Where is Christikon?

The camp site, formerly a guest ranch, is located in the Rocky Mountains just north of Yellowstone National Park, near the heart of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area, in some of the loveliest country in the world, about 47 miles southwest of Big Timber, Montana.

What is the shape of the Christikon program?

At the main camp site, there are youth sessions for senior high, junior high, and for fifth- and sixth-graders. The optimum camp size is 65-75 campers. There are also sessions for family and adults, and a half-week session for developmentally disabled adults.

In addition, we have a parallel backpacking and trails program for senior high and junior high youth, in the wilderness that surrounds the camp. Some of these groups may focus especially on trail maintenance and campsite rehabilitation (we call them CreationCare).

In which programs would I serve?

Probably in all of them. We rotate staff in several ways at Christikon. On-site and trails: If you are a counselor, you would most likely be out backpacking at least two of the five scheduled sessions, and based on-site the rest of the time. Counseling and Support Staff: In addition, you would probably server during one session in one of the Support Staff positions (kitchen, maintenance, office, trails room, etc.). Or if your designated position is on Support Service, you would probably do at least some counseling.

The Christikon Staff Community: Leaders in the Life of Faith

How important is my Christian commitment to working at Christikon?

It is essential. In all staff positions, Christikon needs people whose lives are committed to Jesus Christ.

Christikon understands itself as a community of the gospel—as a community called into being, nurtured, and shaped by the word of God in Jesus Christ. We are part of and servant to the church. As such, we are inherently a community of worship, study and prayer; and those dimensions are essential in our life together.

Christikon seeks also to be a community of alternate vision. Together, we try to shape an experience where the usual oppositions by which this world is broken may begin to be transcended in a vision that anticipates the coming Kingdom of God. In such a vision, to become weak for others is to be strong...to become a servant is to be free...to give life away is to find it. We have no illusions that we can somehow attain the coming Kingdom. But we do seek to embody this vision in our life together; in order to hold open for all who join us the possibility that life may indeed be shaped by the love and forgiveness of God in Christ.

In every aspect of the Christikon life, we try to work this out. For example, we are a community of the table, where meals and food and eating together anticipate our sharing with each other at the communion table and with all Creation at the great feast in Paradise...where mealtime offers us opportunity to model sharing, fellowship, humility, responsible service, and gratitude.

Within the larger Christikon community, staff people function as a community of service and leadership. Together with the Director, they provide direction in shaping the entire Christikon life. As staff people, they speak and at on behalf of Christ and his church in this particular place, among this particular people.

When you are a Christikon staff member, it is important that you be open to being grasped by this vision of life together...that you try to pattern your personal life accordingly...that you be willing to accommodate your individual goals to help build a community of this broader vision, so that those who come to join us at camp may find with us a fresh perspective on life lived towards the coming Kingdom.

Will I be leading worship?

Yes. Worship is central in the Christikon life; and whatever your staff position, you will be involved in worship planning and leadership. In our worship life we seek to take seriously both the needs of contemporary experience and the rich resources available to us from the Christian tradition.

Do I have to be Lutheran?

No. People of several denominational backgrounds have served with us. At the same time, we note that our ministry is both unapologetically Christian and explicitly trinitarian. Most of the campers we serve are of Lutheran background; and as we work to witness faithfully to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are significantly shaped by the Lutheran tradition in which we stand. Staff people need to be comfortable working in this context.

For Christikon staff, we need people who come to camp, not simply because they love the mountains and the outdoors, but also because they love the mountains and the outdoors, but also because they love Jesus Christ, and they are committed to serving his people, in the context of the Christikon life.

What else does Christikon look for in staff people?

Maturity: Staff people carry a great deal of responsibility during the season, so maturity of judgment and character are essential. Counseling staff must be at least 19 years old and at least one year beyond high school. Moreover, in order to meet standards of the American Camping Association (ACA), about half our staff people will need to be at least 21 years old. So in the selection process, when other things are equal, preference is usually given to older applicants.

Health: To carry out staff responsibilities adequately, you need to be in appropriate physical condition for a summer of vigorous living, hiking, and backpacking. If you have special dietary or medical needs, you must discuss those with the director during the application process so that we can determine the camp’s ability to meet those special considerations.

Character: As a Christikon staff person, you will be working closely with campers and other staff people in an intense community setting. So you need to be open and sensitive, and able to adapt to a wide variety of people and situations. At the same time, you need to have a good sense of who you are and the commitments to which you are loyal.

Skills and interests: General camping and backpacking skills are often helpful to have, but are not necessary prior to the summer. Christikon will provide you with three weeks of training (two weeks on-site and one week on a backpack) to prepare you for providing leadership in the Christikon life. At the same time, your participation is enhanced by the special skills, interests, and certifications you bring to camp with you (e.g., in ecology, geology, plant/animal identification, art, music, drama, crafts etc.).

CPR and Wilderness First Aid: In order to comply with ACA standards, all our staff need to be certified in CPR and Wilderness First Aid. We will provide you with that certification during staff training. But if you already have those certifications prior to coming to Christikon, you will receive a bonus.

A word on food: Eating together is a significant part of the Christikon life, and the meal is a chief metaphor in the way we shape our life together. Staff participation in meals also has programmatic impact, embodying the responsible use of food and gratitude for the giftedness of the meal. All our meals are served family style, and we seek to offer a nutritious and well-balanced diet. We do seek to accommodate allergies or other medical limitations that prevent sharing in certain foods. At the same time is should be noted that those who have strong food dislikes or who follow a vegetarian diet unyieldingly may well model perspectives that flow in a different direction form program goals with the meal at Christikon, and perhaps might serve better in other community settings.

Session and Summer Schedules at Christikon

On-site based youth sessions: The schedule below shows you what a typical resident youth session for junior high might look like. Senior high camps run an extra day. When campers arrive, they are assigned to both a cabin and a family group Cabins house from 5 to 10 campers with a counselor. Family groups are formed by matching a boys’ cabin with a girls’ cabin to produce two family groups. Each of these is led by one of the cabin counselors, and ideally has eight campers (four of each gender).

Trails sessions: Up to six trails groups may be out during each session. Each group has up to ten guests (including youth campers and adult advisors), and is led by two Christikon staff people (one male, one female). Trails campers stay at the main camp the first and last nights. In between they spend four (sometimes five) nights out on the trails.

Senior high backpackers generally follow looping routes in the wilderness surrounding Christikon. Junior high trails campers pack to a site that becomes their base camp for the session, from which they do day hiking. CreationCare groups work with the Forest Service personnel at various wilderness locations.

The summer schedule runs from early June through mid August for most staff people (though a few may remain until after Labor Day).

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Copyright © Christikon ● Lutheran Bible Camp, Inc., 2008.