EXPERIENTIAL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
Most people never dive deeply into who God created them to be and how God created them to lead. ELI is specifically designed to be that deep dive.
It’s not a Bible study, or a Sunday school class, or a passion-packed worship event. It’s a guided tour of who God created you to be, how God created you to lead, what it means to be a servant leader, and what it means to live in Christian community.
ELI is a multi-week, immersive leadership development experience. Highly trained coaches guide rising 11-12th graders to discover their God-given gifts, reflect on what it means to function as a Christian community, and practice servant leadership while making a difference as day camp counselors.
During ELI Leader Week, participants focus on discovering their natural strengths followed by learning servant leadership theory, small group dynamics, and how to cast a vision. Then, during Practicum Weeks, participants put to practice what they’ve learned as volunteer counselors at Grow Day Camps while continuing to receive guidance from ELI coaches.
GROW IN FAITH
Be part of a ministry team committed to fostering Christian community and spiritual growth while ministering to children across the state.
MAKE AN IMPACT
Be a counselor and young Christian role model as part of a team reaching out to hundreds of day campers at local churches this summer.
DEVELOP AS A LEADER
Be challenged as you discover your God-given strengths and learn servant leadership theories, small group dynamics, and how to cast a vision.
“I have learned to have a deeper understanding of myself and how I operate, and that has immensely helped me in school, work, and anywhere else where I am working with other people. I have learned to cooperate and get along with everyone, not just the people that I share the same views with.”
– ELI Participant
Become an ELI Leader
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2. INTERVIEW
Schedule an interview and submit references.
1st Round: Oct 16-30
2nd Round: Dec 4-11
3rd Round: Jan 15-29
4th Round: Mar 12-26
Final Round: May 17-21
3. ACCEPT
Once accepted, register by deadline to receive award. Following deadline, unclaimed awards will be offered to other applicants.
1st Round: Nov 4-18
2nd Round: Dec 14-18
3rd Round: Feb 3-17
4th Round: Mar 31-Apr 14
Final Round: May 24-28
4. ELI LEADER WEEK
May 30-June 1, 2021
Location: TBD
Discover your natural strengths, then learn about servant leadership theory, small group dynamics, and how to cast a vision.
5. COMMISSIONING
Be commissioned for a summer of ministry.
6. PRACTICUM WEEKS
Practice servant leadership as a counselor at one or more Grow Day Camp sites.
7. CELEBRATION
End-of-summer celebration with fellow ELI participants to commemorate leadership growth and ministry impact.
8. FALL LEADERSHIP ROLE
Continue to practice servant leadership at your home church.
Forms
Before you leave for ELI Leadership Week, please be sure to print out a Packing List and a Check-In Form.
SPONSORS & COSTS
The first 50 accepted ELI participants receive an automatic $500 leadership award toward the actual cost of ELI ($850) reducing the ELI fee to just $350 for a summer of leadership coaching and experience.
Special thanks to our 2020 program sponsor who helped make our 2020 leadership awards possible: Young Harris College (Host Sponsor)
“What I’ve taken from ELI has allowed me to thrive in my school, my community and my church these past few months, and I am so excited to see where else it takes me!”
– ELI Participant
CONTACT
For questions about ELI, contact Stephanie or Cameron. For questions about the application or registration, contact Caroline. To reach Stephanie or Caroline by phone, call the North Georgia Camp & Retreat Ministries office at (706) 864-6181.
Stephanie Gaines
Director
Stephanie joined the year-round NGCRM team in 2015 after multiple years on summer staff with Glisson, Grow, and ELI. She served on Glisson’s summer leadership team for four summers (’09,’10, ’12, ’13), then joined Grow Day Camps and ELI as a Program Director for the ’14 and ’15 summers. Stephanie’s role with NGCRM includes coordinating all aspects of Grow Day Camps, the Experiential Leadership Institute (ELI) and Shoreline Camps. Prior to her role at NGCRM, Stephanie taught high school science and Spanish in North Carolina and Georgia and served for a year with a ministry organization in Kenya. Stephanie lives in Dahlonega and attends Dahlonega UMC.
Cameron Jones
Communications & Program Advancement, NGCRM
Some people collect baseball cards; Cameron collects camp job titles, apparently. After multiple summers as a Glisson camper and then counselor in ’05, Cameron came back to camp in ’08 and never really left: Challenge Course Director in ’08, Program Intern from ’08-’09, Day Camp Director in ’09, Project Manager from ’09-10, Worship & Media Coordinator in ’11, Director of Communication & New Initiatives from ’11-13, and Director of Emerging Ministries from ’13 to ’15. Cameron now serves as Director of Communications & Program Advancement for the NGCRM family of ministries (Glisson, Grow Day Camps, Experiential Leadership Institute, Shoreline Camps). Cameron is married to Britt who is a dietitian at DeKalb Medical. They live in Decatur with their children, Eli and Callie, and are active members of Decatur First UMC.
