Volunteer? Employee? Where Do You Fit In?

Silver Lake's ministry happens because church members and Silver Lake alums -- Christians -- come to this beautiful setting to make Christ's love real to young people. They lead summer conferences and winter retreats, work to maintain the buildings, stuff envelopes, and give their hard-earned cash to support the ministry at Silver Lake.

Our summer camp program relies on two important groups: Volunteers who serve for one week as deans and counselors to the conferences; and our summer staff who live and work here all summer.

Silver Lake is hiring a year-round Administrator.

Our Administrator has primary responsibility for camp registration, from talking families through their choices to ensuring all their paperwork has been filed correctly. Our Administrator is the face of Silver Lake, the first person to greet you when you call or walk into camp. We are looking for someone who thrives in the fast-paced summer camp environment, who can manage multiple tasks simultaneously, and who has a passion for growing leaders in Outdoor Ministry. Camp experience preferred. Read the full position description.

To apply, send cover letter, resume, and references to the Rev. Ryan Gackenheimer, Executive Director, at ryang@ctucc.org. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Summer Conference Volunteer Opportunities

Deans are adult volunteers who lead our week-long summer conferences. They recruit counselors, organize a curriculum and plan a schedule for their week, and oversee their conferees while they are at Silver Lake. Deans spend one week at Silver Lake during the summer, but work all year round to prepare their conferences.
Click here for more information on becoming a Dean.

Counselors must be at least 16 and at least 2 years older than their conferees. Counselors are responsible for shepherding the young people in their cabin or bunkroom -- a maximum of eight -- through a week's conference. They sleep in a counselor's bunk in or adjoining the conferees' cabin or bunkroom, share their meals, and lead them in activities throughout the week. Counselors spend one week at Silver Lake during the summer, but may be asked to complete some training before arriving, depending on their age and experience.
Click here for more information on becoming a Counselor

Summer Staff Employment Opportunities

Summer Staff receive a stipend for their work during the 10 weeks of the summer. They lead programs, cook meals, oversee water activities, clean, sing, climb, run, and generally make Silver Lake a safe, enjoyable and blessed place to grow and begin faith journeys for so many young people.

Summer Staff work six days per week for approximately nine to ten weeks during the summer, including pre-camp training. Applicants for Summer Staff must be at least 16 years old for Camp Family and 18 years old for other parts of staff. There are other age requirements for specific positions, including Team Coordinators.

Staff teams include Camp Family (mostly cleaning tasks), Kitchen, Waterfront (lifeguarding certification required), A-team (challenge course facilitators), ETF (maintenance), and Resource (activities and resource support to conferences).

Review of applications and interviews for Camp Family and Coordinator positions begins in November for the coming summer. Camp Family applications have an absolute deadline of January 15th. Candidates for all other positions who wish to receive first consideration must apply by January 15th. Applications will be received after January and will be reviewed based on staffing needs for the coming summer. For more information about how to apply, please click here.  

Year-Round Volunteer Opportunities

Individuals and groups are welcome to help with site maintenance, both repair and new construction projects. To make arrangements or for more information, contact Greg Arifian, site manager, at grega@ctucc.org.

For longer-term volunteer opportunities at Silver Lake or at other sites around the country visit the UCC's National Partners in Service website at: ucc.org/volunteer/partners-in-service and find out about their program for volunteers.