The 2025 Summer Staff application is live!
Why work at camp this summer?
IT’S DIFFERENCE MAKING.
Few experiences are as profound or impactful as a summer spent working at camp. Step into a job that's filled with purpose and gives you the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of kids by being the person you needed when you were younger.
IT’S LEADERSHIP EQUIPPING.
We have a passion for developing and training leaders who can make an impact. Gain marketable skills through foundational training and extensive leadership experience. Join a close-knit community of people led by full-time staff committed to your personal development and support.
IT’S LIFE CHANGING.
The life that changes just might be your own. Joining our summer staff means diving into something that’s real, that immerses you in what it means to love Jesus and love like Jesus. It’s kingdom ministry that’s intense, deep, and life changing.
How Do I Apply?
To apply, first you need to know which position(s) you want to apply for. If you’re new to camp ministry, we encourage you to consider applying for a specialty or counselor position as a first step, unless you have past leadership experience that makes you a good fit for one of our program coordinator positions.
For all positions, your first step is filling out a NLOMA application. (What is NLOMA?)
If you are applying for a Program Coordinator position, please make sure to ALSO fill out the PC Application Form.
Once you’ve filled out the required application(s), here are your next steps:
Wait to be contacted by Camp Luther to set up an interview.
Interview.
Wait patiently.
Find out by February 24 if Camp Luther has offered a position. (Need to know sooner? We’ve got you covered.)
What Kind of People Are You Looking For?
We want people who love Jesus, love kids, and are willing to put their faith into action to serve in outdoor ministry. To be a counselor or a program coordinator, you need to be at least a year out of high school. For specialty staff positions, you can apply even if you’re still in high school. If you haven’t ever attended camp at Camp Luther or aren’t a huge outdoor expert, don’t worry! Each summer we hire people who are brand new to camp. Click here for more information about the different positions available.
Counselor Positions:
As a counselor, you are responsible for the 24-hour supervision of a small group of campers each week of the summer. This role involves working to build a community within your group where all your campers feels like they belong, leading daily activities with your campers, facilitating faith discussions that connect with the real life experience of kids today, and working closely with your fellow summer staffers to make camp an engaging and awesome place for all our campers.
Open Positions:
Female counselors x 14
Male counselors x 12
Program Coordinator Positions:
Our program coordinators serve the ministry of camp in many different ways but are united by the scope of responsibility and strong leadership required for each role. In addition, the people in these positions take ownership for mentoring and supporting our summer staff team. Strong preference is given to applicants with previous Camp Luther staff experience or equivalent leadership experience. Click here for more information about the different positions available. To learn more about the specific programs some of these positions work with, click on the linked programs below.
Open Positions:
Youth Camp Program Coordinator x 2
IMPACT Program Coordinator x 2
Quest Program Coordinator x 2
Junior Counselor Program Coordinator
Family Camp Program Coordinator
Media Coordinator
Waterfront Coordinator
Health Care Coordinator
Maintenance/Volunteer Coordinator
Specialty Staff Positions:
Our specialty staff serve behind the scenes in a variety of different important ways at camp. Unlike our other summer staff positions which require you to be at least one year out of high school, these roles are available to anyone who is 16+ years old.
Kitchen:
Camp Luther hires four kitchen staff for the summer. These positions allow you to be a part of an awesome kitchen crew where you’ll work hard serving food and washing dishes, but also get to be a part of the fun that happens everyday at camp. Each week, two additional summer staff are rotated in the kitchen, allowing you to work alongside many of our summer staff team over the course of the summer. One of these positions is a Kitchen Lead who serves as an assistant to our full-time Food Service Manager and takes on responsibilities for staff supervision and kitchen oversight, especially when the Food Service Manager is absent.
Office:
Work with our front office team to help manage logistics and responsibilities in the following areas: parent communication, camper registration and check-in, canteen, and lost and found items
Float:
Serve as needed in a variety of work areas around camp, including lifeguarding, housekeeping, kitchen, and filling in for counselors during their time off. A strong preference will be given to candidates who are lifeguard certified or willing to become lifeguard certified for this role.
Open Positions:
Kitchen Lead x 1
Kitchen Staff x 4
Float Staff x 2
Office Staff x 1
What Other Information Should I Know Before Applying?
Staff Training:
All staff undergo two weeks of intensive staff training, covering a variety of topics, including ministry leadership, faith formation, child and youth development, facilitative leadership, program planning, and risk management. This time is also focused on personal formation and community development. Staff training is required for all staff and is May 26 - June 8, 2025.
Program Coordinator positions require an extended training time and begin staff training on May 19, 2025.
Start and End Dates:
May 19 - Program Coordinators arrive
May 26 - Counselors and Kitchen Staff arrive
June 8 - First day of camp!
August 16 - Last day of camp!
August 17-23 - Bonus week! Stay and help with end of summer groups and programs.
Work and Time Off:
You will work very hard if selected to a part of the Camp Luther staff team. Staff work from early in the morning to late in the evening, with very little personal time. Counselors spend nearly every hour of the day with their campers, while Program Coordinators and Specialty Staff have grueling and unglamorous duties to fulfill each day.
All staff will receive on average of one day off per week. Counselors can expect to work four weekends throughout the summer and have the rest of their weekends off. In addition, all staff receive one hour off each day and all counselors receive an additional four hour block of time off each week.
Any time off requests are entirely dependent on the needs of the summer program. Please be aware that our hiring preference will go to staff who can work the entire summer. With that said, we work hard to be flexible with staff time off requests - if you need an early end date or extended block of time off during the summer, we encourage you to still apply so we can discuss your options!
This is the hardest job you’ll ever love. You’ll get paid to do things like swim, zip line, dance around the campfire, roast s’mores, and talk to kids about Jesus. You’ll wake up every morning knowing you get a chance to make a difference and experience the rhythms of a life centered around faith and fun. You’ll become a part of the rich and deep legacy at Camp Luther and gain a camp family that will last for the rest of your life. A summer at camp can change your life in a way that not many jobs can.
Salary:
We recognize that finances can be a stress point and an obstacle that prevents people from following the call of Jesus to serve at camp. If you’re looking to maximize your earnings, working at camp is probably not the right fit. But if you’re looking for one of the most impactful, formational experiences in ministry and leadership that you will ever have the opportunity to be a part of—this is it.
1st Year Staff Salary: $275/week
2nd Year Staff Salary: $300/week
3rd+ Year Staff Salary: $350/week
Additional bonuses for staff who are lifeguard certified, for staff who serve all 10 weeks of our summer programming, and for staff who help with our end of summer bonus week.
We also provide housing and meals for our summer staff for the entire summer.
Frequently Asked Questions
I have a super early end date or have to miss a large chunk of time in the middle of the summer - I probably shouldn’t even apply, eh?
If you feel God might be calling you to serve at camp this summer, please apply! We want to work with you to make this summer a possibility - in past summers we have worked with staff to provide additional time off, early end dates, and flexibility around other summer conflicts to still allow them to be a part of our staff team. What we need most of all is willing hearts to live out the ministry of the gospel - let us worry about the details.
Why am I applying through the NLOMA website? What is this NLOMA thing all about?
We are a partner camp of the National Lutheran Outdoors Ministry Association (NLOMA), an awesome organization made up of 20+ Lutheran camps across the country. We share a common application with the other NLOMA camps. This means that when you apply to work at Camp Luther, your application can also be seen by the other NLOMA camps. We all work together to find awesome staff to serve the ministry of camp in the summer.
If we aren’t able to offer you a position here, your second and third choice camps will be the first to see your application. You can explore the many different camps that make up NLOMA by going HERE.
Even if you have your heart set on working at Camp Luther, we really challenge you to consider being open to serving at a different camp. You never know what God is going to do if you give Him the opportunity. And there are awesome camps just like Camp Luther that may need someone like you to give them a chance. God will use a summer at camp, ANY camp, to grow you in incredible ways.
What if I need to know before the February 24 deadline if I’ve been hired or not?
If a situation comes up where you need a firm answer before that February 24 date, please just let us know and we will be happy to work with you - we understand sometimes opportunities come up where you need to be able to make a firm commitment one way or the other.
Because Camp Luther is a part of a joint association of camps (NLOMA) that work together to hire staff for the summer, we typically make the majority of our hiring decisions at the annual NLOMA conference, which takes place towards the end of February. That is why most of the people we interview can expect to hear from us by Monday, February 24 as a part of that process.
If I’m applying for a Program Coordinator position, do I also need to fill out a NLOMA application?
Yes, please still fill out the NLOMA application! We ask people applying for our Program Coordinator positions to fill out a secondary application form in addition to the standard NLOMA profile because these are critical leadership roles on our summer staff team with specific responsibilities during the summer. But please make sure to still fill out the NLOMA profile as well.
Is there an age requirement to work at camp?
To apply to be a counselor or to serve in one of our program coordinator positions, you must be at least one year out of high school. You must be 16+ at the start of the summer to apply for a specialty staff position (kitchen, office, float).
My family goes on vacation every year in the summer. Can I have time off to go?
We understand that life doesn’t stop in the summer and work hard to be flexible with staff time off requests. Although your availability is a factor in our hiring decisions, if you let us know about planned time off right away, we are almost always able to work with you to make those requests happen. Prior to the summer, staff will receive access to a Time Off Request Form that you may use to request unscheduled time off during the summer.
What happens if I need an earlier end date than what is listed?
We totally understand that you may have school or life related responsibilities that conflict with working through the end of our summer season. Although your availability is a factor in our hiring decisions, each summer we will have multiple staff who need an early end date for a variety of reasons. We are happy to work with you to accommodate an early end date as long as that need is communicated with us ahead of time.
When does the summer start?
For program coordinators, staff training starts on Monday, May 19. For the rest of our summer staff, staff training starts on Monday, May 26. (We ask program coordinators to arrive a week early because of the need for extra planning time for these positions, as well as extra training for their specific roles.)
When does the summer end?
The last official day of camp is Saturday, August 16.
Where will I live while I’m at camp?
Our summer staff are housed in the Retreat Center, which provides modern dormitory-style housing with shared community bathrooms. You'll share a room with 2-3 other summer staff members. Each room has two bunk beds, as well as two dressers to use to store your stuff. It's helpful to pack light and bring extra storage containers and organizers to help keep everything tidy. This is your room for the summer--it's your permanent place to store your stuff and where you'll stay during time off. During the summer, if you’re leading a group that is staying in one of our villages, you’ll stay out in the village with your group that week, but you’ll still have your Retreat Center room as your home base.
Can you give me some specific details of what my summer would look like?
Here’s the breakdown of what happens in the summer:
Staff Training: Your first two weeks at camp will be spent in training, where you’ll learn the ins and outs of what it looks like to serve at camp as well as forming incredible friendships with your fellow summer staffers.
Summer Programming: Following staff training, the next nine weeks of the summer will be spent doing camp! At Camp Luther, our main camp program each week is our residential youth camp programs (Pathfinder and Trailblazer) that consist of approximately 130 kids (Grades 3-8) split into different small groups. We also run the following programs that you may be a part of during the summer:
Quest, IMPACT, High School Week, KBC programs (Older Kids)
Explorer, Kindercamp (Younger Kids)
Family Camp, Village Glamping (Families)
Confirmation Camps: Our final week of programming consists of two sessions of 3-day long confirmation camps, where churches will bring their confirmation students and adult leaders to camp to get a jump start on their year in confirmation and have some incredible fun together.
End of Summer: After the final confirmation group leaves, summer staff stick around for a couple more days in order to complete end of summer work projects, provide evaluation and feedback on their summer experience, and spend some final time together as a staff community before transitioning back to the “real world”.
I have student loans coming out of my ears. Do I make any money off this camp thing?
We value our summer staff team a LOT and want to support you in as many ways as possible, including financially. But if you’re looking to maximize your earnings, working at camp is probably not the right fit. However, if you’re looking for one of the most impactful, formational experiences in ministry and leadership that you will ever have the opportunity to be a part of—this is it. Serving in camp ministry as a part of a summer staff community is an incredibly unique opportunity that most people will never get to experience once they graduate from college. If you feel like you’re being called towards a summer of ministry, consider what it looks like to trust God with your finances this year.
Do you have internet up there in the Northwoods?
We do! It’s not the fastest, and we encourage our summer staff to intentionally “unplug” for the summer as a part of their time at camp, but we’re not completely cut off from the outside world.
I’m in! What do I do next?
Step one is to fill out an application! (And if you’re applying for a PC role, don’t forget to fill out the PC application form in addition to the main NLOMA profile.) Then wait for someone from Camp Luther to contact you to set up an interview.
JUST DO IT.
Even if you are not entirely sure about your summer plans, get the process started by submitting your application.
Have additional questions? Contact Kardia (kardia@campluther.com), Camp Luther's Director of Programs, with any questions or requests for additional information.