Opportunities for ministry with children abound outside the usual times of Sunday morning or during the middle of the week. Here’s some ways to plan for ministries during after-school hours or at on-site or off-site camp and retreat experiences.

There are so many possibilities and opportunities to reach out to kids with the love of Christ. On one hand, churches place major effort into weekend services (and for some, possible midweek opportunities) for kids to develop their relationship with God and with each other. We should be investing greatly in these experiences. They are vital and must be executed well.

On the other hand, there are those hours and days after school and on days when school is off, as well as the weeks of summer. These times offer “extra-mile” ministry opportunities that I will examine in this article.

Where to Start
For congregations looking at launching an after-school ministry or additional ministries at camps and retreats during the summer and at other times of the year, consider having the following building block pieces in place. Ask yourself:

• What is the vision of your congregation? Do after-school programming, retreats, and camps fit with that vision?
• What are the felt needs in your congregation and community which can be addressed in camps, retreats, and after-school programming?
• Do you know your constituency? Who are the people in your neighborhood? Conduct a survey.
• Consider The Five Ws: Why would your church offer camps, retreats, or after-school ministry? Where would these ministry opportunities be held (place, rooms, set-up, etc.)? Would you offer programming in the daytime, evening, and weekend? Who would attend these ministry experiences (age, grade, other specific groups)? Who would lead your camps, retreats, and after-school ministries?

Lastly, what will happen at your camps, retreats, and after-school activities? Consider the following possibilities:

• Curriculum to be used
• Activities, sports, games
• Music (instrumental and vocal)
• Service projects
• Bible learning
• Prayer experiences
• Worship experiences
• Tutoring or mentoring
• Free time
• Assisting refugees
• Meals and snacks
• Safety/liability issues
• Budget (what is available and what can be generated?)
• Will other congregations be included (will there be an open invitation for the whole community)?
• Transportation
• Available resources (equipment, rooms, people, supplies)?
• Time opportunities/limitations?
• And, most importantly, what is God calling you to do?

These are foundational issues which need to be asked and answered at the beginning of the planning process. Once these questions are dealt with, then the journey can begin.

The most important reason to move ahead is that we are empowered by God to reach others for Christ. We have hours, days, evenings, weekends, and weeks to offer extended hours of ministry that can be life changing and transformational. The gift of time is there if we look for it.

The treasure of vision and energy is needed to launch these vital ministry opportunities. Find the leaders — staff or volunteer. Locate your gifted leaders and watch God work.

Summer Camps
Summer camps can be on-site right at your congregation or off-site. Here are a couple of possibilities:

• Musical in a Week Camp; Sports Camp (on-site)
• Mother-Daughter Island Get-Away; Mother-Son Island Get-Away (multigenerational off-site experiences)

Congregations across the United States have also offered a variety of camps either on-site or off-site for a week or a weekend, or as an after-school program. The following are some examples:

• Camp Allegro — Music Camp (music of all kinds, including both vocal and instrumental)
• Servant Camp (serving others in many creative ways by following Jesus’ example of service)
• Camp Cook-a-Bit (through the art of cooking, learning how our bodies are temples and how to keep them healthy and strong)
• Camp Give a Hoot: Teaching Kids to Love the Earth (exploring God’s amazing creation and learning how to be good stewards of the earth)
• Camp Curtain Call or Showtime (spending a week or two putting together an amazing musical or drama production with a Christian message)
• Camp Mentor Me (connecting children with inspiring Christian adults in their work settings)
• Camp Give-a-Gift (celebrating the message of Christmas in summer by making gifts and cards for family, friends, and others)
• Global Awareness Camp (learning all about God’s children around the world through colorful multicultural activities)
• Bible Village Camp (going back in time and living in a highly creative “Bible Village” setting)
• Fruit of the Spirit Camp (experiencing the scriptural “Fruit of the Spirit” through food, drama, and fun)
• K.I.D. (Kids in Ministry) Camp (experiencing what it means to be a disciple by learning creative ways to minister to preschool and primary school children)
• Children’s Creativity Camp (involving kids in a wide variety of lively hands-on adventures in all the arts)
• Children’s Safety Camp (learning how God cares for all children by exploring ways to stay safe)

After School
Ingredients for after-school experiences might include crafts, sports, games, food, and music.

The key focus must be on teaching, sharing, and empowering children with God’s love, hope, joy, the Word, and direction for their lives.

Seasonal Camps
Here are some possibilities for those times when school is out for the day or when you are considering a camp associated with a season of the year.

Campfuninthefall
During fall break, invite children to come for crafts, Bible study, music, drama, games, devotions, and fun. How could your area’s natural setting influence camp ideas? How are they in a “season” of change in their lives?

Camp Grateful Hearts
Offer this camp over the Thanksgiving holiday. A full-day camp could include gratitude devotions, outdoor and indoor games, food drive, crafts, music, making holiday placemats or tablecloths for shelters or nursing homes, or starting a Christmas toy drive. Focus on God’s blessings and promises. What are you thankful for?

Prepare Ye the Way Advent Camp
Study the meaning of Advent through songs, devotions, and preparing your hearts for Christ’s coming. Help decorate your church. Make Advent banners, wreaths, calendars and Yule logs. Reach out in service or make gifts for friends and family.

Christmas Camp
During Christmas week, offer a day camp or full-week camp. Re-focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Wear costumes and retell the Christmas story. Utilize carols, fun foods, crafts, movies, stories, skits, and more. Add a mission project and explore how to live out the spirit of Christmas throughout the year.

Children’s Peace Forum
On Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, invite kids from the congregation, community, and beyond to a Peace Forum. Jesus calls us to be peacemakers; so explore this theme through songs, games, skits, videos, and worship. Talk about peace in your hearts, families, and world. Invite special guests to teach kids how to be peaceful.

Children’s Lenten Journey
During Holy Week, take children on a journey through Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. Experience a Palm Sunday drama, foot washing, and a Seder meal. Talk about Good Friday and the meaning of the cross. Have an Easter celebration with crafts, petting zoo, songs, and devotions.

Extended Evenings/Retreats
Retreats can take place on a Friday or Saturday overnight. But it is also fun to offer an extended evening right at church without an overnight or extra transportation to a camp. The experience is then less expensive.

Consider having kids arrive at 6 p.m. and go until 9:30-10 p.m. For elementary-age children, four hours is a great amount of time for a fun experience. There is time to play, hear God’s Word, meet people, and experience the message of the Bible through many activities.

The congregation I work at now offers extended evenings and retreats on several Fridays throughout the year. Bringing parents and kids together for these experiences has been very popular.

Camps that bring several generations together create memories that can last a lifetime. We bless our families when we grace them with an experience where they focus on the Bible, Jesus, prayer, and servanthood together.

For the past several years, we have hosted a Mother-Daughter Camp and a Mother-Son Camp. The kids are all elementary age. Grandmas and aunts attend, as well as significant adult women in a child’s life. Not every child has a mother to take him or her to camp.

We head up to an island on Bay Lake in northern Minnesota. We leave on a Friday and return on Sunday.

This camp really begins with the promotional material. The excellence, creativity, and verbiage about camp ignite enthusiasm so this experience is one you can’t afford to miss.

Budgeting the camp for financial needs is crucial. It must be affordable, yet pay for the church’s expenses.

Leadership is at the core of the camp climate. We can have a gorgeous camp and a beautiful facility with state of the art resources, but without the right leaders in place, the whole experience will suffer. You may have a camp with minimal supplies and limited resources, but put the right leader in place and watch the camp soar.

A sketch of our weekend may look like the following: Campers arrive to be greeted and welcomed by an enthusiastic staff filled with a heart to make them feel welcome and at ease. Dinner is simple and quick so that we can get into the first large group gathering.

Campers are welcomed again and introduced. Nametags are a must. Large groups give an overview of camp, but also dive into fun, laughter, sketches, and games. Prayer, worship, and relevant Bible stories are introduced. The Bible theme focuses the whole weekend.

A campfire closes the night. Campers are tired, but there’s always an extended craziness that takes place as each one settles into their sleeping bag, lulled by the sound of a loon and swatting the last of the mosquitoes as they listen to snores around them. Sleep? Maybe!

Saturday breaks early. A pancake breakfast starts the day. We gather for worship, Bible study, small group sharing, and games. Lunch is outside; meals build community. We always offer songs, sketches, and creative announcements at meals. The whole afternoon is free time to canoe, play soccer, tie-dye, hike, or swim.

Our Saturday is a costume theme time that carries into the whole evening. Everyone comes to dinner dressed in a fun, over-the-edge costume. For instance, some of the themes have been: Olympics, 50s, Western, Jungle, Island. The Olympics theme might use the Bible verse from 1 Corinthians 9:24: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”

On Sunday, we worship, give thanks, tie up the theme of our study, and then head home after lunch.

Any of the summer camp themes and focus areas can be put into a weekend experiences, one day, or an evening experience. Be creative.

Sue Lennartson, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, works as a consultant and author and serves in congregations. She directed the Children’s, Family and Women’s Ministries at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Mahtomedi, Minnesota for 13 years. Currently, she serves on the staff of Eagle Brook Church, White Bear Lake, Minnesota as pastor of Women’s Ministries. She is the author of When School Is Off, Church Is On: Exciting Ideas and Plans for Extended Hours of Ministry (Lutheran Brotherhood, 1998).