By: Virginia Riddle

This past Tuesday, Ryan Fitch, Assistant Director of a Christian summer camp called Lutherlyn, came to campus to offer information on Lutherlyn as a summer job opportunity.

Lutherlyn, a ministry in the ELCA Lutheran church, runs retreat programs all year round. However, the center is in special need of extra staff in the summers. Positions include counselors, lifeguards, kitchen staff, maintenance crew, and more.

Fitch spoke a bit on the position of a camp counselor by saying, “…counselors specifically, we need a lot of them to fill our staff. They spend a week at a time with a group of campers and kind of become a bit of a family. They become mentors, they become guides for this group of campers, teaching them what it’s like to live in a relationship with God, what it’s like to care for nature and creation, and how we treat other people. We model all of that in concrete ways, in actions.”

Since Lutherlyn is an outdoor ministry site as well as a summer camp, Fitch explained the possible majors that would be a great fit for the job, “Education majors… it’s an awesome way to work with kids. I would say if you are interested in ministry at all, it’s a really great place for that. If you are an environmental ed major, that’s another area that can be incorporated,” he continued to clarify, “We have had the range of majors, though. We’ve had psychology majors. We’ve had math majors. We’ve had so many varied people come… All those things help us serve the variety of needs that camper bring.”

When asked for what type of personality fits in best with the Lutherlyn atmosphere, Fitch replied, “People who live to have fun. People who are creative… thinkers, dreamers… leaders or followers.”

Fitch emphasized that training is provided for those who are hired to be on summer staff with a two-week training program. Part of the training includes providing certification courses for Fist Aid, CPR, and high ropes training. Hired staff would start training on June 5th and end their entire summer contract on August 6th. More information for job opportunities at Lutherlyn can be found at Summer Employment (lutherlyn.com).

After the interview and initial set up of the recruitment table, Fitch led a worship service in the on-campus chapel with Rev. Brian Riddle.