Developing Spiritual Competencies During Staff Training

by Nancy Ferguson, M.Div., M.A., Ed.S.

Activity 3

The following thirty-minute activity will enable staff members to explore the wonders of the interconnections within an ecosystem. Staff will need paper and pens/ pencils, and identification books for the ecosystem.

Before you begin this activity, chose one of the ecosystems within your camp to explore and be sure staff is dressed appropriately. Explain to staff the purpose of the exploration is to consider the interconnections within the system and not to do a scientific study. Have the staff get into pairs. Ask them to walk into the middle of the ecosystem. (In the case of deep water, have the groups walk beside it.) Tell them to walk around and observe any interconnections in the system. After about fifteen minutes, gather everyone back together. Ask questions such as:

• I wonder what interconnections you found?
• I wonder what you think is most amazing or surprising about this ecosystem?
• I wonder what happens when a part of the ecosystem is disrupted or destroyed?
• I wonder how that affects creatures that live in the ecosystem?
• I wonder how humans are dependent on this ecosystem?

Encourage staff members to consider how the elements of wonder, creativity, and gratitude might be important for campers, and how they might help campers to experience these elements. Brainstorm activities for enhancing the experiences of campers through the use of wonder, creativity, and gratefulness, and record the ideas for future reference.

Nancy Ferguson, M.Div., M.A., Ed.S., lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she is a church camp consultant and freelance writer. Included among her hats are day camp director at Camp Hanover, an ACA-Accredited® camp; management consultant for the Religiously Affiliated Camps (RAC) Council of the American Camp Association (ACA); and author of several books including Training Staff to be Spiritual Leaders—A Guide for Christian Camp Leaders, available from the ACA Bookstore.

Originally published in the 2008 May/June issue of Camping Magazine.