Story Work for Fundraisers
Megan Hillier-Geisler, Ph.D.
Shaw Meeting Room
What stories does your camp, conference, or retreat center have at your disposal? How do you target potential funders with authentic, resonant messages designed to spur them into action? In this session, you’ll reflect on the “autobiography” of your organization, consider how stories change from group to group, and the legends that do important work in your community. As fundraisers, we often hear that stories are more effective than facts and figures, but get little instruction on how to share such stories with care, protection, and love for the tellers we borrow from. Workshop attendees will begin to identify meaningful folklore (legends, crafts, foods, songs, etc.) from their location, pick one to craft messaging around, and consider how to ensure authentic sharing even when we might be new(er) to the community we support.

NEW TIME: Using Social Media to tell your Center’s Story
Elise Croak & Kate Howton
St. Mark’s
Social media IS storytelling. It is also inherently antithetical to the work we do - at its best it offers a tool for connection, sharing, and entertaining but at its worst it creates divisiveness, inauthenticity, and pressure to perform. So, in our modern age of algorithms and online platforms, how is it that we can harness the power of social media to uplift the stories of our centers? Join us for a conversation about what it can look like to engage with and within these online communities in a way that feels relevant and “with the times” while keeping our missional values at the forefront.

Reclaiming the Outdoors: Closing the Nature Gap
Rhonda Hill
St John’s
Nature should be for everyone—but systemic barriers, historical exclusion, and cultural narratives have left many communities disconnected from the outdoors. In this workshop, we’ll unpack the “nature gap,” explore the racialized dynamics of outdoor spaces, and discuss ways to create more equitable, welcoming environments. Through conversation, reflection, and creating new narratives, participants will walk away challenged and given a new directive to amplify diverse voices in outdoor spaces.

NEW TIME: From Campfire Stories to Clean Data: Database Administration for Non-DBAs
Nick Sollog
Pool Room
The stories that shape camps and retreat centers don’t just live around the campfire—they live in your database. Every registration, gift, and interaction helps tell the story of your community and mission.

This small-group session is for anyone who touches the database, regardless of role or title. We’ll share practical, approachable database administration best practices—including consistent data entry, record keeping, data hygiene, and reporting—so your CRM supports your ministry, honors relationships, and helps your data tell a clear and connected story.

CANCELLED
Are You Ready for a Capital Campaign?
Rev. Michael Erwin

Racial Justice Conversations 101
James Williams & The Racial Justice Committee
St Mark’s
Join James Williams, the chair of the Racial Justice Committee, and other advocates from within the ECCC community to learn some of the important base concepts and idea surrounding Racial Justice work. This workshop will draw from our collective experience, tailored to the camp experience, as well as broader themes learned through James' personal learning within community organizing. This workshop is for all who are wondering 'how do I approach talking about race' - come ready to be vulnerable, in a learning posture, and with questions! A note - this space is an entry space, and so will hold space for difficult questions often wondered by those beginning to do work around Racial Justice. We will balance intent and impact - meaning we will balance our learning with how our words/actions impact all those in the room. Come ready to be brave!

Writing a Different Story: Mission Driven Imagination
Megan Hillier-Geisler, Ph.D.
Shaw Meeting Room
Your organization has written its mission, vision, and values statements, but what would it look like for you to achieve this and more? Many organizations work toward an idealized future, but few are comfortable considering what it would look like if their (personal or organizational) work were no longer needed. In this session, participants will create a “sunset statement” to reflect on roles and organizations beyond their tenure. After identifying core beliefs, attendees will be asked to envision mission-aligned work with a new perspective, then work toward creating that reality even when we might not be here to see it. A workshop in the true sense, participants will be guided through the exercise, asked to collaborate with other attendees, and provide direct feedback on the exercise.

Operationalizing Your Values
Lauri SoJourner
St John’s
This interactive workshop invites you to explore how your organization’s core values can become living stories through daily decisions, relationships, and ministry practices. Through guided reflection, uncover how to operationalize your values, ensuring they are more than words on a web page, but rather guide leadership, impact daily operations, strengthen identity, and inspire faithful stewardship.

NEW TIME: Beyond the BCP
Rev Laura Rezac & Rev Spencer Hatcher-Tarplin
Pool Table Room
Are you relatively new to camping ministry or to Episcopal liturgy? Are you curious about where to begin designing meaningful worship experiences at camp? Do you have questions about camp Eucharists, preaching, or how to use scripture effectively? If so, please join us for this session! The goals of our time together are twofold. We plan share resources and introductory guidelines for camp directors planning worship. We also hope to use this time as a listening session to hear more about your questions, concerns, and priorities related to camp worship so we can offer further resources or workshops in the future that address the needs of this community.

CANCELED:
Empowering Benefits Administrators—Roles, Tools & Resources
Alyssa Moore & Zach Peterson

Texas Floods - strengthening as we move forward
Kevin Spaeth & Rob Watson
Shaw Meeting Room
What we've learned. The state's reaction. Moving forward in remembrance.

Having Hard Conversations
James Williams and Kathy Wilder
St. Mark’s
Do you struggle with having hard conversations with others? Are you looking for tools to increase your confidence, perspective, and skills? This is the workshop for you. We will present several communication models as well as time to practice with others. We hope you'll walk away with some practice with basic skills and tools for the future.

Art Meditations
Lauri SoJourner & Teri Valente
St John’s
Research shows that relaxation, meditation and mindfulness can help increase our creativity, insight, problem solving, working memory and emotional regulation. The also  lower levels of anxiety, blood pressure, inflammation, & cortisol production. Research also shows that rest can make you more productive. So whether you could use a little relaxation and a reset yourself or are looking for some skills to lead your guests, staff, or campers in some activities to calm themselves - come hang out with us and boost your seratonin and oxytocin. Zero artistic skill is necessary.

NEW TIME: The Story We’re Living: weaving meaning, memory, and mission at our camps.
Alex Flannagan
Doran
Every camp has a beginning. Every camp faces challenges. And every camp is still becoming. This workshop uses storytelling, theology, and shared reflection to help leaders name the stories shaping their centers—even the ones we don’t always say out loud—and consider how truth-telling can lead to renewal, resilience, and hope.

NEW TIME: Optimizing Staffing to Maximize Impact: Findings & Focus Areas from ECCC Staff Survey Data
Jared Rendell
Pool Table Room
Your staff members are the heart of summer ministry. Knowing where they are coming from and what they need to thrive makes a big difference at every stage of the camp staff cycle. Thanks to research from the Episcopal Church Leadership Project, we know quite a bit about the motivations and needs of ECCC summer camp staff. We’ll share what we've learned in this project and others, and explore how to use those insights to optimize every stage of the summer staff cycle from recruiting, preparing, training, and retaining these emerging adults that make your ministry happen.

Attract, Recruit and Retain International Staff
Conor Murray
Pool Table Room
Are you looking to step up your camp’s international staff recruitment game? Learn from former participants turned camp directors that now work with hundreds of camps each year on how best to Attract, Recruit, and Retain International Staff. In this session you’ll find out what attracts international applicants to camps based on a survey from our 2025 placed applicants. Learn the tactics and tools to best approach potential international staff members during the recruitment process. Explore unique ways that camps are minimizing staff cancellations and engaging with hired staff members prior to arrival.

Disability Justice in Outdoor Ministries
Bekah Scolare, Andy Duchossois & Rev. Kate Harmon Siberine
St Mark’s
Camps and conference/retreat centers are incredible, transformative spaces where campers, guests, visitors, and staff alike can discover new insights into themselves and how they interact with the world around them. Our centers can be spaces apart from society – a place where the norms and expectations of “regular life” can be overturned. This camp magic is what sets up our centers with unparalleled potential to be inclusive and liberating spaces for disabled campers and staff. (Yes, even with the hills your cabins reside on.) In this workshop, we'll explore disability justice in outdoor ministries, why it matters, and how to incorporate it into your camp ecosystem- from your kitchen to your programming. This workshop will include time to evaluate and strategize your ministry’s next steps (ramp pun).

We will be providing masks and asking that attendees wear them for the safety of our presenters.

Creating Pilgrimage Experiences at your Center
Rev/ Shannon Kelly
St John’s
Have you ever wondered if you could turn your center into a place of pilgrimage or sacred journey? Do you have sacred spaces (including the outdoors) you know people love to come visit for a deeper spiritual experience? Join me as we explore what a pilgrimage or sacred journeys are and how you can nurture having those spaces at your center. We will talk about how to use the assets of your center, how you can offer a space of spiritual respite, what it looks like to invite people into this journey, and how to begin creating a concrete plan for your spaces.

Art of Hosting Panel
Kaitlin Horvath, Bart Geissinger, Brandon Gooch & Hannah Graham
Shaw Meeting Room
We know that "Camp Magic" only happens after a lot of intentional hard work is invested.  When it comes to retreats and conferences that translates to the "Art of Hosting."  When we do all the things on our cross department checklists well - guests feel welcomed and open to transformation.  Come hear about some helpful tools and best practices from some of your colleagues.

Can We Do It? Yes We Canva?
Teri Valente
Doran
What if I could show you how to make those Canva posts introducing your summer staff (or any other bulk posting) a breeze instead of a burden? Good news. I can. Bring your laptop and learn how to work smarter not harder.

Positivity, Support, Accountability - How to integrate systems of a healthy and productive staff culture
Laura Elliot
St Mark’s
Join this interactive session to learn about systems and strategies that help build and protect a healthy and productive staff culture while supporting your team in reaching strategic plans and annual goals. Participants will use and take home tools and resources grounded in results-based accountability, community-building, and restorative practices.

Developing a Family Camp Program: The Why, What, Who, and How
John Hill
Pool Table
This workshop will focus on the Why, What, Who and How to develop a Family Camp program. John will begin with the question of why even start a ministry to families and the reasons why it is important today before addressing who is family and the need to define family much more broad than our nuclear family including the church family. The workshop will then turn to look at the what are the key elements of family camp that help bring together the family before finally focusing on how to develop family camp in a variety of different contexts. The workshops will close with answering specific questions from participants own camps and conference centers.

Decolonize Feedback
Kathy Wilder
St John’s
Together we will explore creative solutions for feedback systems for your organization, summer camp, outdoor school, retreat center, and more. We will specifically look at the Bicycle Chain model and how this can support increased communication, feedback skill building, and ultimately inspire growth and change in community. Please bring your own feedback systems (annual review forms, goal setting plans, etc.) so that we can share knowledge and consider ways to create effective and equitable systems for feedback.

Discernment Panel
Bishop Jennifer Baskerville Burrows, Rev. Shannon Kelly, Rob Watson, & Stratt Byars
Shaw Meeting Room
Our centers and churches have countless people who come to them because they are “a place apart from day to day” and sometimes that means they need to think things through, spend time in nature with God praying about what is next, and talk to the other people there to listen for God’s voice on their journey. “To discern” means to sort out, to sift through, to distinguish. It is not a specifically religious word—however, when the verb “discern” becomes a noun, the term “discernment” is used primarily in faith based circles. As leaders and fellow companions on the way, how can we help facilitate people discerning God’s movement in their lives? Join a bishop, priest, diocesan staff person, and executive director as we discuss what discernment means, various ways to do discernment, and how we can help people including our staff, campers, youth, young adults, and other visitors listen to God’s movement in their lives.

Put Me In Coach
Bishop Brian N Prior
Doran
Relational leadership…learning how to walk with others and live into your passion and potential.