Sacred Playgrounds Podcast

There's a shift coming, and it affects camp in significant ways. On this episode, we'll talk about why, how, and when it's coming, and leave you with some ideas to get ahead of it.

When you lay out the story thread of camp over the story of demographic shifts through our past and present, you can wonder with wisdom about what's next. As we follow things like rate of live births, replacement data, diversity, as well as the impact of milestones like the late '90's and early 2000s participation swell, the 2007 peak birth rate, the 2016 election, the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent decline in birth rates, and more, we can then extrapolate the potential camper numbers that follow.

We'll unpack the conversation and learning that Jake had with respected demographer, Ken Gronbach, who had deep insights based on waves of historical demographic changes and the impact of recent shifts for what's ahead for industries like camp. Jake then got the chance to join our friends from GoCampPro on the CampHacker Podcast to begin this conversation with fellow camp leaders. Today, we dive even deeper and bring some context to this reality for Christian camps in particular.

Here's the truth - we have to get ahead of this. We'll leave you with seven things we can begin to do in our ministries to help us thrive in the midst of this opportunity. Buckle up.

Our #StatOfTheWeek sets the table for our conversation with the stats on demographic differences in Christian affiliation. Our #QuickQampQuestion is flipped this week, and at our site you can see the list of camp-leader-crowd-sourced ideas for podcast to listen to, books to read, professionals to follow, and other communities to connect with.

Quick Links

CampHacker Podcast Enrollment Cliff Episode

Demographer Ken Gronbach

Pew Religious Landscape Study

#StatOfTheWeek

Camp Crowdsourced Leader Resources

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Connect with our team. Support the podcast. Ask about advertising opportunities. Find us on Facebook & Instagram.

We've learned so much about summer camp staff over the past few years. With insights from more than 2000 summer staff members at more than 120 camps in the last 5 years, plus additional data from projects like the ACA Youth Impact Study and more, we know quite a bit about the emerging adults who make your summer ministry work. And here's the truth.

The more you know about who they are, where they come from, the experiences they carry with them, and what they care about, the better you can create an impactful experience for them and the campers they serve.

On this episode, we'll lay out 5 stages of the summer staff journey. We'll focus on the front end of the journey, the first 3 stages, and the insights that can impact how we recruit, prepare, and train. We'll share updated data on motivations for joining staff, internship-worthy skill and character building, and staff mental, emotional, and social health. We'll explore four things that can and should happen during the staff preparation phase. Then, we'll touch on what summer staff say about training and how prepared they felt.

The insights help us positively inform and influence these critical parts of the staff journey for the heart of your ministry.

Quick Links

CCLP · ECLP · UMCRMSIS

Camp Builds Episode

MESH+ Episode

Pre-Camp Prep Episode

Staff Training Checklist

#StatOfTheWeek Download

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Connect with our team. Support the podcast. Ask about advertising opportunities. Find us on Facebook & Instagram.

On this episode, we welcome Jake back from his journey to Egypt, where we travelled with other camp and church leaders on a pilgrimage that lead them to and through places and spaces with deep Biblical, historical, and spiritual significance. We'll hear stories from Mt. Sinai, the Nile River, and more. As Jake weaves key parts of his experience, we'll uncover where pilgrimage and camp intersect, and where scripture stories come alive.

Pilgrimage takes us from where we are, to a set-apart space with significance, and returns us often changed. It is a journey, more for the sake of journey than destination. Camp can often be like this for participants, and this holy concept of pilgrimage can be a good lens for us to look through as leaders.

Our #StatOfTheWeek reminds us of how camp leaders were feeling at the end of last summer and how to set yourself up for post-camp energy. Then, our #QuickQampQuestion asks about camp's potential power to bridge the divide in our country - with real-time reactions to what's happening around the US right now.

Quick Links:

Elias Tours

CampWell x Sacred Playgrounds Training for Christian Camp Leaders

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Connect with our team. Support the podcast. Ask about advertising opportunities. Find us on Facebook & Instagram.

Happy New Year, camp and camp-connected friends! It's 2026, and we're kicking off the new year with our annual installment of the New Year's resolutions for camp.

On this episode, we'll share a fresh set of hopes and dreams for camp based on the latest research data and conversations with camp leaders. We'll talk through these 5 resolutions, and would love to hear your personal or ministry resolutions too! Here are a few curious key words for what we're lifting up in 2026:

1. Net Positive
2. Connect + Reconnect
3. Get Dirty
4. Self-Assessment
5. Parent Partners

In case you missed it, we wrote up a "how did we do" article recapping the 2025 resolutions. You're invited to read that article or listen back to that episode from last season. It's going to be a great year for outdoor ministry!

#statoftheweek Download

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Connect with our team. Support the podcast. Ask about advertising opportunities. Find us on Facebook & Instagram.

As we release this episode, it's almost Christmas 2025! We're wishing you a very Merry Christmas from our sacred playground to yours. We're ever-grateful to share this space with you.

On this (shorter) episode, we're taking a few moments to answer a handful of curious questions from camp leaders. We'll quickly explore things like staff kindness, phrases like "no margin, no mission", staying cool, and the future of tech. Yeah, quite the array.

We'll leave you with a quick Christmas and end-of-year blessing for you and your ministry...

As you step away from the schedules, the cabins, and the constant noise of ministry, may you find a quiet manger for your own soul. You have spent your year creating space for others to encounter God; this Christmas, may you encounter Christ anew for yourself.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Connect with our team. Support the podcast. Ask about advertising opportunities. Find us on Facebook & Instagram.

It's true. Adults are a deeply important audience for your camp in one way or another - or more likely, in many ways. Not just as a donor, parent, or partner, but as one who can have personal, meaningful experiences at your camp.

On this episode, we're talking about adult engagement at camp, especially in retreat and other year-round opportunities. We've got four reasons why adults belong at camp and, more frankly, need what your camp has to offer. Then, we'll talk through four ways how many camps are creating space for these grownups to experience the unique ministry your site offers. From trust-building to behavior modeling and more, these ideas give us some foundation for why retreat, conference, and other adult engagement ministries matter, and we'd love to hear more from your camp.

Our #StatOfTheWeek shares how things are going with enrollment for retreat ministries, and our #QuickQampQuestion asks the other end of the spectrum - if these retreat ministries are eating our summer ministries.

Quick Links

OMC Director Survey Results

Family Camp Episode & Article

Dave Sherry & The Sherry Group

#StatOfTheWeek

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Connect with our team. Support the podcast. Ask about advertising opportunities. Find us on Facebook & Instagram.

Camp is perfect, right? Right? At least, my camp is...

You've thought it. So have we, and so has every camp enthusiast since the beginning of camp-time. And yet, we know that sometimes people have an experience that is less positive than we planned and prepared for. This likely doesn't mean everything at your beloved site is doomed, but it may mean something had or has broken down.

On this episode, we're breaking down what happens when, for one reason or another (likely more than one), there is a deficient experience for some participants. We call them "breakdowns" in the research and project reporting of five fundamentals. We'll talk through how we can go about uncovering these deficiencies in the first place, share what the data tells us about the consequences when breakdowns happen, and where to focus energy in taking steps to restore alignment between hoped-for mission and campers' lived experience.

Plus, we have a doozy of a #QuickQampQuestion about the large-camp/small-camp gap and a #StatOfTheWeek tied to our breakdown conversation.

Quick Links

Character at Camp Episode

OMC Director's Survey

#StatOfTheWeek

Sacred Playgrounds Book Sale (through 11/30/2025) USE CODE: CONFSHIP at checkout. Select Media Mail for free shipping.

5 Fundamentals Self-Assessment

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Connect with our team. Support the podcast. Ask about advertising opportunities. Find us on Facebook & Instagram.

Our team spent the week at the Outdoor Ministries Connection Great Gathering! It's been an incredible week connecting in person with 500+ of our closest friends. From insightful keynotes to leading and joining engaging workshops to creative worship and making new friends - we're feeling full, blessed, and inspired for the work ahead.

On this episode of the #sacredplaygroundspodcast, we got the chance to bring in some voices of camp leaders at the gathering to ask them some big questions about ministry. Camp people are thoughtful storytellers, and these 4 leaders joined us to tell about a time they learned something, and then they did something with it, using insights to drive action. They’ll share how that went and the difference it made. Then, they’ll highlight some best of the best practices from their camps – something they excel at in their context, giving us the chance to take away something for our own ministry.

Plus, our #StatOfTheWeek comes right from the conference as we share the aggregate results from our exhibit table self-assessments on Wednesday.

Quick Links
The OMC Great Gathering
#StatOfTheWeek

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Connect with our team. Support the podcast. Ask about advertising opportunities. Find us on Facebook & Instagram.

This is a cutting edge for outdoor ministry right now, and camps, when we understand our role as a catalyst, is poised to have an outsized impact on faith lives of countless campers and families. The connectivity in three sacred spaces - camp, church, and home - through program and practice, mission and method makes a profound difference in the faith-forming impact across this ecosystem.

Through our work in four key projects (links below), we're learning a lot about how these critical spaces can connect and what it takes to truly collaborate in faith-generative experiences.

Then, we're answering a #QuickQampQuestion about building trust with parents of this "anxious generation", and a not-so-spooky, Spirit-filled #StatOfTheWeek as we approach All Hallow's Eve.

Quick Links
Rhythms of Faith
bRidge
Go Tell It IN The Mountains
Engaging Children Initiative

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Connect with our team. Support the podcast. Ask about advertising opportunities. Find us on Facebook & Instagram.

On this episode, we're excited to sit down with Cara Meredith, a lifelong camp enthusiast, experienced camp speaker, and author of the book Church Camp.

This book has been stirring in many ways for Christian camp and camp-connected leaders, and we are grateful for the opportunity to sit down with Cara to hear the heart and story behind this book and the impact it is having. We'll ask some big questions and peel back what we can learn that can help us connect with our campers in ways that create safe spaces, authentic relationships, and positive, healthy impact.

Plus, our #StatOfTheWeek and #QuickQampQuestion connect directly to our conversation, reminding us that camps cover a broad spectrum of values, theological perspectives, and ways of being camp, and that broad brush strokes and big assumptions can do harm to us and to those we serve.

Connect with Cara, learn more about the book, and find her online at the links below.

Quick Links:

Connect with Cara Online

Church Camp Book

Cara's Substack (including a visit from Jared!)

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Connect with our team. Support the podcast. Ask about advertising opportunities. Find us on Facebook & Instagram.