Dedicated to helping Kids Ministry leaders in their mission of making disciples
We are so excited to have launched the brand new centrikid.com!
The new CentriKid website includes freshly designed pages, fun new ways to filter and search camp locations, updated information for church leaders, parents, and staffers, AND our new site is mobile friendly!
Check out this video to see a few highlights of the update: The New CENTRIKID.COM.
Interested in signing up for camp? Check out centrikid.com/camps/ or contact centrikid@lifeway.com for more information!
Summer camps begin recruiting for their summer staffing roles every year in the fall. Who do you know that would do an awesome job serving at a camp? Take an opportunity to recommend someone you know, and their life will be changed forever!
Any former camp staffer knows about the hard work and the blessing of working camp and we want everyone to know these five not-so-hidden benefits of serving on camp staff:
The summer will be here before you know it, so who do you know that would be an asset to a camp team and would benefit from serving in this way? For all the LifeWay Camps, the summer staff applications can be found here. But of course, we recommend serving at Kids Camp!
Please share this post with someone who serves in your ministry and offers to be a reference. Help them get started with applying for CentriKid Camps or Student Life For Kids.
Jeremy Echols leads the CentriKid Camps team and manages the LifeWay Kids events. He, his wife Emily, and their precious daughter love their church, their neighborhood, and spending time together. Jeremy loves to read, watch sports, and grill burgers.
Every year at CentriKid we have a key verse. This verse guides the spiritual direction for our time together. Our key verse from this summer was Ephesians 2:10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Each day, we focused on how we are God’s design and how we can learn more about who we are in Jesus.
I was able to talk to one staffer, Holly Wade, who unpacked how Ephesians 2:10 is still making a difference in her life after camp: “Ephesians 2:10 has become one of my favorite verses because of what it taught me this summer. As I came back home and back to school, this verse gave me more confidence because of who I am in Christ. Being a triplet, I have always compared myself to my siblings, especially in college. This semester I have a different mindset because I am reminded that I am God’s workmanship and created for a different purpose from my twins, I am unique and special to God. He has a different blueprint for my life compared to my twins and that’s okay. I had the opportunity to meet many twins and triplets at camp over the summer, and I got to portray this message to them. I reminded them of their uniqueness and their individual talents and traits gifted by God. I ended up teaching myself the same thing, I carry that mindset into this school year as I look at my future, instead of comparing or worrying what someone else is doing, I trust that God has a purpose for my life, because He already knew it before I was born and He is faithful to His promises.”
It is so exciting to see how, not just kids, but staff as well, are able to apply the key verse in everyday life.
Next summer the CentriKid Camps theme is “All Access” and our key verse is John 17:3. “This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent-Jesus Christ.” Take a look HERE to see our 2019 theme teaser!
We are so excited to see how God will change lives not only in the lives of the kids but also in the adults and even the CentriKid staff as well. Looking forward to seeing what God does at camp in 2019. Contact us with any questions about camp at centrikid@lifeway.com!
Lydia McMillan works on the CentriKid Camps team. She manages social media, produces videos, works with actors, and leads production elements. She is married to Joshua and they have two kiddos who keep them very busy.
At CentriKid Camps, we are clear about our purpose—we serve the church in her mission of making disciples. One of the best ways we can do that is by using every activity at camp to intentionally make the message of Christ clear in the lives of kids.
Bible Study and Worship are obviously times when we share the gospel and unpack what it means to live a life that is committed to God. We also train our staff to share the gospel through Recreation, Track Time activities, and even Hang Time.
We aim to help kids grow in their relationship with Christ and to present the message clearly for those who don’t have a relationship with Christ. Our staffers are faithful to share clearly in every programmed activity of the day—never with the intent of pressuring children, but always with the heart of making it easy to talk about the things of God and ask questions.
Download the free Training Plan and prepare for your next training session:
With this training session, we are opening up the playbook and equipping kids ministry leaders to train their volunteers with the same materials and plan that we use to train CentriKid staffers. Thousands of adult leaders experienced this training session at camp in 2018 and we hope this resource is valuable for many more to be trained for sharing the gospel with kids.
Jeremy Echols leads the CentriKid Camps team and manages the LifeWay Kids events. He, his wife Emily, and their precious daughter love their church, their neighborhood, and spending time together. Jeremy loves to read, watch sports, and grill burgers.
After we return from a fun summer at camp, the CentriKid office team designates time in the office called “Evaluation Week,” where we celebrate what God did throughout the summer and discuss ways (from your feedback!) that we can make next summer even better.
Before we ever jumped in to details and discussion, we spent time as a team praying over the decisions that were made and seeds that were planted at camp. Because of how God worked through CentriKid’s “Blueprint: God’s Design,” hundreds of kids now have a relationship with Christ and many others are continuing to grow in their faith.
We are excited to officially announce our 2018 Ministry Results!
Wow! Please join us in taking time to say a quick prayer thanking God for how He has moved this summer and how He continues to work through CentriKid Camps to impact the kingdom.
Thanks for joining us for “Blueprint: God’s Design,” and we hope to see you next year for CentriKid 2019, “All Access!” You can check out all of our dates, locations, and how to register HERE or by calling 1-877-CAMP-123. If you have any questions, please email centrikid@lifeway.com.
CentriKid Camps are underway again this summer and kids are learning about “Blueprint: God’s Design.” Each year we are able to serve hundreds of churches and thousands of campers with Bible Study, Recreation, and Worship each night. The best days of summer really are at CentriKid Camps!
Track Times and Bible Study are great times when kids are hearing the gospel while participating in fun activities. Worship has also been a powerful experience where kids are taught about what it means to be God’s workmanship, and how we are completely forgiven. We’ve already heard from churches after camp about over 100 campers who began a relationship with Christ for the very first time while at CentriKid! That’s something to celebrate!
Kids in the Sign Language Track Time perform in Closing on Day 5 at camp and it is a really special time as they share what they’ve learned all week in front of the camp.
CentriKid is having an impact on the adults who attend camp too! One mom who attended camp in Kentucky with her church group said: “my 6th grader is thoroughly embarrassed (by me), and my 3rd-grade daughter thinks I’m cool stuff.”
We would love to serve your group at camp next summer, and registration is already open for 2019. Check out all the dates and locations at centrikid.com and sign up today! Contact our team anytime by email at centrikid@lifeway.com with logistical questions, parent questions, or anything else that we can help you with.
Jeremy Echols leads the CentriKid Camps team and manages the LifeWay Kids events. He, his wife Emily, and their precious daughter love their church, their neighborhood, and spending time together. Jeremy loves to read, watch sports, and grill burgers.
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Jeremy Echols, leads the CentriKid Camps team for LifeWay Kids , joins the podcast this week explaining what kids ministry leaders can do to effectively follow up with kids and families after an amazing week of kids camp.
Here is a peek behind the scenes at CentriKid Camps staffer training. Every summer we hire a couple hundred summer staffers to facilitate the CentriKid program elements of Bible Study, Recreation, Worship, Track Times, and everything else! These leaders make the most of their opportunity because through each camp element they share the gospel with kids in practical ways. Staffers value their role serving the Church each week by making the message of Christ clear in the lives of kids at camp.
Each aspect of camp is woven into the overall spiritual direction for the week of camp. For camp this summer, at overnight camps as well as day camps, we develop a theme and graphical motif to teach kids how God loves them, they can be forgiven from sin, and God has big plans for their life.
Allyson is a new staffer with CentriKid this summer, and as she prepares for the summer, she is excited about the opportunity to serve churches and invest in kids. She helped at another camp last year but was drawn to CentriKid because she had a chance to help as a team Assistant with her church and fell in love with the way CentriKid staffers are so intentional with teaching kids and making the gospel clear on an age-appropriate level
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Camp ministry doesn’t just exist for one week out of the summer. Through the years, I have seen how that one season in a staffer’s life has impacted their ministry beyond just the summer.
Jesse is a returning staffer who came to CentriKid in a Media Tech role with plans of completing college and going on with his career.
After serving a couple of summers, Jesse expressed an interest in the Camp Pastor role and has served well in that capacity. Now he’s changed the course of his education to pursue a seminary degree and train to serve as a pastor of a church!
God is working already in the lives of kids, adults, and even summer staffers who will be at CentriKid. We look forward to sharing ministry results from camp and celebrating how lives are changed for eternity because of the impact of camp.
To learn more about CentriKid Camps, visit www.centrikid.com and if you know a young adult who should consider serving for a summer on camp staff, share the “Become a Staffer” page and help that student get plugged into the application process. The summer staff application is online and already available next summer! There are several FAQ’s there and a link to the online application.
Jeremy Echols leads the CentriKid Camps team and manages the LifeWay Kids events. He, his wife Emily, and their precious daughter love their church, their neighborhood, and spending time together. Jeremy loves to read, watch sports, and grill burgers.
Kids camp is a great time to make memories. Church camp takes all the fun elements and combines a spiritual application to each aspect of camp—making it even better! But parents want to know when their child is really ready for overnight camp. Answers may vary for different families, sometimes the readiness may vary for different kids in the same family!
Here are 5 questions to ask when figuring out if a child is ready for overnight camp.
We know the impact of camp is powerful. Campers make lifelong memories while trying new activities, meeting new friends, and growing in their faith. My hope is that every child has the opportunity to make camp memories and grow in their spiritual journey through the camp experience. Here are several insights about helping parents have peace-of-mind with kids going to camp.
At CentriKid, we offer camp for 3rd-6th graders, but not every church sends their kids who are entering 3rd grade, some wait for kids to complete 3rd grade. That is something you as a kids ministry leader and the parents of the individual kids can best determine. We want kids to have a great time, be safe, and comprehend what’s going on at camp.
We serve tons of churches every summer with kids camp and we love having experienced kids at camp and also first timers! For more information about CentriKid Camps visit www.centrikid.com and contact us with any questions you have along the way.
Jeremy Echols leads the CentriKid Camps team and manages the LifeWay Kids events. He, his wife Emily, and their precious daughter love their church, their neighborhood, and spending time together. Jeremy loves to read, watch sports, and grill burgers.
Kids camp is for kids, right? Right! But have you considered having teenagers involved in the kids ministry at your church?
We all know that kids don’t stay kids … and at LifeWay Kids, we talk a lot about breaking down ministry silos between kids and student ministries. Summer camp is a great way to plug in some trusted teens to gain valuable ministry experience and it is a simple way to partner with the Student Ministry team at your church. You’ll want to bring older teens who have displayed maturity or who may have helped out before.
Here are 5 benefits to having trusted teens help at kids camp:
This summer, consider inviting a couple of teens to be a part of your kids camp group. If they understand the opportunity they have to do Kingdom work, then starting at kids camp as a helper could lead to a future where they serve in your church and maybe even continue on with other ministry opportunities in college and afterwards!
