Buried treasure was a popular theme for kids clubs this winter, as Sydney churches experienced record numbers of kids responding to the gospel.

HAWK (Huge Awesome Week for Kids) at St Mark's, Pennant Hills featured a Pirates of the Caribbean theme complete with indoor pirate ship, a map pieced together over the week which formed a 2 Ways to Live illustration and characters such as Captain Jack Pidgeon and Johnny Castaway.

Children's minister Jenny Flower says HAWK registrations hit capacity in the week before the camp, with 98 per cent of the 175 attending kids making a commitment to Christ. Kids left on the last day with a comic book Bible and bandanna.

Jenny says the success of HAWK was an encouraging sign that big things can happen at a small church.

"We're not competing with bigger churches, but it's good to see that we can do this " it does blow us out of the water every year with what we expect and what we receive," she says.

Kids camp goes bush

Meanwhile, St John's Wilberforce's day camp had a more traditional Australian approach to treasure with a ‘Eureka’ theme.

Kids at the four-day camp cooked damper and toasted marshmallows on an open fire in a bush setting.

Rector Geoff Bates says the camp is like a "beach mission in the bush", held at the property of one of St John's' parishioners.

171 kids attended the camp, with three-quarters of "non-church" kids coming to enjoy the benefit of the outdoors.

"It gets kids out of the house and it's relational as well," says Geoff.

This year was Wilberforce's "biggest response year" as 130 kids said they wanted to follow Christ.

However Geoff says these first-time commitments will need to be bolstered by good follow-up strategies,

"It's all very well to give Bibles but if they're left high and dry, the effectiveness is reduced dramatically.”