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 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 every day 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.  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 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.

• Permission to make copies should be given with your purchase.

• Ideally, it should be in document form that can be edited to the specific needs of your camp.

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.  You can download 10 samples of devotions to see if it will fit your camp’s needs.

Click image to go to info

After downloading the samples and taking a look, please leave your comments here!