a whole large group
2. Distribute to staff members and have them listen, jot notes, and discuss learnings and applications over a meal or in a training session.
3. If your staff haven't arrived yet, send to them as a pre-training listen, and create time to discuss during training after they arrive.
4. Whatever the format, context matters, so encourage them to write down the practical action steps given with context to your particular camp's setting and experience and to share those ideas with the staff team.

Mostly, summer staff members, on behalf of all the campers and families you are about to serve, we hope and pray that you hear confident encouragement and deep gratitude for what you've said yes to. Thank you.

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It's the season 5 finale! Summer is almost here, and for some, it feel like it's time to PANIC!

We get it, you get it, your fellow leaders get it. The sprint up to staff arrival and camper arrival can get overwhelming. On this episode, we'll talk through seven things you, your staff, or your colleagues may be starting to feel panic about, and how to find some focus amidst the "too much."

In our #QuickQampQuestion, we'll also share the single most-impactful thing executive/director-level leaders can do right now for your camp.

Thanks for an incredible season, friends. What an honor to walk with you through this season of ministry!

Quick Links: Camp Enrollment Cliff Episode, Summer Fundraising Tips, Summer Staff Support Systems, #StatOfTheWeek

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Character.

This word is, as our guests on this episode will say, a "big tent" concept. As the American Camp Association has been exploring, building, and developing the Character at Camp Initiative and the Character at Camp Grant Program, the word character has had a galvanizing, unifying effect. We can be aligned in seeking to create experiences that develop something deeper beyond the outdoor-driven fun, even as we differ in method, model, and even mission.

On this episode, we're joined by two members of the team at ACA that strategizes and implements Character at Camp. Brian Massey serves as Director of Innovation for ACA, and Dave Bollen serves as a Character at Camp Grant Success Manager.

These dynamic leaders will share where the initiative is now, where it's going, and they'll peel back the curtain a bit on what it takes to successfully be a part of this mission as Character at Camp moves forward, including some keys to submitting a compelling grant application.

Quick Links: Character at Camp Initiative, Character at Camp Grant Program, Wave 2 Application Information, Upcoming Webinars, Contact the Team, ACA Now Newsletter

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They're coming. And then, they're staying, and working, and playing, and praying, and connecting, and serving, and living this moment of their lives together at camp.

Your staff, when fully equipped throughout the summer with three things they need to thrive, will be a difference-making, camper-retaining, relationship-forging, joy-slinging force at your camp. This is true for "classic" summer youth camps with young adult staff and remains true for hosts and hospitality teams at camps or retreat and conference centers.

We're borrowing from educators in sharing 10 things in 5 categories: a person, place, thing, idea, and action. You'll find each of these 10 concepts actionable now, and able to get plugged in and/or contextualized for your community still before this summer.

Our #StatOfTheWeek reminds us how deeply summer staff tasks must be connected to your mission, and they should know it.

Quick Links: Summer Staff Findings, Holy Ground 2026, Downloadable Staff Resources, #StatOfTheWeek Graphic

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This episode features good friends of ours, Jess and Jessica, who lead vibrant associations of camps, conference centers, retreat centers, and farms. We'll hear where, how, and why generating insights and then using them well is becoming increasingly impactful and consistently critical to decisions, actions, and strategy at each layer of outdoor ministries.

Jess Elfring-Roberts serves as the Executive Director of Episcopal Camps & Conference Centers and Jessica Gamache serves as the Executive Director of United Methodist Camp & Retreat Ministries. These bright voices bring different perspectives, experiences, skill sets, and organization models, and yet deeply aligned missions.

As a camp leader, you are living and working in the "both/and" often, with a focus on ensuring your individual ministry is thriving, while also knowing you're part of something bigger, spanning geography, theology, and praxis.

Quick Links

ECCC

UMCRM

Camp Research Hub (project findings)

#StatOfTheWeek

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We're in an action phase at camp, or at least we hope they are in an action phase. That "they" is camper parents.

On this episode, we're laying out five strategies backed by recent insights that can help lead parents to the critical actions we want, and need, them to take right now. We want to lead them to register, recruit, and retain. These key actions, and leading as many parents as possible to take them confidently and decisively, can be catalyzed by our intentional intervention and effective engagement.

Each strategy is then paired with an attainable action that we can take right now that will help lead these parents to action. Grab your favorite notepad or task manager and get ready to contextualize your next steps.

Plus, our #StatOfTheWeek highlights where we were post-camp 2026 with parent likelihood to recommend camp, and helps us wonder what we're doing to equip and empower those enthusiasts to tell our story.

Quick Links

Camper Recruitment & Retention Playbook - Travis Allison

Immersive 1st & Day Camp Community - Dan Weir

Cho-Yeh Cookies

Tic Tac Toe Marketing for Camps

#StatOfTheWeek

Why Camp? Kit

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On this episode, we're around a table with five incredible camp leaders bringing different perspectives from their role, to geography, to camp journey, to denomination, and more. We're sharing this table while gathered at Camp Wapo in Amery, Wisconsin for CampWell X Sacred Playgrounds - a training event around well-being at camp in partnership with our friends at the Alliance for Camp Health.

We know summer staff are the heart of many of our ministries. We also know that camp builds incredible skills and consequential character. The question is, how? What does it really look like, and how do camp ministry practitioners create space and facilitate an experience that does this?

Jared guides a conversation around the mic with Jess Gulseth from Red Willow Ministries, Jesse Klosterboer from Sugar Creek Bible Camp, Hazel Banisky from Camp Wapo, Aidan Tack from Covenant Point Bible Camp, and Henri Santelman from Luther Crest, uncovering some of the on-the-ground, happening now things that actually build the summer staff experience in a way that impacts these young adults, for life.

Our #StatOfTheWeek shares what can happen when a summer camp staff experience creates space for God to call people to a life of professional ministry.

Quick Links

Camp Builds

CampWell x Sacred Playgrounds

#StatOfTheWeek

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