Every summer, the sounds of laughter, cheering, and camp songs fill Montreat as hundreds of kids spend their days exploring with their counselors, playing games with their friends, and engaging in a Christian community. For many families, Montreat Clubs isn’t just a place to spend the day while parents attend conferences. It’s a tradition. Kids come back year after year to reunite with counselors and friends, and before long, Montreat starts to feel like a second home.
Montreat Clubs & Child Care is designed for children from two years old through recently graduated high school seniors. Whether families are visiting a conference, spending the summer in Montreat, or just in town for a week, Clubs gives kids a place to grow in faith, build friendships, and experience everything the valley has to offer. Clubbies are grouped by age, so every activity is planned with their interests and abilities in mind. Counselors foster an environment where everyone feels welcome, encouraged, and included. Montreat Clubs programming supports the conference center’s value of experiencing connection through shared adventures, worship, music, and play. Clubbies learn that community is strengthened by spending time together, encouraging one another, and growing side by side.
A typical day starts with clubbies arriving full of energy, excited to see their counselors and friends. The morning usually begins with songs, play time, and plenty of excitement before each club heads off for the day’s adventures. From there, every group follows its own schedule, but no matter the age, there’s always something happening.
Throughout the day, clubbies rotate through activities like swimming at the pool, paddle boating on Lake Susan, hiking the Montreat trails, exploring Flat Creek, making crafts, playing music, learning about nature, engaging in devotionals, or participating in scavenger hunts or tennis. One of the biggest parts of every day is all-around games. All-around games are played by older groups and allow participants to engage in large-scale games around campus. Some examples of these games are: Capture the Flag, Six Degrees, Three Strikes, and Indiana Jones. Clubbies spend plenty of time running around together, cheering each other on, and making new friends. The games aren’t just about winning; they’re about teamwork, encouraging one another, and having fun together.
For younger clubbies, the day also includes playground time, imaginative play, snacks, and rest time, while older campers take on bigger adventures like the famous overnight camping trips. These experiences help campers build confidence, independence, and leadership skills while giving them opportunities to connect with both nature and each other.
What makes Montreat Clubs so special is that every activity has a purpose beyond just keeping kids busy. Whether clubbies are helping a friend across the creek, encouraging someone during a game, working together to solve a challenge, or simply sharing laughs while starting a lanyard, they’re learning valuable lessons about friendship, teamwork, kindness, and confidence. Counselors help create an environment where every child feels seen, supported, and encouraged to try something new. Together, these elements teach participants about the importance of community.
The friendships built at Montreat often last well beyond the summer. Many clubbies grow up together, moving through each club year after year. It’s common to meet staff members who were once clubbies and who are, now, excited to give today’s clubbies a taste of the experience that shaped their own childhoods.
By the end of the afternoon, clubbies head home with muddy shoes, tired legs, craft projects in hand, and endless stories to tell their families. They’ll talk about the games they won, the songs they learned, the creek adventures they had, and the memories they made with their counselors and friends. Then they’ll wake up the next morning ready to do it all over again.
Montreat Clubs is much more than a summer day camp. It’s a place where adventure, faith, friendship, and community come together to create an experience that clubbies remember for years. From the youngest children in Child Care to the oldest clubbies spending their final summer in Senior Highs, every child becomes part of a tradition that has been bringing families together and creating lifelong memories for generations.
Olivia Abela is on summer staff as a marketing assistant at Montreat Conference Center. She is from Greenville, SC and attends Lander University as a rising senior. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, as well as doing anything creative.