For Whom Is the Certification Program Designed?

Camp and Retreat Ministry Certificate and Certification programs are designed for laypersons and clergy who are significantly involved in volunteer or staff leadership for camps and retreats.

The programs are also designed for people who feel called to this ministry specialization and want to enhance their preparation for leadership. The programs will be most helpful to people who have ongoing supervisory responsibilities for some aspect of camp/retreat events or camp/retreat center operations. Some examples might include:

• A pastor or layperson who volunteers (as a dean or director ) each year to plan and oversee camp and retreat ministry programs or events. He or she helps supervise the volunteer and hired staff who lead the experience. These are people who have significant involvement in camp and retreat ministry as a major avocation and who plan to continue this leadership over a long period of time. Although camp/retreat ministry is not this person's full-time job, it is an important, ongoing dimension of his or her service and leadership.
  
  
• Directors/Managers of Camps/Retreats/Conference Centers.
  
  
• Conference or Regional Directors of Camp and Retreat Ministries
  
  
• Other staff who oversee an area of the ministry in a supervisory way, such as Directors of Grounds and Maintenance Service, Food Service Managers, Program Directors, and so on.
  
  
• Chairpersons and officers of camp/retreat boards (This assumes that they are also actively involved in leadership as a program or operational volunteer on an ongoing basis and see camp/retreat ministry as a key part of a long-term Christian calling and service.)

Photo by Deb Smith, Project Director of the High Potential Metro Church Initiative, General Board of Discipleship.