Young adult volunteers are a crucial component to the unique age-based programming of Northern Pines. We need engaging and motivated young adults to serve as counselors and staff in our youth programs each week.
Please prayerfully consider serving one or both weeks. Your service is crucial to the spiritual, emotional, and physical experience of the conferees. Young adult volunteers receive a weekly honorarium.
Descriptions for the available roles are listed below; when applying you can select all of the roles you're interested in serving. Please review our standards and expectations before applying. After applying, we will review applications in March and follow up with all applicants. If accepted, all young adult volunteers will need to submit a confirmation form to confirm their placement. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact us through our Contact Us page or at connect@npines.org.
Wilderness Staff
Each week's Wilderness staff includes male and female young adults in a variety of roles. These leaders are motivated young adults who have graduated high school. Some lead the Trail Talks each morning with the boys or girls (respectively) leading the students in an engaging lesson followed by some fun games and activities. Wilderness staff also lead the high-school aged Tribal Leaders and are available as support staff for the Tribal Leaders to come to with any questions or concerns. They work closely with the Wilderness director and assistant director helping with leadership and preparation throughout the week.
Junior High Counselor
Junior High Counselors are young adults who have completed 1 year of college or are at least 20 years of age. They are committed to building relationships with their students and encouraging them through the challenging junior high years—7th–9th grade. Fun loving energy and a compassionate heart make a great Junior High Counselor; the ability to relate and care about junior high students is a must. Junior High staff share rooms with the students in their small group, eat their meals together, and participate in various physical games and activities together. After time of worship and Biblical study as a larger group, Junior High Counselors lead discussions with their small group of 6–10 students.
Senior High Counselor
Senior High Counselors are young adults who have completed 1 year of college or are at least 20 years of age. They are young adults with a desire to share their life experiences and passion for Godly living with high-school students. Senior High staff share rooms with the students in their small group, eat their meals together, and participate in various physical games and activities together. After time of worship and Biblical study as a larger group, Senior High Counselors facilitate engaging and challenging discussions with their small group of 6–10 students.
CCA Counselor
CCA Counselors are young adults who have completed 1 year of college or are at least 20 years of age—previous CCA experience is a plus. CCA counselors are energetic and responsible young adults that are excited to help serve the children and CCAs at Northern Pines. CCA counselors help with the morning programming with both the children's program and CCA Bible study. They are available throughout the week to connect with CCAs and build relationships with them. Each evening as CCAs watch after their assigned family's children, the CCA counselors are responsible for a group of CCAs (based on location) and are available should any issues or questions arise. CCA staff share rooms with CCAs, eat their meals together, and participate in various activities together.
Children's Program Teacher
Caring for infants and toddlers or teaching a specific age group of children 3 to 8 years of age is a fun way to get involved at Northern Pines. Depending on class size, there may be 2 teachers in a classroom. CCAs also provide support and help in classrooms. Time commitment involves personal preparation as well, three hours of morning teaching, and a daily meeting with the rest of the Children's Program Staff. Afternoons and evenings are free, enabling teachers to attend the adult evening sessions.
Teachers receive a weekly honorarium and are invited to participate in the evening portion of the Adult Program.
Youth Photographers
The Youth Photographers stay with the Junior or Senior High programs and will work with program directors to photograph key events from each youth program. They will also coordinate sharing photos from other staff members and our communication and social media team. They spend some time with each youth program, getting to know the students and building unique relationships across the programs. They are also available to jump in and support the program assistant directors if needed during the week. Youth photographers must have a smart phone with a high-quality camera or a traditional camera and a wifi-enabled computer.
Youth Worship Band Musicians
The Youth worship band musicians are young adults who have completed 1 year of college or are at least 20 years of age. They have a passion for bringing Junior and Senior high students into the presence of God through worship. The band provides authentic, high-energy worship sets for the Junior and Senior High programs each day. The team will rehearse with band leadership. During the week, the team will also have the opportunity to join the Junior and Senior High programs to participate in their programming and engage with the students.