Youth Summer Ministry
Youth Summer Ministry is a 7-day program offered in June and July that brings together groups from across the country into our small pocket of rural Appalachia. YSM pairs service and worship, mission and theology in a way that inspires the flourishing off all people involved.
Have questions? We would love to answer them! Reach out to Rachael or call us at 931-692-3999!
Registration Information
2026 Fees & Discounts
$420 per person
DISCOUNTS:
Week 4 is our discounted week. All churches attend for $360 per person.
All churches, regardless of payment method, receive a discount for one free Contact Person. Churches may also have one Clergy Person attend for free.
Scholarships are available for churches that are located in our service area and/or have an average Sunday attendance of 50 people or less. These scholarships are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
Read more in our 2026 Registration Guide
2026 Dates
Week 1: June 7 - 13 — stay together week*
Week 2: June 14 - 20
Week 3: June 21 - 27 — week is full!
Week 4: June 28 - July 4 — discount week
Week 5: July 5 - 11
Week 6: July 12 - 18 — week is full!
Week 7: July 19 - 25
NOTE: During Week 1 (June 7-13) only, churches will stay together to form their Youth Renewal Groups (YRGs) and not mix with other churches. All other components of the Mountain T.O.P. program will remain the same during this week. During Weeks 2 - 7, churches will mix to form their YRGs.
Tips for a Successful Registration
As you begin planning a trip to Youth Summer Missions, we highly encourage utilizing our 2026 Registration Guide before registering.
Once a registration is received, the Contact Person will be invoiced for the deposit amount.
We highly suggest collecting these deposits from participants in advance to encourage financial investment in the trip and avoid drops later in the year.
We encourage groups to register conservatively, then add more participants as they confirm them and as space allows.
The financial guidelines have been developed in order to operate responsibly and make decisions as far as staffing, open facilities, food purchasing, etc., in a timely manner. This fee includes all meals, lodging, project materials, programming, and camp staffing.
Watch this video to prepare for your registration!
Be sure to check our additional resources below.
Service Project
Youth Summer Ministry participants have the option of serving through Service Project or Day Camp.
The scope of our service projects includes construction, painting, and yard work. However, doing home repair is about more than building a porch or clearing a yard. It’s about the accessibility that is gained when a family now has a safe way to enter and exit their home. It’s about how that entryway will serve as a much more significant entryway into a healthier, more sustainable, and more socially connected lifestyle. It’s about providing youth the opportunity to learn about power tools and the power of social connection.
We know that so many of the aspects of our personal health can be traced back to the health of our homes. From social connection, mental health, or physical accessibility, the quality of our homes has a significant impact on our lives.
Day Camp
Building resilience, exploring community, reading, growing in healthy lives, playing, learning about Jesus—this sums up a week of Day Camp. Five days at Day Camp broadens horizons, brightens futures, and builds hope in youth ages 6-11 from Grundy County.
Day Camp is intentional about pairing Youth Summer Ministry participants with the Day Camp children, giving the YSM participants the opportunity to grow in their leadership and mentorship skills, and making sure our younger children have individualized attention. For this reason, we require that YSM participants be rising 9th graders or older.
Spiritual Life
Programming
We desire to expose our participants to a variety of worship styles because we value the beauty of connecting with God in different ways. Built into our daily schedule are four times to worship, either individually, in a small group, or as a whole community. Each day starts with an individual devotional time with material provided, during the day a staff member will lead a small group discussion on-site with the Youth Renewal Group (YRG), and each evening ends with a time of sharing and a time of corporate worship. Churches will also have an opportunity to meet together for a time of discussion and reflection once a week during free time.
Community
Formation
Participants spend the camp week in Youth Renewal Groups (YRGs), which are essentially their "work groups." Our goal is to create a YRG that contains a mix of people from different churches, ages, genders, and years of Mountain T.O.P. experience.
Mixing up with other churches allows everyone to encounter new people and challenges throughout the week; this is often cited as one of the most meaningful parts of "the Mountain T.O.P. experience."
During Week 1 of 2026, we are offering a “stay-together” week where groups do not mix with others to form their YRGs.
Resources
As you plan your trip, there are a few vital resources for you. Our 2026 Contact Person Resource Guide is available. The 2026 Team Training Materials and Parent Packet will be updated in January.
Registration Guide
Read the 2026 Registration Guide!
Contact Person Resource Guide
Check out the 2026 Contact Person Resource Guide! While this is not every single piece of information needed for planning a trip, it should cover a large portion of getting started. Please reach out to Hailey with any questions upon registration!
Team Training Materials
Training your team for the Mountain T.O.P. experience is absolutely crucial. We honor those we are serving when we choose to invest in learning who they are, what their context is, and what assets they bring to the table. Promoting the dignity of all people is of utmost importance to us. Our training materials are being updated for our 2026 participants and will be released in January in order to give teams enough time to plan out their sessions. We recommend having training in the Spring.
Parent Packet
Our 2026 Parent Packet will be coming soon! You can give this to parents of youth coming that might not be familiar with our program and have questions. It touches on our schedule and purpose of our YSM program!
Week at a Glance
Here is a general overview of what a camp week looks like! Most of the times listed next to the activities are subject to change, so it is always best to ask or rely on what your Summer Staff is directing the camp community to do. However, this might help when packing, planning, or just to help you wrap your head around what all we do in the summer!
Paperwork & Forms
Here you can find all forms and paperwork that you and your participants will need for a week of Youth Summer Ministry. View and download each form by clicking the icons below. Reach out to Hailey with any questions!
All participants will need two copies of the Medical Information and Statement of Activities & Release to camp. The Contact Person will turn these in on behalf of their group upon arrival.
Don’t forget to have these notarized for youth 17 and under!
All adults 18+ must submit an Adult Self-Screening form at the time of the group’s final payment, May 15. This form verifies that all adults have a current background check on file with their church or Mountain T.O.P. needs to run one on their behalf. Background checks are $10 per person.
All groups are required to send in a roster of their participants with final payments, due May 15. Contact People should download the blank file, fill out the information, save the file as “2026 Roster Church Name - City, State,” and email the completed roster to Hailey.
This is also where you can indicate any dietary needs, allergies, and “special circumstances” in your group, such as a youth who needs to stay with a particular adult or other youth in a YRG, any accessibility needs, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Registration for 2026 opens on September 10, 2025. Please read the 2026 Registration Guide prior to signing up your group.
It’s not too late to register for 2026!
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Participants must have finished 6th grade in order to participate in Service Project. Participants must have finished 8th grade to participate in Day Camp.
Anyone older than that may serve with us!
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You must bring TWO adults for every FIVE youth. Both adults must be 21 or older. A youth is anyone 17 or younger. Participants between 18-20 do not count toward your youth ratio.
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Service Project
If participating in Service Project, you must provide one of the two options: one 7-passenger vehicle for every seven participants, or two 5-passenger vehicles for every seven participants.
This allows about seven team members, tools/materials, and a cooler for lunch to be transported to and from the work site.
If you bring two vehicles, you must provide two drivers. Those vehicles must always stay together
You will have to transport ladders, quikrete, etc., so vehicles with roof racks are recommended.
Day Camp: If participating in Field Trip Day Camp, you must provide one of the two options: one 12- or 15-passenger vehicle for every seven participants or two 7-passenger vehicles for every seven participants.
This allows about seven team members to pick up 5-7 children from the community every day for camp.
If you bring two vehicles, you must provide two drivers. Those vehicles must stay together the entire duration of your van routes (picking up, dropping off, etc.)
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Breakfast and dinner are hot meals provided in our Dining Hall, served family style. A cooler lunch will be prepared for you to bring to the work site and to share with the family you are working with. All meals from Sunday dinner to Saturday breakfast are provided. Our kitchen staff can accommodate dietary needs and allergies. Please contact Hailey with further questions regarding meals.
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Yes! Groups can pre-order this year’s theme t-shirts in the spring. Our t-shirts are available in adult sizes X-Small through 4X-Large. Please note that sizes are $19/shirt. Hailey will add the cost of these t-shirts to your final payment invoice. Shirts and other MTOP attire will be available for purchase at camp, as well.
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We place people from the same church in cabins together, though it's a little dependent on the size of your group. Our cabins sleep 16 people and are separated by gender.
For example, If your group had fewer than 16 girls, you might share that cabin with girls from another church or if your church had more than 16 girls, we would split the girls up into 2 cabins. For this reason, your group needs to include both male and female adults.
Cabin assignments are made by the camp director prior to your arrival
Camp Assignments
We will only be utilizing Camp Cumberland Pines this year! Camp assignments will be posted as groups for 2026 register.
June 7 - 13
The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd - Austin, TX
Riverside UMC - Columbia, TN
Church of the Resurrection Downtown (UMC) - Kansas City, MO
Grace UMC - Lafayette, IN
June 14 - 20
St. Matthew's Episcopal Church - McMinnville, TN
Crievewood UMC - Nashville, TN
Grace UMC - Huntsville, AL
Raymond Methodist Church - Raymond, OH
Indian Hill Church - Cincinnati, OH
First Methodist Church Collierville - Collierville, TN
FUMC Pulaski - Pulaski, TN
Riverside Global Methodist Church - Upper Arlington, OH
June 21 - 27
St. Andrew Lutheran Church - Franklin, TN
Kent UMC - Kent, OH
Belle Meade UMC - Nashville, TN
The Bridge - Alton, IL
St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church - Dunwoody, GA
Speedway UMC - Speedway, IN
Wesley Chapel United Methodist - College Grove, TN
Peace Tree UMC - Collierville, TN
June 28 - July 4
Cornerstone UMC - Smyrna, TN
Countryside Christian Church - Winchester, IN
July 5 - 11
Christ UMC - Franklin, TN
FUMC Lincolnton - Lincolnton, NC
July 12 - 18
John's Creek UMC - Johns Creek, GA
St. Paul's Episcopal – Franklin, TN
East Heights UMC - Wichita, KS
Peace Lutheran Church - Dresser, WI
St. Luke’s UMC - Dubuque, IA
Basehor UMC - Basehor, KS
Sugar Grove UMC - Sugar Grove, IL
Normal FUMC - Normal, IL
July 19 - 25
Grace Lutheran Church - La Grange, IL
St. Timothy Lutheran Church - Naperville, IL