Taylor Johnston didn’t grow up going to camp, but she got here as soon as she could. She had studied Environmental Science with a minor in Education before God called her to explore a vocation in ministry. While in seminary and serving as a local church pastor, Taylor began volunteering at camp, and that setting, at Greene Hills in the Susquehanna (PA) Conference, became a place of discernment as she began to see “how it all fit together”: her commitments to Creation Care, interest in nurturing young people, and God’s calling toward a vocation in Christian service. As first a short-term volunteer and then a summer staffer at Greene Hills, Taylor got a sense of what camp was all about. 

However, it wasn’t until Director Charlie Renner encouraged her to attend the UMCRM National Gathering at Jumonville in 2021 that Taylor realized how much bigger the world of camp and retreat leadership really was. From the very first worship service at that event, she was amazed to see a room full of people who shared similar commitments, interests, and the calling to lead United Methodist camps. “These folks get it!” she remembers thinking. The leaders she met at the UMCRM Gathering understood the pieces – the faith, the outdoors, the children, youth, and adults, the administration, program, food service, recreation, rustic living…and how all of those fit together to create something powerful and transformative. 

That first night when she went back to the cabin where she was assigned to stay, Taylor was surprised to find that there were already people in it!  Somehow the mixup about the rooming situation turned out to be a happy accident, or perhaps another divine turn in a story God was writing, in which everything was meant to fit together. In that cabin at Jumonville, Taylor met the team from Camp Wanake in East Ohio, including Director Julie Lautt. It was Julie, a seasoned camp leader, who hired and mentored Taylor as a Program Director, her first full-time opportunity in Camp & Retreat Ministry. 

Taylor hasn’t missed a National Gathering since, and she’s also relished further opportunities for fellowship and learning that she has found at UMCRM’s jurisdictional events, Intentional Leadership Groups, and Community Conversations. She notes that at a small camp with only a couple of full-time staff, things can get lonely. The relationships forged through those gatherings mean she isn’t an island, but a member of a greater community of people who provide support, understanding, and expertise. Now when questions and challenges arise, she has peers across the country she can call. She also has “people who get it” to call when things go right – she chuckles to observe that not very many people will understand there is cause to celebrate when you can say, “nothing broke on site this week!”

One more anecdote from that first National Gathering at Jumonville shows how a little bit of intentionality from UMCRM volunteers made a lasting difference. That year, the Design Team had created a scavenger hunt activity in the Vendor Hall, a game whose intent was to get participants to visit every booth to fill in all of the clues. Taylor and her roommates got into the competitive spirit and worked hard to complete the hunt and solve the puzzle. One of the stops was the Compass Points table, where she first learned about the Certificate Program in Camp & Retreat Ministry. Because she stopped there, she was inspired to sign up for the upcoming UMCRM Immersion Experience, which led to a multi-year commitment to completing the Compass Points Program and UMCRM Certificate. Three years and eight classes later, Taylor was able to celebrate this achievement at the recent 2025 National Gathering in Texas. Taylor is grateful for all of the ways that the UMCRM Association has helped her to piece together a career and calling to serve God through Camp & Retreat Ministries.