Contact:
Sarah Barnett, Missioner for Children, Youth, and CampEpiscopal Church in Minnesota
(651) 633-4589
God is Love: A Pre-TEC Retreat (Gr. 6-8)
The tenth Pre-TEC retreat is May 5-6 at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Roseville! When you click REGISTER NOW you'll be taken to a page where you can register as a middle school participant, high school team leader, or adult chaperone. Middle School students often come to these retreats not having any church retreat experience, and they are able to feel welcomed, make new friends, play games, and start to learn from their high school peer leaders about how their faith can impact their daily life.
CLICK TO WATCH A 2-MIN RETREAT VIDEO
We have six rotating themes that are based on some of the high school TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) talk themes. Below is a list of our previous themes and host churches:
- Fall 2012: Made in God's Image (St. John's, White Bear Lake)
- Spring 2012: New Life in Christ (St. John's, White Bear Lake
- Fall 2013: Face Grace (Church of the Epiphany, Plymouth)
- Spring 2014: God is Love (Calvary Episcopal Church, Rochester
- Fall 2014: Hear, Speak, Feel (Christ Episcopal Church, Red Wing
- Spring 2015: What is Holy? (St. Luke's, Minneapolis
- Fall 2015: Made in God's Image (St. Luke's, Rochester
- Spring 2016: New Life in Christ (St. Matthew's, St. Paul
- Fall 2016: Face Grace (Nativity Episcopal Church, Burnsville)
Here is a summary of our format for these Pre-TEC retreats. Our activities are uniquely designed to suit the Middle School age group. We call it "Pre-TEC" simply because these weekends are intended to be a gateway into (not a copy of) the high school TEC weekend. These retreats lay a foundation for both teens and their families to have a positive Episcopal retreat experience in a community full of God's Agape love. Over the past four years, many kids have said that these retreats have given them the confidence to go to the high school TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) retreats being confident that it will be a positive experience. We have kids coming to these retreats who end up going to all three of the ECMN High School TEC programs, based on their own connections and needs.
On Friday night we open with a lot of welcoming large group activities. After we've gotten to konw one another, we dig into the retreat theme. Typically we watch several relevant YouTube videos, and then we explore a set of prayer stations in the sanctuary that are designed to help kids have a hands on experience with our theme. We have snacks and play a few more games before lights out.
On Saturday morning we wake up with music and more team buildling games. Then we hear a few talks by our high school leaders about how our retreat theme applied to their lives in middle school. These talks are very interactive and often include videos, as well. Weather permitting, we go outside before lunch.
On Saturday afternoon everyone works together to design our own "Rite III" worship service. We get to pick our own scripture, song, story, and art that helps us share our retreat experience with our parents and guests who arrive at 5pm.