COVID-19 Protocols for PASSPORT 2022

One Camp with Four Houses: At camp, churches will be assigned to one of four “houses.” Each house will contain around 2-6 church groups, depending on the size of your session. These houses will stay in the same dorms, eat meals together, group together (still distanced) for large group gatherings, and participate in small group Bible study together. By each house moving independently throughout the week, your campers will only relate to 1/4 of the total participants. 

Daily Wellness Checks: Group leaders and other chaperones will be asked to conduct a daily wellness check which will include morning temperature checks and monitoring for new symptoms. Group leaders will confirm daily wellness updates to the  Assistant Director at the adult meeting.

Leaving Campus:  Movement off-campus will be severely restricted. No campers will be allowed off-campus unless there are special circumstances. We ask that chaperones not leave campus, except for important trips to the drug store, or emergency care facilities. In addition, Youth camps will not have our usual middle night off, so that we can keep everyone on campus. For youth camps, the one exception will be one or two days of local mission projects. Each house will visit a mission project on one or two days of camp. This will happen with churches transporting their own youth – not youth from another group. And the mission sites will be outdoor work with strict mask-wearing and physical distancing.

Meals: Each house will have assigned meal times to sit by church groups for quick meals. PASSPORT will strictly follow specific guidelines implemented by each host campus.

Housing: The four houses will be assigned to different cabins, floors, or wings, as much as possible given the housing provided to Passport. In compliance with Passport’s Healthy Adult-Minor Rooming Requirements and each church’s policies and practices, group leaders will be given the flexibility to group students in ways that make the most sense for their students’ safety. 

Personal Hygiene

• Mask wearing will be required at all times, except sleeping, swimming, and showers. 
• Hand Washing will be encouraged throughout the day by PASSPORT Staff and Group Leaders. This will include before and after most camp activities such as meals, mission projects, Bible study, etc.
• We suggest that every camper bring a string-style backpack, to keep up with the following items: Additional Masks, Hand Sanitizer, Bible, Camp Passport, Pencil or Pen, water bottle, and wipes.

PASSPORT is taking some extraordinary steps to ensure that our Staff are healthy and free of COVID-19 leading up to and during the summer.

Summer staffers are required to

• Self-quarantine for 10 days before arriving for training week.
• Attend a 10-day regulated training week – thereby securing a 10-day quarantine before any campers arrive.
• Complete COVID-19 readiness training related to daily sanitizing and safety procedures at camp.
• Wear a mask for most camp activities, following CDCs most recent updates throughout the summer.
• Comply with restrictions on travel away from camp.
• Stay 6-feet away from campers and chaperones at all times, and when needed for a camp situation such as a camper injury, to make sure to not expose campers for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period. There will be no hugs, high-fives, or hand-holding this summer.

Required: Receiving the COVID-19 vaccine as available prior to working camp.

Registration/Check-In/Check-Out

• Check-In and Check-Out will be as contactless as possible.
• Church groups will be strongly encouraged to only interact with other groups in their assigned House.

Bible Study

• Bible Study Groups will be made up only of students from within a given House.
• Opening activities are designed to take place outdoors, when possible.
• Activities will promote and encourage physical distancing.
• Bible study will last no more than 60 minutes – down from 75.
• Campers will not share objects within each study, and PASSPORT will sanitize rooms and reusable resources as needed between activities.

Afternoon Rotations and Missions Projects

• Houses will rotate through four different daily offerings throughout the week. Three will be on-campus opportunities for discipleship and mission education. These have been adapted from PASSPORTChoices. The fourth opportunity will be a controlled and physically-distanced local mission service opportunity with campers riding only in their own church vehicles.
• All supplies will be sanitized each day.
• Campers will rotate through these four daily offerings with their Bible Study groups. This means your entire church group will do the same activity each day.

Afternoon Free Time

• Free time will be spent on campus within church groups. Campers should not move among other youth groups and churches. Group Leaders will need to actively monitor their students during this time.
• Church groups are encouraged to bring their own recreation supplies for afternoon free time, such as balls, frisbees, corn-hole, board games, etc.
• No campwide free time options will be offered.
• Auditions for the Variety Show will be done virtually, prior to camp.

Celebrations and Worship

• As weather allows, Celebrations and Worship will be held in outdoor venues. While these events will be in the day’s heat, outdoor seating with physical distancing is the safest option for this summer.
• When weather restricts outdoor activities, each campus has an auditorium, and we will divide the space into four sections and physical distancing as much as the space will allow. Please note that the seating capacity in both auditoriums at both locations is significantly bigger than the number of campers in attendance. So, while distancing inside is still viable, outside gathering will still be the first priority.
• Seating assignments will be made for each House, and campers will need to stay in their assigned area.
• Participants are asked to bring their own chair or blanket to sit on for each service.
• Campers participating on stage will be assigned by one House each day in order to prevent close contact with participants from other Houses.
• Supplies will be distributed by Group Leaders only.
• Any reusable supplies and equipment will be sanitized promptly upon the completion of each event.

Parties

• As weather permits, parties will be held in outdoor venues.
• When weather restricts outdoor events, we will move to large, indoor spaces and physically distance as we are able. In certain circumstances we may have to cancel an event for camper’s safety.
• A new outdoor party will be held on Day 3 that eliminates the need for groups to leave campus as previous year schedules indicated.
• Individuals will participate in Parties by House. This will be true for the Rec Party, the Dance, and the new Day 3 party. For the Variety Show, each House will have 15 minutes, and the equipment will be cleaned in between Houses.
• Any reusable supplies and equipment will be sanitized promptly upon the completion of each event.

Camp Store

There will be no PASSPORT Store during camp this summer. We are considering an online store with a limited supply of PASSPORT gear – stay tuned.

Additional Adjustments

• Specific mitigation procedures will be included in Camp Rules and will be reviewed at the beginning of camp during Opening Celebration.
• Graduated seniors will be honored and commissioned in worship on Night 2
• There will be no 12th Night event this year.
• Instructions and Bible study resources will be provided almost exclusively in the camp passport this summer. Each participant MUST keep their passport with them at all times and should not loan their passport to anyone. Participants must have a writing utensil at all times.
• Houses and Bible Study Groups will follow an established traffic pattern to limit contact with other groups, including entrances and exits.
• Church Group Devotions will take place in an assigned outdoor area whenever possible.

Check-In/Checkout

• Check-In and Check-Out will be as contactless as possible
• Church groups will be strongly encouraged to only interact with other groups in their House

Bible Study

• Bible Study Groups will be made up of campers from within a given House.
• Curricula Design Features
  • Limited shared objects
  • Opening sections designed to take place outdoors
  • Sanitized resources that are designed to be reused
  • Activities that promote and encourage physical distancing
  • Each lesson will be no more than 55 minutes

Meals

• Assigned meal times based on Houses
• Will strictly follow specific guidelines implemented by each campus
• Rest time for each group will be included during the meal time 

Missions

• Campers will learn about the Mission Offering partners through interactive Mission Rotations and Night Market

Afternoons

• Campers will rotate through four activities on Day 2 and Day 3 with their Bible Study groups: including mission rotations, outdoor recreation, arts and crafts, worship, swimming
• No camp-wide free time options will be offered
• There will be no Sixth Sense this summer

Worship and Celebrations

• As weather allows, worship and celebrations will be held in outdoor venues
• Seating assignments will be made for each House to sit separately
• Participants are asked to bring their own chair or blanket to sit on for each event
• Participants onstage will be limited to one House per day in order to prevent close contact with staff and participants in other Houses
• Supplies will be distributed by Group Leaders only
• Any reusable supplies and equipment will be sanitized promptly upon the completion of each service

Parties

• As weather allows, parties will be held in outdoor venues
• Individuals will participate in Parties by House

Camp Store

• There will be no store at camp this summer. We are attempting to offer some limited items online prior to and after the summer. Stay tuned.

Additional Adjustments

• The passport will be the participant’s main guide at camp this summer. Each participant MUST keep their passport with them at all times and should not loan their passport to anyone. For this reason, participants must also have a writing utensil at all times.
• Houses and Bible Study groups will follow in pre-assigned traffic patterns, including entrances and exits, to prevent close contact with other groups.
• Worship Response time will happen for church groups in a pre-assigned outdoor location.

Traditionally cancellations made after the final payment deadline result in a refund of the total camp registration fee, minus the 20% deposit. There is an additional late drop fee of $75 for PASSPORTkids and $100 at youth camps.

In 2021, Passport will waive the late drop fee whenever this is possible and provide as much of a refund as is allowable. This will be determined by our contractual agreements which varies between host campuses and conference centers.  See chart below.

Passport Cancels before May 1 100% refund of ALL fees paid

Person Cancels before May 1 80% refund (if full fee was paid)

Passport Cancels after May 1 80% refund (if full fee was paid)

Person Cancels after May 1 55-80% refund (if full fee was paid; varies by campus)

 At the close of your session of camp, Group Leaders will be given a post-camp email address. Should a camper exhibit major symptoms within 7 days of returning home from camp and test positive for COVID-19, Group Leaders are asked to notify their camp’s Assistant Director.  Passport will only need the name of the Bible study leader (not the camper) to which they were assigned. We will then initiate contract tracing protocols so that others in that specific house can be notified. Those house participants will be able to determine their group’s level of exposure risk and possible response. 

TEST KITS 

There are several brands of inexpensive, over-the-counter Covid tests with results reported within minutes. 

HANDOUTS – these were our handouts for 2021. This information will be updated for 2022 in the new year.

Protocols at Kids Camp

Protocols at Youth Camp