How To Choose A Camp Staff Devotional
Many Christian camps use a camp staff devotional which they either encourage or require their summer staff to read during their time of ministry at camp. This is a great idea because camp staff members need to grow spiritually in order to be able to share their faith, pray for their campers, encourage each other, counsel, and deal with the everyday stresses of camp life. It’s easy to get burnt out at camp when you work long days for weeks at a time, constantly giving of yourself to serve the needs of others.
Some camps develop their own devotionals.
This is a great idea if you have the time and creativity to do so. You can tailor the devotional to your summer themes, to the unique qualities of your camp, and include anecdotes from your own camp. You can also use Scriptures that is going to be emphasized throughout your summer program.
However most camp directors and program directors have enough on their hands already just getting ready for camp and trying to hire good staff. They may not have time to put into developing a staff devotional.
Options for camp staff devotionals
Unfortunately there are not a whole lot of devotionals on the market that are tailored to the specific needs of summer staff. Therefore some camps may just use a general devotional in hopes that their staff members will be able to apply the general lessons learned to the specifics of camp life.
Some camps invest a substantial amount of money into purchasing published booklets of camp staff devotions for each of their staff members. With a staff of 50 or more people, this can add up to a sizable expense each year.
Sometimes it’s possible to find staff devotionals that include permission to make copies. This is a less expensive way to go. But of course, the quality of the devotional is key. It must relate Scripture to camp life in a way that helps staff members to walk closely with God throughout their summer of ministry.
Here are some key elements to look for in a camp staff devotional:
- The devotional must be interesting and relevant to camp life, ideally relating to actual situations that
happen at camp.
- It must be Bible based – not replacing reading the Bible, but supplementing the reading of Scriptures that
are mentioned in the daily devotions.
- It should be in a format that can be used not only for personal devotions, but also for group discussions,
preferably including questions for contemplation and discussion.
- Daily devotions should be short and to the point. Camp staff simply don’t have a lot of time to set aside for
reading.
Here is an inexpensive option:
If you are looking for a camp staff devotional like this, check out “John Comes to Camp,” a camp staff Bible study devotional based upon 1st John, with related passages in the gospel of John. What’s cool is that you and your staff can download these devotions from Amazon for only 99 cents a copy. Most of your staff will bring smart phones, tablets, or other devices to camp. And they likely can afford to pay 99 cents for an ebook of camp staff devotions! (You could them a 99 cent credit at the camp store to reimburse them.)
Everyone can read each day’s devotion from their phone, think about the questions, and be ready to share their thoughts at staff meetings and staff devotions times. What a perfect way to have a summer devotional without having to invest a fortune in buying devotional books or printing out devotions for staff!
Your staff do NOT need a Kindle to read “John Comes to Camp.” They can simply download the free Kindle reader app or Kindle for PC reader from this web page: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311
Then they can go to Amazon to purchase John Comes to Camp.
A Printable Option
If you’d rather print out the devotional book and give the pages to your staff, click this link:
