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Summer Staff Applications, Forms & Info: Join us!

    Welcome NEW and RETURNING staff, CITs and volunteers June 1-July 31 (or Aug 7).  Help recruit other excellent staff for our 2010 team!  Click below or scroll down for lots of summer information.

We hope to receive YOUR application soon!

We are very proud of our excellent summer staff of counselors and support staff and their commitment to quality programming at Camp Bethel!  Each staff member is interviewed, screened, and selected by the Assistant Director and Camp Director.  Staff are hired on the basis of their Christian character, their ability share their faith and teach all our camp skills, their love of activity and the outdoors, and their commitment to helping children and youth.

We train the staff during an intense, comprehensive, fun, two-week Staff Training prior to the first camper week.  Staff Training includes detailed and complete preparations in safety, first aid, emergency procedures, prevention, and all the methods and procedures of our educational goals and camp activities.  Campers are sure to have a safe and fun week living and learning with their counselors.

Are YOU interested in an active, enriching, authentic summer in relational, outdoor ministry to children and youth?  Camp Bethel is seeking the BEST SUMMER CAMP COUNSELORS: caring, tolerant, college-age, service-minded, growing Christians wishing to serve God by leading and mentoring children in outdoor Christian education programming.

Counseling at Camp Bethel is a GREAT summer job!

“This summer… wins as the best summer of my life.” - John

“Camp, over these years, has shaped me into the person I am.” - Brennan

“Camp Bethel is an awesome location; you will find Christ.” - Jon

“You create and build upon the most amazing relationships.” - Hannah

“Seeing God in the lives of the children and your peers is incredible.” - Lucas

“You can be yourself; everyone accepts you in Christian love.” - Sarah H.

"It’s the most rewarding and beneficial thing I have ever done.” - Sarah G.

“I have realized a greater capacity for caring.” - Stacey

“It’s a life changing experience.” - Tyler

Here's 8 other big reasons to work at Camp Bethel this summer!

Senior Counselors starting pay is $225/week; must be 18+ years old, with a high school degree.  Junior Counselors starting pay is $110/week; must be at least 16 years old.

2010 Staff Schedule:

May 15-18: Canoe Instructor Training (with Beth Wiegandt): Optional for Adventure Staff.

May 21-23: High Ropes Facilitator Training (with Jim Garrett): Required for all Ropes staff and most Leadership Team staff.

May 24-27: Leadership Team Training: Required for all Leadership Team staff.

June 1-12: Summer Staff Training: Required for ALL Summer Staff.

June 3, 7 or 15, 5:00-9:00pm: Adult Volunteer Counselor Training.

June 13-July 31 (or August 7): Contracted camper weeks for ALL Summer Staff.

June 15-16: CIT Training.

July 30: Summer Staff Closing Campfire & Closing Worship.

December 28: Summer Staff Winter Reunion.

C.I.T. (Counselor-in-Training):  Youth ages 15-18 are eligible to apply for a position as a summer Counselor in Training.  C.I.T.s volunteer one to two weeks under the supervision of our adult summer staff.

PREREQUISITES:  (1) C.I.T.s must be enrolled in at least one 2010 camp week for which they are age-eligible; and (2) C.I.T.s are required to attend an overnight training on Tuesday, June 15 at 9:00am through Wednesday, June 16 at 8:00pm; (Salem City students AND Backpack Trip 1 participants should contact Barry for exceptions to CIT training dates).  C.I.T.s will serve as a co-counselor in a family unit or as an assistant to one of our leadership team staff.  C.I.T.s will be selected by the Camp Director. 

Adult Volunteers:  Camp Bethel has a rich tradition of adult volunteers “coming home” for a week during the summer.  Volunteerism is what has made Camp Bethel great over our 82 year history.  Persons 18 and above can give of their time and talents for one or more weeks to serve in various roles in the camping program.  Volunteers may serve as cabin counselors in a family unit, but we also need volunteer helpers on a weekly basis as Medical Directors, Crafts Directors, Camp Grandparents, Chaplains, Maintenance Volunteers, Nature Directors, Registration Assistants, and Volunteer Cooks and Kitchen Assistants.  Each adult volunteer counselor is asked to attend a 5:30pm-9:00pm training and free dinner on one of the following dates: June 3; June 7; or June 15.  E-mail Barry LeNoir to sign up for a volunteer week at camp_bethel@yahoo.com.

For C.I.T., Adult Volunteer, and Summer Staff applications, click on the links above, or contact Barry LeNoir at camp_bethel@yahoo.com.

 American Camp Association accredited since 1970.

Check our outdated and feeble attempts at humor of some summer staff fun here.

8 Big Reasons to Work & Volunteer at Camp Bethel in 2010:

1. High Standards: ACA-accredited, excellence that only one in every four camps earns.

2. Just the Right Size: 40 summer staff, evenly co-ed, denominationally and ethnically diverse, aged 18-25. We host 80-130 campers per week over 7 weeks of camp; 890+ campers/summer.

3. Excellent Food: Two words: CHEF ERNST!  16 FULL meals, Sunday dinner through Friday dinner. Chef Ernst’s family-style meals are nutritious and plentiful with veggie/vegan options, fruit, sandwich and salad bars, and several side options at each meal.

4. Cool Activities & Great Adventures: 470 acres of unique fun plus same activities as the “big” camps who charge thousands per week.

5. Experienced Leadership: Barry & Jenny KNOW camping (36+ years combined experience). 60% of staff return = we’re doing something right!

6. Music that stirs the soul: Great musicians and singers (including you?) leading great songs. Huge catalog of rockin’ praise songs & goofy kid tunes.

7. Modern Cabins & Dining Hall: Electric outlets! Wow!  Working lights? Zowie!  Nearby bathhouses! Amazing!  One bar of Wi-Fi!  Techno-zippy!  Air-conditioned dining hall for a cool reprieve from the summer heat.

8. “Christian communion of clean hearts and minds.”  Every activity and lesson is centered on our guiding philosophy of Living as the Body of Christ in an intentional Christian community.