By Melinda Trotti
This is the final article in a four-post series about Interim Directors and the interim season. The concepts apply to both religious and non-religious camps, conference centers and retreat centers. See Do We Need an Interim Director? and The Nuts and Bolts for Creating a Successful Interim Season, and Creating Clarity for the Interim Season.
The best place to begin an interim search is through camping associations such as American Camp Association which keep on line job boards. The United Methodist Camp and Retreat Ministry (UMCRM) partners with Lutheran Outdoor Ministries (LOM) to train previous Directors for interim camp ministry and keeps a list of who is available at any given time. While this list does not act as a recommendation or endorsement, the names are typically people who have received Interim training and/or served as Interim Directors in one or more contexts.
Hiring a present or former Board member or long-time supporter can be successful. The person knows the site and its history well and is committed to its success. If they have transferable skills from other work or ministry settings, that can be helpful to the interim period. However, their prior setting may have had a very different culture. For instance, coming from a military background can lead to confusion regarding less formal supervision styles or a more flattened hierarchy. Pastors may default to being a pastoral presence for staff at a camp when directive management is needed. Hiring a person who has not been a camp director before may require more of the supervisor’s time to translate for them the cultural norms of their present employment. Consistently clarifying who is responsible, who has authority, and who is accountable for the impact of decisions made with and to such an Interim Director will be necessary, because assumptions based on the previous role of the volunteer who is now a Director can arise and cause unintended conflict.
Interviewing applicants to identify their strengths and weaknesses to ascertain the best fit should be done along with the checking of references and background check as required by personnel policies. The same screening processes should be used for hiring an Interim Director as are used for any other position, even if the person is known to the Search Committee.
When Is a Consultant Helpful?
A consultant can greatly increase the likelihood that the interim season will be a successful one and help to open the space for the next right person to lead the site. A consultant can be helpful throughout the Interim process by:
- Clarifying with the site’s leaders what they need from an Interim Director
- Helping recruit potential candidates
- Coaching the interim while they navigate a time of transition and any resulting anxiety and challenges
- Working with site leadership and the Interim Director’s observations to develop a job description and search process for the Settled Director.
- Creating continuity and stability by helping choose an Interim Director and navigating the search for a Settled Director.
- Lifting the burden of the process from the shoulders of volunteers with other jobs and life commitments.
How Do I Become an Interim Director
Interim Camp Director training is offered periodically through the Outdoor Ministry Connection which is an multi-denominational group of Christian camps in the U.S. and Canada. You may contact Jen Burch at jen.burch@UMCRM.org with the United Methodist Camp and Retreat Committee to find out when the next Interim Director training is scheduled and to find a list of Interim Directors who can speak with you about their experiences as Interims and with the training.
Melinda Trotti of Healthy Camp Leadership is one of the instructors for the multi-denominational training and welcomes your inquiry about how else to gain interim skills outside of this training.
