MORE THAN VOLUNTEERING
a week to grow
Junior Counselors are invited from both our host churches and partnering churches to spend a week serving alongside trained Camp in the Community staff. You will not just watch from the sidelines. You will become part of a camper group, work alongside an experienced counselor, build relationships with children, help lead activities, and practice real leadership in a supportive environment.
It is a chance to serve your community, grow in confidence, explore your gifts, and learn what it means to lead by caring for others.
who we serve
Camp in the Community serves children ages 5–14 through week-long day camps hosted by local churches, creating opportunities for children to experience friendship, faith, new activities, and a caring community.
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
on sunday
Sunday, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
Your Junior Counselor experience begins Sunday afternoon with an interactive training led by Camp in the Community trainers. This gives you the tools you need before campers arrive and prepares you for greater responsibility throughout the week.
all week long
Monday–Thursday, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Friday, 8:30 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Then the real learning begins. During camp, you will be paired with trained camp counselors and mentors and serve with a small group of campers. Rather than learning leadership only in a classroom, you will get to practice it immediately: helping your group move through the day, encouraging campers, joining activities, solving problems, building relationships, and learning from experienced leaders.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
leading others
Throughout training and your week at camp, you will develop practical skills you can use at church, school, work, sports, clubs, and anywhere else you have the opportunity to lead.
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Work effectively with a small group
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Lead a small group with confidence
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Practice servant leadership
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Adapt through situational leadership
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Lead games and group activities
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Reflect on experiences through meaningful debriefing
caring for kids
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Understand children at different ages and stages
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Keep children safe and understand youth-protection practices
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Encourage and nurture another person’s faith
Growing yourself
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Explore your own sense of vision and calling
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Discover and use your natural strengths
IS THIS FOR YOU?
for youth
This is your chance to lead.
You do not have to already see yourself as “a leader.” In fact, this program is a great place to figure out what leadership looks like for you.
Maybe you are outgoing and love being in front of a group. Maybe you are quieter and are great at noticing when someone feels left out. Maybe you are creative, organized, energetic, patient, funny, or good at encouraging people. Those are all leadership strengths.
We want to help you discover what you bring to a team, give you opportunities to practice it, and surround you with people who will help you grow.
You will work hard. You will probably be tired by Friday. But you will also laugh a lot, meet new people, help create an incredible week for kids, and leave with real experience you can carry into whatever comes next.
for parents
The Junior Counselor Program gives teens and young adults a structured opportunity to practice leadership while serving under the supervision of trained Camp in the Community staff.
Junior Counselors are not expected to manage campers independently. They work alongside experienced counselors and camp leadership while gradually taking on appropriate responsibilities.
The program intentionally combines training, mentorship, practical experience, faith formation, and reflection. Youth learn not only how to lead activities, but how to care for younger children, work as part of a team, respond to different situations, and understand the responsibility that comes with leadership.
Safety is an important part of the experience, and Junior Counselors participate in Camp in the Community training opportunities before serving with campers.
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Sunday Junior Counselor training
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Trained camp staff
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Daily programming
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On-site supervision
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Youth ages 15+ who can serve throughout the week
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4–12 Junior Counselors per host site
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Encouragement for students who may not yet think of themselves as leaders
who does what:
FOR YOUTH LEADERS & CHURCHES
The Junior Counselor Program is an opportunity to move youth ministry beyond simply attending programs and give young people a meaningful place to serve. Our hope is that the experience does not end on Friday. Youth return to their churches with new skills, stronger relationships, greater confidence, and a clearer understanding of how their gifts can be used in ministry and in their communities.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
ages 15+
The Junior Counselor Program is open to youth and young adults ages 15 and older who are connected with a Camp in the Community host church or one of its partnering churches.
no experience needed
No previous camp experience is required.
What matters most is a willingness to learn, serve, participate fully, and care well for younger campers.
WHAT COULD ONE WEEK CHANGE?
READY TO BECOME A JUNIOR COUNSELOR?
You might come to camp because a parent, pastor, or youth leader encouraged you to try it. You might leave knowing you can lead.
You might discover that you love working with children. You might realize you are good at bringing a group together. You might find a new way to serve in your church. You might begin thinking differently about your future, your gifts, or the kind of person God is calling you to become.
That is what this program is about: learning leadership by actually leading, discovering your strengths by actually using them, and growing your faith by putting it into practice.
Join us for training. Spend a week at camp. Serve some amazing kids. Discover the leader in you.