Commonly Asked ?'s

Grindstone Lake Bible Camp, located in Sandstone, MN, has weeks for children and youth from 1^st-12^th. It exists to teach the fundamental basics of gospel truth, call young people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, to teach the basics of Christian living and trust the power of God’s Word and Spirit to minister God’s transforming grace in the lives of sinners.

GLBC is an evangelical, interdenominational organization that is owned by the GLBC Association. Member churches represent the Evangelical Free Church of America, the Presbyterian Church in America, the Presbyterian Church USA, the Baptist General Conference and Independent. Campers come from a much broader background than these, such as no church, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Pentecostal, etc.

2. How many staff do you hire in the summer? How many core staff are brand new and how are returning?

GLBC hires approximately 25 all summer staff. Depending on the week, about 10 more staff come during a week that sign-up for only a partial summer. Although the returning core staff/new staff ratio varies from year to year, usually it is around 50/50.

3. Where is the camp located?

The camp is located in Sandstone, MN, which about a 75 miles north of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area on Interstate Highway 35.

4. What cities do the campers come from?

Most of the camper population comes from an area that starts at the northern suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul and ends about 10 miles north of the rural area of Sandstone.

5. What is your staff to camper ratio?

The maximum ratio for counselor is 7 to 1 (except Sr. High). However, the average for most weeks is about 5 to 1. In most cases, the program staff (nature director, archery director, sports/activities director, drama director) has a maximum of 15 campers for each class.

6. How many campers come each week? How many campers come total for the summer?

GLBC has averaged around 750 kids per year for the past three summers. The maximum number of campers per week is 154. Here are the approximate numbers per week that we average by age grouping.

Sr. High - 50 kids per week

Jr. High - 80 kids per week

Upper Elementary - 125 kids per week

Lower Elementary - 75 kids per week

7. How old do you have to be to on staff?

Core Counselors: Must be at least 19 years old.

Core Counselors in Training: Must be at least 18 years old.

Counselors Assistants: Must be at least 15 yrs. old for 1st-6th grade weeks, 16 yrs. old for 6th-8th grade week, 17 yrs. old for 7th-9th grade week, and 19 years old for 10th-12th grade.

First Aid Person or Nurse: Must be at least 19 yrs old

Program Staff (Worship Director, Nature Director, Assistant Program Director, Archery Director, Arts & Crafts Director, Head Lifeguard, and Lifeguard Asst.): Must be at least 17 years of age (Head Lifeguard must be 19 years old).

8. What are the dates that I need to be available? Is time off possible?

Core (all summer) staff need to be available from June 14^th - Aug. 13^th. Some flexibility with these dates is possible.

9. Can I sign-up for just part of the summer?

Counselor assistants and volunteer program staff can sign-up for just any number of weeks that they are old enough to work.

10. Do I get time off during the day? Do I get time off during the weekends?

Each staff member gets two hours off during each full day. For full weeks that are back to back, all staff are done on Friday evening at 9:00 PM and do not need to be back to camp until 4 PM on Sunday. The camp also has two shortened weeks. All staff have the weekend of Family Camp off, unless otherwise agreed upon.

11. How much training do I receive?

Core Counselors and Counselor Assistants have one week of training prior to the first week of camp. Topics covered during training week are sharing the gospel, giving a devotional talk, preparing a lesson, handling camper discipline, etc.

12. If I have never been to Grindstone Lake Bible Camp, what have other new staff said about coming for their first year?

Consider the following comments from the following staff:

What I liked most about GLBC is “definitely the staff! I felt so much encouragement from everyone. God brought so many unique people together with different gifts to be His body.” Laura Haide – First Year Core Counselor

It [my summer] was incredible. It was my best summer yet. I have learned more than I could have imagined. I feel so blessed to have been used by God for His purposes this summer. There’s nothing better than hanging out with the kids. Loving people, sharing truth, and playing sports - I’m so grateful for this opportunity.” January Johnson – First Year Core Counselor

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