Junior Staff
Winter JS Application/Registration | Summer 2012 JS Registration | Summer 2012 JS Application
Junior Staff
What is Wilderness Trail’s Junior Staff ministry?
Junior Staff with Wilderness Trail is a discipleship opportunity. Experienced WT hikers who desire to grow closer to God through serving and leading are placed in a group to partner with the Staff in ministry for the week of retreats and backpacking.
Many Wilderness Trail hiking groups will be joined by a Junior Staff. It is the WT Staff who are extensively trained in the areas of safety, wilderness first aid, group management, and spiritual leadership to lead events and hikes. Living out the Kingdom-image of the WT logo (Galatians 6:2), the Staff seek partnership with the adult in each group as well as empowering other leaders to collectively meet the group’s needs. Often times this features the Junior Staff; however, Junior Staff are not always placed in every group. Matching WT leadership to your hiking group is a prayerful process of pursuing God’s plan for each group, leader, and the event as a whole.
The Purpose
Wilderness Trail’s ministry with Junior Staff seeks to:
- Build disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world…
- Through worship and theological preparation for serving and leading a group based on Jesus’ foot washing example in John 13
- Through the mentor/mentee relationship between college-aged Staff and Junior Staff with its daily goal-setting, debriefing, and praying together
- Develop leadership in and for the local church…
- By providing opportunities for personal and spiritual growth
- With prayerful attention to group dynamics, interpersonal communication, and devotional leadership
- A tertiary side effect of these foci is immersion and learning in the organizational life of trail, equipment, kitchen, worship planning, foursquare, dance parties, and wildness.
The Requisites
To apply to serve as Junior Staff with Wilderness Trail, you must:
- Be fifteen years of age by the time of the event during which you will serve as Junior Staff
- Have completed 3 summer hikes with WT
- Receive positive recommendations from a youth counselor and a WT Staff person
Apply
Or Download the Print Version Junior Staff Application
Fill it out and mail it to PO BOX 742, Waynesville, NC 28786 or if you are so digitally inclined, email the document to danbaker@wtrail.com. We prefer the online version to save time, postage, and the amount of paper to succesfully keep track of!
The Timeline
Wilderness Trail’s Junior Staff ministry exists in the Summer Program at the Property and at off-site weekend winter events in Ocala National Forest and Blackwater State Forest.
- For Summer 2012, applications will be reviewed and notifications will be communicated with registration instructions by New Year’s Day, 2012. It’s never too late to apply!!!
- For February and March events in Florida, expect weekend information and registration in October 2011.
Communicate
Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Junior Staff experience, application, or registration. We fall short of perfection in keeping track of every piece of paper between the Property and the Waynesville Office. If you are expecting to hear from us and no word comes, call us! We want desperately to keep you up-to-date and plugged in on opportunities to grow and serve!