Summer camp season: the magical time when youth pastors everywhere wonder why they didn’t pursue a calmer career—like lion taming or diffusing bombs. Don’t worry! You’re not alone, and your sanity is salvageable. Here are some practical tips and humorous anecdotes to help you and your volunteers thrive (and survive) through the chaos of camp planning and execution.

1. Embrace the Chaos (Within Reason)
Accept it now: things will not go perfectly. Buses will break down, teenagers will lose shoes (and socks, and backpacks), and volunteers will inevitably panic at least once. Embrace the chaos, laugh often, and remember: today’s crisis is tomorrow’s hilarious campfire story.

2. Prep Like a Pro (But Be Flexible)
Have detailed schedules, contingency plans, and an emergency snack stash. But also be ready to toss the schedule when spontaneous dance-offs, impromptu talent shows, or sudden downpours hijack your plans. Flexibility is your superpower.

3. Take Care of Your Volunteers
Your volunteers are your greatest asset—treat them like royalty. Provide clear instructions, ample coffee, and the occasional chocolate surprise. Remember, a well-caffeinated and appreciated volunteer can withstand almost any amount of adolescent drama.

4. Create Your Own “Sanity Station”
Designate a quiet, volunteer-only zone stocked with essentials like snacks, beverages, comfy chairs, and earplugs. Brief escapes to recharge can transform overwhelmed volunteers into refreshed and enthusiastic camp heroes.

5. Document Everything (Especially the Funny Moments)
Assign someone to capture camp moments, especially the funny mishaps. Create a post-camp highlight reel for volunteers and students to enjoy later. Laughing together post-camp can help everyone recover from the inevitable exhaustion.

Summer camp season is intense, but with preparation, humor, and heaps of grace, you can save your sanity and create memories that last a lifetime. You’ve got this—now go be awesome!

May is sneaky. It lures you in with warm weather, graduation parties, and the promise of summer freedom. But blink too long, and suddenly it’s July, you’re sweating through your fourth back-to-back event, your phone is vibrating with “What time are we supposed to be there again?” texts, and your soul quietly whispers, “You did this to yourself.”

Let’s not let July you down. July You deserves better. July You should be sipping something cold in the shade, not frantically reprinting medical forms because the intern used Comic Sans again.

So here’s a short list of things you can do right now in May that will save your future self a ton of stress—and maybe even a meltdown or two.

1. Lock In Your Calendar—Then Actually Share It

You’ve probably already picked your camp dates, mission trip windows, and a handful of “we should totally do that again” ideas. Awesome. Now put those dates in a place your team, your parents, and your students can see.

Seriously. Google Calendars. Parent handouts. Text threads. GroupMe. Carrier pigeons. I don’t care. Just get it out there. Uncommunicated dates are the leading cause of youth ministry chaos and passive-aggressive parent emails.

2. Recruit Early and Often (Like, Yesterday)

There’s nothing worse than begging for volunteers two days before camp. Except maybe having to room with the middle school boys because nobody else volunteered.

Start your asks now—clearly, personally, and with enthusiasm. People want to help when they know what they’re saying yes to. “Come die with me in a cabin of junior high boys” is oddly less appealing than “Help make camp the most impactful week of a student’s year.”

3. Make Your Packing Lists and Checklists Now

The brain you have in May is sharp. It’s well-rested. It remembers things. That July brain? That’s marshmallow fluff inside a sunburned skull.

Write out your packing lists now—for you, your leaders, and your students. Then double-check your bins, label your supplies, and buy those extra extension cords you always forget. You’ll thank yourself when you’re not doing a midnight Wal-Mart run in a different state.

4. Create Your “While I’m Away” Plan

If you’re going to be out for a week or two (or hey, maybe you have a vacation planned—you wild rebel), leave a plan. A schedule. A contact list. Even a cheat sheet for whoever’s covering Sunday.

That way, you can actually rest on your trip, instead of getting 14 texts that start with, “Hey, sorry to bother you, but…” You’re not the Messiah. It’s okay to step away and not have the whole ministry hinge on your data plan.

5. Automate the Boring Stuff

Schedule your emails now. Set your Remind texts in advance. Preload your social media with reminders, encouragement, and bad memes. (Just double-check the memes. What was funny in 2020 might now be classified as spiritual malpractice.)

Automation isn’t lazy—it’s strategic. Every task you don’t have to do during your busiest weeks is one more breath you can take.

6. Have One Clear Win for the Summer

What do you want your students to remember most from this summer? A moment? A theme? A spiritual challenge?

Decide now. Build your events, messages, and games around it. Don’t let summer be a chaotic highlight reel of “fun stuff.” Give it a thread that points to Jesus and sticks in their soul longer than the glitter from that one craft night.

Bottom Line: If May You does a little prep, July You will weep tears of gratitude (and probably only one type of tears, not the meltdown kind). So take a few intentional steps this month and give yourself the freedom to be present this summer—not buried in duct tape and schedule edits.

You’ve got this. And even if you don’t, at least you’ll have a laminated packing list. And sometimes, that’s enough.