“Be Still”
Junior Youth Retreat
Tuesday 18th April to Friday 21st April
We are exited to announce the 2023 Junior Youth Retreat. Retreats are a time for quiet reflection, prayer and meditation, in an environment of Christian fellowship. The retreat will be run over 3 nights at the Diocese Headquarters at Donvale. The theme of the retreat is ‘Be still’ where we will focus on the importance of being still, both inwards and outwards, to focus on the inner life and encountering our Lord Jesus Christ. On the retreat we will have daily liturgies, midnight praises, quiet time and dedicated periods of reading and reflection.
As this is a spiritual retreat and not a camp, we will be focused on prayer, reading and worship with time for fellowship together each evening. There won’t be any camp activities etc as we will leave that for our annual JY camp which is always a great time of fun and fellowship. This is strictly a no phone retreat. Please either don’t bring your mobile, or hand it in to the servants/Abouna to keep locked away in a safe place. If we have our phones this will distract us and not allow us to focus on the retreat. If you need to make any important calls, or if your parents wish to contact you, you will be free to use a dedicated phone at any time you wish. This may sound hard and you may be worried about things such as snapchat streaks but dont let this stop you from coming, speak to Abouna or one of the servants about this if you like :)
The total cost for the three-night retreat including accommodation, meals, transport and resources is $140. Due to the limited space at Donvale there will only be 20 spaces available (10 boys and 10 girls). To keep the flow of the retreat together, everyone must attend from beginning to end- no day trips. To register please complete the link below which will be live from 5pm on Monday 27th March.
God willing we will leave church at 12:00pm on Tuesday 18th April and arrive back at church on Friday 21st of April at 1pm.
We hope that you will join us on the retreat to spend this unique opportunity in the days following the feast of the Resurrection in peace and stillness to cultivate the inner life which has been made possible by the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you haven’t been on a retreat before this will be a fantastic opportunity to go on your first one. It may sound challenging, but once you get through the detachment of technology and noise, you will experience an unbelievable peace, stillness and clarity.