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 a text

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 a text

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!)

Support the show

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

Each fall, early in our podcast season, we try to spend time talking through some of our, really your, learnings from the summer. We aggregate data from Effective Camp and Power of Camp projects - those that focus on campers and families - and run it through a variety of statistical and strategic lenses, including comparing this year to previous year's data. This allows us to uncover something deeply valuable in data and in decision-making - a trend.

On this episode, we're looking at a few key insights around camper self-confidence and data trends we're seeing over time, all the way back to 2018, through our COVID summers, and up through the summer of 2025. We'll share what has increased, decreased, what camp is doing to impact confidence, and what we can do going forward.

We also talk through a #QuickQampQuestion about creating resilient leaders ready for long-term camp leadership, and offer a #StatOfTheWeek that surprised us in the direction it changed when we added a single word to a camper parent survey question.

Quick Links:
Camper Confidence Graph - Summer 2025
Post-Camp Pulse Check Results Episode
The Anxious Generation
Elevating Well-Being at Camp
#StatOfTheWeek

Support the show

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

If you've ever planned an event, fundraiser, conference, or other significant gathering, you know that there is so, so much that goes on behind the scenes to make that happen.

On this episode, Jake and Jared are joined by the Co-Directors of the Outdoor Ministries Connection Great Gathering, Cat Holbert and Joanne Kovac-Roberts. These dynamic leaders guide the OMC Great Gathering planning team and the dozens of volunteers it takes to make this gathering happen. We'll ask some questions about gathering design that the average attendee may not know, like the #nervousnightmares.

Then, we'll share insights and stories about why the intentional cross-denominational camp partnerships like the ones this gathering brings about really matter, and are worth giving energy to in your own ministries. The power of these partnerships is what makes this gathering next-level special for every attendee.

Quick Links

OMC Great Gathering Website

Gathering Facebook Page

CampWell X OMCGG

OMC Director Survey

#StatOfTheWeek

Support the show

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

We're back! Welcome to season 5 of the Sacred Playgrounds Podcast!

On this episode, we've got some words of welcome, a quick summer in review from our Sacred Playgrounds team, and what to expect from this season.

Then, we dive right into some impactful insights from our Post-Summer Camp Leader Pulse Check survey, where we asked camp leaders some simple but critical questions about how things went this summer. We got a great response from more than 100 camps and the findings can help us understand and get curious about how your camp did this summer, and how you're doing as the summer fades into fall.

Be sure to download the results infographic below!

Quick Links:

Download the Pulse Check Infographic

OMC Director Survey Report & Insights

OMC Director Survey Podcast

Support the show

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

Bonus episode of the Sacred Playgrounds podcast! Summer camp staff, this one's specifically for you!

It's mid-summer for many camps, or will be soon, so we're taking a few minutes to offer 3 things specifically for summer camp staff to encourage, equip, and embolden them for the rest of their summer of ministry.

Camp leaders, be encouraged to carve out some time soon to listen to this episode with your staff, or send to them with a call to listen and then facilitate a quick conversation about what they heard.

Thanks for listening. We'll see you in a couple of months for Season 5!

Quick Links
#StatOfTheWeek
Rhythms of Faith
Effective Camp
5 Fundamentals of Effective Camps for Summer Staff Training

Support the show

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

It's the season 4 finale! So, we decided it's a good episode to play a classic camp game, with a sacred playgrounds twist.

On this episode we're playing 2 Truths and An Untruth, often used as a get-to-know-you game at camp, in four rounds from the perspective of key camp audiences: campers, parents, directors, and summer staff. In each round, we'll share 3 statements, and your job as a listener is to identify which one is not true, and which two are true.

Keep score! If you listen as a group, compete and compare with your staff or group members. See if you're an official camp data nerd ("official" badge available here).

We've had a great season of exploring through sacred playgrounds with you, uncovering fresh insights, learning from each other, and applying all we're discovering to our own settings, all for the sake of the hearts and souls of those we serve. Thanks, listeners, for an incredible season!

Quick Links
#StatOfTheWeek Research Hub
Rhythms of Faith
Effective Camp
ECLP & CCLP
5 Fundamentals of Effective Camps for Summer Staff Training

Support the show

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