Serve With Us

Every summer, Gretna Glen employs a team of young adults to serve as our summer staff. The summer staff, along with volunteers, make the ministry of camp come to life. The summer staff often fill many different roles throughout their stay. Gretna Glen seeks out the best summer staff from area colleges and the local church community. The process includes an online application, in-person interview, and background & reference checks before being invited to join the team. A week long training that extensively covers how to keep campers safe and supervised during all of our activities is mandatory for all summer staffers. The summer staff partner with full-time staff and volunteers to fill roles in: food service, maintenance, activity facilitation, lifeguarding, and counseling. Both resident and commuter positions are available for the summer, depending on location and position

The Mission of the Eastern Pennsylvania United Methodist Camp and Retreat Ministries is to provide transforming experiences in sacred spaces within God's creation that bring diverse people to new and renewed life in Jesus Christ.

Our goal as staff and volunteers is to share the joy of knowing and following Jesus Christ by providing a welcoming and loving atmosphere in the beautiful wilderness of Gretna Glen.

Gretna Glen overnight campers can range from 6 year old's up to 18 year old's depending on the camp. We also have a day camp that welcomes 5-year old's through 12 year old's. We try to offer a camp program for everyone in these age ranges every week.

The summer season starts on June 9th with staff training for new & returning staff. All of staff training is mandatory. It will last 6 days. The last day of camp ends on August 8th. Some staff will have the opportunity to work through August 16th depending on the staffing needs of camp. During a typical week, staff will report to camp by 1:00pm on Sunday and will be done Friday evening after cleaning is complete. This is usually between 8:00pm and 9:00pm

Staff receive a very extensive training from June 9th-14th in addition to pre-summer online training. There is a lot to cover and not a lot of down time during this on site staff training week. It is a chance for staff to learn how to care for campers, teach the Bible curriculum, get to know their new camp family, learn Gretna Glen policies, play games, and settle in to their new home. If you have an interest, training can also include learning how to lead specialized activities such as archery, challenge course, and others.

Just to name a few: Archery, Boating, Team Building, High Ropes, Bible Study, Swimming, Arts & Crafts, Games, Sports, Capture the Flag, All Camp Game, Campfires, Outdoor Cooking, Nature, Fishing, Singing, Dancing...

If you are a counselor for the week, you will be living with the campers in the cabins, Wesley Lodge, or Raab Retreat Lodge. As a counselor, your lodging will depend on what camp you are working with. Those that cannot commute or whom we have asked to fill a specialty role will live in the Chalet. The Chalet is an A-frame house that has three floors. There are five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a full kitchen, and a nice living room. You will be sharing bedrooms with other staff members and can stay here over the weekends if you are at least 18 years old.

During the pandemic our approach to camp will include a few extra steps, but it will be the same as our focus has always been to go above and beyond for the safety of our campers, volunteers, and staff. We will be asking you to self quarantine for 1 week prior to staff training, and then we will be carefully following procedures during the staff training process which will also be a "quarantined week". In addition to regular testing, updated cleaning procedures, and following state and federal guidance we are excited to offer camp in 2021!

Summer 2021 will follow our "Sharing our Joy" theme where campers will learn about a couple different narratives from the Bible and understand the joy that God brings us, and focuses on connecting to God through prayer and how there are different prayer practices that allow us to find that connection. "Sharing our Joy", at its heart, is about longings of the human heart. The daily themes explore issues and concerns that all people wrestle with, regardless of their beliefs or background. As people of faith, we look to scripture and the traditions of those who came before us to see how we might face these same issues in our own lives. One consistent tool we see in both scripture and the tradition of the church is prayer. People pray in different ways, yet that connection to God is at the heart of many happy endings - much JOY.