This isn’t just a summer job.

It’s early mornings and late nights, real community, and work that matters.

Some summers stay with you forever.

We hope this is one of them.

“Whatever the job, all staff positions are valued and important parts of the team. The norm is fulfilling one’s specific role - and then some.”

● About the work

Serving as a Great Lakes Episcopal Camping & Retreats summer staff member is very fun and very hard. It involves early mornings and late nights, hot days and loud groups, being a leader and being a friend. You will be tired. You will be challenged. You will also grow in ways a typical summer job simply cannot offer.

Here's the one thing that's non-negotiable across every role we hire for: you have to genuinely enjoy being around young people. Not just tolerate them. Not just think “they're fine.” You need to actually enjoy them — their energy, their curiosity, their questions, their weirdness, their quirks, the noise, the chaos, all of it. Camp asks you to be fully present with kids for extended periods in a close community, and that's only sustainable if you actually want to be there with them.

Beyond that, we're looking for people who lead with integrity, serve with patience, and show up with grace. Every staff position — from cabin counselor to kitchen assistant to maintenance — is an essential part of what makes camp work. With over 160 years of combined Episcopal camping history across the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes in our legacy programs at Camp Chickagami and Episcopal Youth Camp, we are rooted in the tradition of radical welcome: the belief that every person is a beloved child of God, and that this community is better because you are in it.

Please take the time to read through the information on this page and carefully discern if you are called to serve this summer.

Our application is linked at the bottom of this page.

● available positions

Find Your Place on the Team

We hire for a range of roles each summer. Whether you're a first-timer or a returning staff veteran, there's a place for you. All positions include room, board, meals, laundry service, and CPR/First Aid/AED certification training (for staff hired early in the season).

  • 20+ · PRIOR LEADERSHIP PREFERRED

    Camp leaders provide care, programming, and development for cabin teams and serve as a liaison to the broader camp community. You'll help plan and run activities, manage the daily schedule, do staff evaluations, and keep things running with grace under pressure.

    We are especially looking for leaders with experience in behavior management — and it's a genuine bonus if you bring training in mental health support or trauma-informed care. Our campers and staff are better served when our leadership team has these tools, and we want to know if you do.

    Don't take this job if: you don't genuinely enjoy being around young people, can't constantly hold safety in mind, or don't thrive under pressure with a smile on your face.

  • 18+

    Counselors are assigned to a cabin each week with at least one other counselor and 6–10 campers who eat, sleep, and play together. You’ll care for your cabin group and help plan and lead program activities throughout the day.

    We also offer one session of Trip Camp — a week-long wilderness adventure with up to 10 high schoolers. Trip Camp staff are drawn from our counselor team, so if you’re interested, you can indicate that in your application. Spots are limited and not guaranteed, but we do our best to match the right people to that week.

    Don’t take this job if: you don’t genuinely enjoy being around kids — their noise, their energy, their needs — for a full week at a time.

    NOTE: Full-summer staff (8 weeks) are our preference and make the deepest impact. Part-time and volunteer arrangements are absolutely available, for returning “highlight reel” counselors! Details are in the application.

  • 16–17 · CIT experience required

    For young people who have completed our Counselor in Training program and are ready to take the next step. Junior Staff are continually trained across all aspects of camp life — and that means all of it. You will not always be in a cabin counselor role. Kitchen duty, facility support, and program help are real parts of this job, and they're how you learn to be a great senior counselor someday.

    Don't take this job if: you're only interested in the "fun" parts. Junior Staff who thrive are the ones who show up fully — for the glamorous moments and the unglamorous ones alike.

    LEARN MORE ABOUT BEING JUNIOR STAFF

  • 20+

    The Kitchen Lead plans menus, orders food, and leads kitchen assistants in prepping, preparing, and cleaning up meals for approximately 100 people each week. This is a real leadership role with real responsibility.

    Don't take this job if: you don't love to cook, bake, clean, organize, and run a kitchen.

  • 16+ · PAID OR VOLUNTEER

    Support Staff keep camp running! Depending on where you're needed, this might look like kitchen work — prepping, cooking, and cleaning up meals for around 100 people — facility maintenance and groundskeeping, housekeeping and cabin turnover between sessions, or general hospitality, administrative, and logistics support. The work shifts week to week based on what the community needs. It's unglamorous, essential, and genuinely appreciated.

    We also welcome support staff who bring behavior management experience or training in mental health and trauma-informed care. These skills strengthen the whole camp community, and we'd love to know if you have them — regardless of which support role you're filling.

    Don't take this role if: you need to know exactly what you'll be doing every day, or you think the behind-the-scenes work is less important than what happens in the cabin. It isn't!

  • 18+

    Want to give a week — or a few days — to camp? Adult volunteers are a vital part of what makes our summer work. Depending on your gifts, background, and availability, this might look like: support staff (kitchen, housekeeping, facilities, hospitality), christian formation (helping plan and lead worship and daily spiritual formation programming), health officer (supporting on-site health needs - healthcare background required), program support (leading an activity, skill, or specialty area), day camp leadership (helping run day camp sessions at Camp Chickagami), chaplain (serving as a spiritual presence and pastoral support for campers and staff).

    This application is focused on our summer camp season. Volunteer opportunities also exist year-round — work weekends, retreats, and more. Interested in getting involved beyond the summer? Email us at camping@greatlakesepiscopal.org.

Waterfront Staff & Lifeguards

We are always looking for certified lifeguards and waterfront staff. If you hold a current lifeguard certification — or are interested in getting one — note that in your application, regardless of which role you're applying for. Counselors, leadership staff, support staff, and volunteers can all serve in waterfront roles with proper certification. We offer lifeguard training June 9–11 at Camp Chickagami (pre-registration required — details in the application).

● Camp is a real job

This Summer Will Count.

If you're weighing a camp job against an internship, or wondering whether returning to camp is a step backward professionally, this section is for you.

Working at camp is not a pause in your career. It's one of the most compressed, high-stakes, skill-building environments you can put yourself in. The American Camp Association has documented this extensively, and we've seen it firsthand: the people who leave camp are genuinely different from the ones who arrived.

And if you've already had a "real" job and you're considering coming back — good. You'll bring something that younger staff can't yet. And you'll leave with something your resume can't quite capture but that every future employer will feel.

  • You will supervise 7–15 people, manage behavior, navigate conflict, and make real decisions with real stakes — every day. This is not entry-level leadership. It just looks like s'mores from the outside.

  • Communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and contribution — the five skills employers consistently say new hires are missing — are practiced here constantly, under pressure, with immediate feedback.

  • Staff training, ongoing coaching, and weekly debrief structures mean you're actively developing throughout the summer — not just doing a job.

  • You'll work alongside and care for people from a wide range of backgrounds, identities, abilities, and life experiences. That's not incidental to the job — it's central to it.

  • CPR, First Aid, AED, Lifeguard — certifications you earn at camp are yours to keep and carry into any future role.

  • Camp directors write strong letters of recommendation because they see you every day — in high-pressure moments, in conflict, in your best and hardest weeks. That's a reference worth having.

  • Housing, meals, laundry, and a weekly paycheck — with a total benefits package valued at approximately $250/week — makes the financial picture more competitive than it looks on paper.

  • The camp community is a real professional network. Alumni connections through Episcopal camping span education, social work, ministry, medicine, law, and more. Your colleagues this summer may be your collaborators for decades.

College Credit, Internships, & Practicum Arrangements

If you're a college student wondering whether camp can count toward an internship, practicum, or independent study, the answer is often yes, and we want to help you make that case. We'll clearly document your role and responsibilities, provide a detailed letter of support for your advisor or department, and engage directly with your institution if that's helpful.

The work to initiate that conversation is yours — reach out to your advisor early, before the summer starts. But once you do, we'll show up as a strong partner. Email us at camping@greatlakesepiscopal.org if you want to talk through your situation before you apply.

Research and framework from the American Camp Association's Project Real Job.

Additional reading: Camp Is a Real Job · More Than Fun: Skill Development at Camp · 10 Reasons Businesses Should Hire Former Counselors · Can I Really Spend Another Summer at Camp?

● WHO THRIVES HERE

Is This You?

We hire for skills and anticipate growth. We don’t expect perfection, just that you will continue to strive to be the best you can be. We all start somewhere, and we are happy to be your starting place.

The people who have the best summers on our staff tend to share a few things in common.

You genuinely like young people.

Not in theory. In practice — their noise, their questions, their energy, their feelings. You light up around kids, not just tolerate them.

You’re flexible and go with it.

The schedule changes. The weather changes. A camper has a hard night. Plans fall apart and get rebuilt in five minutes. You adapt without drama.

You’re emotionally mature.

You can live in close community with a lot of people for a sustained period of time and do it with kindness and self-awareness. You know how to take care of yourself so you can take care of others.

You love being outside.

Sun, mud, bugs, rain, heat, and the occasional very large spider. You're in it for all of it.

You’re a team player - for real.

You do the unglamorous things without being asked. You show up early and stay late. You cheer for your colleagues and ask what you can do to help.

You’re mission-aligned.

You don't have to be Episcopalian or even Christian to work here. You do need to believe in what we're doing — building brave, joyful, affirming community for young people — and be willing to participate fully in the spiritual life of camp, including worship, alongside campers.

You can hold safety seriously.

Not paranoid — present. You think about risk, you follow protocols, and you never let your guard down when kids are in your care.

You’re a bit of a dreamer.

You believe camp matters. You believe these weeks change kids' lives. And you're willing to work really hard because you've seen it happen — or you want to.

● FOR Returning Staff & volunteers

If you've previously staffed or volunteered at Camp Chickagami or Episcopal Youth Camp (EYC) at Stony Lake, welcome back — we are genuinely glad you're here, and we want you to work at camp!

Here's what you need to know about what's the same, what's different, and what your place looks like in this new chapter.

  • Yes — and more.

    In October 2024, the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan and the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan came together to form the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes.

    With that came a beautiful opportunity: unifying Camp Chickagami and Episcopal Youth Camp under one umbrella — Great Lakes Episcopal Camping & Retreats.

    We're not erasing either legacy. We're building something stronger together, carrying forward the culture, relationships, and spirit of both programs.

    Camp Chickagami remains our primary programmatic hub as a facility owned and operated by the Diocese.

    For the summer of 2026, we will also rent Stony Lake Camp in New Era to host one week of summer programming, and we will have the opportunity to discern what camp looks like and where it happens beyond 2026.

    The heart of what made your camp experience meaningful, our community, is still here.

  • McKenzie Bade-Knill continues as Executive Director of Camp Chickagami and serves as Director of Formation and Camping for the Diocese of the Great Lakes, overseeing our camping program.

    Reilly McNamara has joined the team as Manager for Camping Ministries (beginning March 2026) and will work directly with McKenzie to oversee hiring and support staff throughout the summer.

    Eryn Fleener (past EYC Program Director) and Elly Knaggs (past Camp Chickagami youth programming director) both serve as Co-Directors for Programming, with support for our holistic program as a whole.

    All of our leadership and summer staff will support our holistic summer camping program in the Diocese of the Great Lakes.

  • Absolutely — and we mean that. Your experience, your relationships, and your commitment to that week matter deeply to us, and we want you back for it. And if the week in 2026 at Stony Lake is genuinely what works for you this year, you can indicate that in your application, and we will absolutely welcome it.

    That said, we'd love for you to prayerfully consider whether this might be the summer to experience more. One of the most meaningful things about being part of the full season — or even a few sessions beyond your usual week — is the perspective it gives you.

    You get to see what this unified ministry actually is: how Camp Chickagami runs, how the two programming legacies come together, what the campers and staff across our whole diocese look like.

    That fuller picture is genuinely formative, and it puts you in a much better position to discern what you're called to contribute to this ministry going forward.

    We're building something new together, and we'd love for the people who love it most to be part of building, seeing, and participating in it all.

  • Yes — everyone applies through the same process this year. Because we are operating as a unified program for the first time, all staff and volunteers go through our application so we can build a shared team with shared expectations.

    That includes returning "highlight reel" folks who we already know and love. Think of it less as starting over and more as formally joining something new together.

    The process is thorough but not onerous, and our team is happy to help if you get stuck.

    Priority for hiring is given to applications received by March 20th, so if you're reading this and on the fence — now's the time.

  • Absolutely!

  • We've put together a full story of where we've come from and where we're headed — including the history of both Camp Chickagami and EYC, how this unification came together, and our vision for the future. 

    Read Our Story, Our Legacy & Our Vision →

● staff culture & commitments

What We Ask of Each Other

The Full Value Contract

Every member of our staff community — from counselors to kitchen staff to leadership — operates under the Full Value Contract. It's not a poster on the wall. It's how we lead, how we communicate, and how we care for one another.

  • Show up. Be present — physically, emotionally, and mentally.

  • Pay attention. To campers, to each other, to what's happening around you.

  • Attend to safety. For yourself, your campers, and your colleagues. Always.

  • Speak the truth — in love. Be honest and be kind. Neither alone is enough.

  • Be open to outcomes. Let go of what you think camp should look like and be present to what it actually is.

What We Commit to You

  • Real training before campers arrive — not thrown in the deep end

  • Leadership that is accessible, honest, and in your corner

  • A team culture built on kindness and mutual accountability

  • Space to make mistakes and grow from them

  • Rest is built into the rhythm of the summer

  • The chance to do work that genuinely matters

A Note on Faith & Worship

You do not need to be Episcopalian or Christian to work at camp. You do need to be mission-aligned. Worship, prayer, and faith practices are woven into the daily life of our camps — morning prayer, grace at meals, evening reflections, Sunday Eucharist. Staff are expected to participate alongside campers, not as a performance, but as a genuine presence.

If you're curious about faith, skeptical, or somewhere in between — you belong here. We make room for all of that.

What we ask is that you show up openly and with respect for the spiritual journey of every person in your community.

● COMPENSATION

What You’ll Earn

    • 16-17 years old

    • $200 / week

    • CIT (or applicable) experience required

    • $400 / week

    • At least 18 years old

    • $425 / week

    • At least 20 years old

    • Kitchen Lead: ServSafe certified

    • Hourly, weekly, or volunteer

    • Includes: kitchen, maintenance, housekeeping, & hospitality; paid or volunteer arrangements determined after interview

All positions include room, board, meals, laundry service, and access to transferable training and certifications. We value your time and gifts.

Benefits package (food, room, board, laundry, training, and certifications) valued at approximately $250/week — about $2,000 for a full 8-week season. CPR/First Aid/AED certification available for staff hired early in the season.

Four Steps to Getting Hired

Our application process is thorough because the work matters.

Here's what to expect:

Steps 1 & 2:

Complete Your Application & References Come In

Fill out the full application in our Ultracamp portal. Have the names and email addresses of three non-related references ready before you start.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis — but priority for hiring is given to applications received by March 20th.

Don't wait if you can help it!

There is always a possibility that camp will hit capacity and we will not be able to accommodate more hires or volunteers.

After you submit your application, your three references will receive forms electronically to complete.

Monitor your Ultracamp account and give them a nudge if needed — we can't move forward until all three are in.

Step 3:

We Connect With You

Our staff will reach out once your application and references are complete.

Interviews happen on a rolling basis via Zoom. Check your email at least every 72 hours.

Step 4:

Hear Back About Hiring

Within 15 days of the interview, you will receive one of three updates: hired, waitlisted, or not moving forward this season.

If hired, you will receive your contract before camp begins and will be required to complete all pre-employment paperwork and onboarding prior to your first paycheck.

All hired staff and volunteers must complete a background check (criminal records, Central Registry, and National Sex Offender Registry) and all required paperwork before employment is confirmed. American Camp Association standards also require a health history report and on-site health screening before campers arrive.

● Junior Staff

Ready to lead? Start here.

Being on Junior Staff is the bridge between being a camper and being a counselor. If you're 16 or 17 and have completed our Counselor in Training (CIT) program, this is your on-ramp to the team. But let's be honest about what that means: you are being trained and evaluated for a future role as an adult staff person. You will not always be assigned to a cabin. Some weeks you'll be in the kitchen. Some weeks you'll be doing facility support or running program logistics. That's not a punishment — it's the job, and it's how you learn everything that makes a great senior counselor.

Junior Staff who thrive are the ones who show up with a good attitude for whatever is needed. The whole camp runs because everyone does their part — and Junior Staff are a real part of that.

A note for parents: Junior Staff applicants are minors, but once hired, communication about the job is the junior staff person's responsibility — not their parent's. Directors will only contact parents in emergencies. We believe in young people owning their commitments.

Sessions You Can Work

  • June 27 – July 3 (Camp Chickagami)

  • July 12 – July 18 (Camp Chickagami)

Arrival and departure by 1 pm each session.

Sessions You Can Be a Camper

  • Senior Camp at Camp Chickagami: June 21–26

  • Senior Camp at Stony Lake: July 26 – Aug 1

    Use code juniorstaff for $150 off registration. More scholarships are available; don’t let finances keep you from participating in camp to the fullest.

Compensation

  • $200/week

  • Room, board & meals included

  • Laundry services included

What You Might Do

  • Junior Cabin Counselor

  • Kitchen Support

  • Facility Support

  • Program Support

● Mark your calendar

Pre-Camp Community & Training

Getting to camp isn't just showing up in June. There are meaningful opportunities before the season starts to connect with your team, serve the property, and get certified. Some are required; all are worth it.

  • Summer Staff & Volunteer Community Retreat — a warm-up lap before the season kicks off. A chance to meet your team and start building community. RSVP form coming soon.

  • Alumni Volunteer Work Weekend — work alongside folks who staffed Chickagami decades ago. Service, community, and probably some great meals.

  • Memorial Day Volunteer Work Weekend — service plus community plus getting the property ready for the summer ahead.

  • Lifeguard Training & Certification — get your whistle ready. Pre-registration form coming soon.

  • Camp Staff Training — the big one. Required for all-summer staff. Flexible arrangements (including online options) available for part-time staff.

    This is where community becomes team.

    *Required for staff working the full summer. Flexible for part-time and returning "highlight reel" staff. We'll work with you.

  • Stony Lake Staff Training — required for everyone working Session 4, whether you're joining us for the first time that week or coming off the full summer. Same team, same page, before we head into the week together.

     †Required for all staff working Session 4 at Stony Lake, regardless of whether you're joining for that week only or coming off the full summer.

A personal note:

I believe camp changes lives — including the lives of the people who work there. I know, because it changed mine.

This summer we are doing something genuinely new. Two programs with deep, distinct histories are coming together for the first time as one unified ministry, and we are building the team that will make that real. That's exciting, and it's also a little vulnerable — for all of us. We don't have everything figured out. But we have a committed leadership team, two remarkable locations, and a shared conviction that what happens at camp matters in ways that last for decades.

What I'm looking for in our staff is pretty simple: people who show up fully, love young people well, and are willing to do whatever is needed with a good attitude. I expect excellence and kindness in equal measure. I also believe deeply in laughter, in the kind of tired that comes from a week well lived, and in the fire-pit conversations that happen when the day is finally done.

If you want to do meaningful work in a community where honesty, joy, and safety all matter — I would love to read your application.


With gratitude, s’mores, and care,

McKenzie Bade-Knill
Director for Formation & Camping,
Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes

Apply Now on Ultracamp