HS RETREAT | AM.YOUTH

It only happens once a year.

Come be a part of this year's high school retreat weekend.

We invite you to join us for this weekend as we hang out, have fun, grow in faith, spend time in God's word, worship, eat, learn, and spend time with friends (old or new.)

Come deepen your relationship with Jesus.

Come grow your friendship with other students.

It's going to be a great weekend.

Here are the details:

When: November 14-16

Where: Pineywoods Camp

Sign-up Deadline: Sun, Nov 2

Cost: $75

Sign-Up Form: Click Here

If you're looking for more info about the retreat, well, here you go:

Dates & Times: November 14-16. We’ll meet at 7:00pm on 11/14 and return around 12:30pm on 12/16. Eat supper before you come. We will not eat lunch before we return.

Cost: $75. This covers all of your food, lodging, transportation, supplies, three gummy worms, 1/2 package of fun dip, autographed picture of Johnny Manziel (they're really cheap now), an altoid can, an old shoelace, and a huge amount of awesome.

DO NOT miss this trip for financial reasons. There are scholarships available if needed. Talk to Monty or Heather for more info.

(One additional note: the actual cost for each person to go to this retreat is around $130. This covers meals and lodging and access to the camp. Access to the camp and the facilities they have is worth a lot. It's a safe, fun, and well maintained space just for students. Basketball pavilions, sports fields (soccer, football, baseball, volleyball, zip lines, challenge courses, and some other games like human foosball and gaga ball), a lake, trails, etc, in addition to the cabins and dining facilities. The property, the upkeep, and the insurance for youth camps is high. Transportation, tshirts, snacks, journals, and game supplies are in addition to this. If your family has the money and you'd like to pay more than your $75 per student registration cost, you are welcome to do so, but not expected to. And again, we have scholarship money for any students who need help paying the $75.)

Where are we going?

We are going to a camp called Pineywoods. It's called Pineywoods because there are a lot of trees there. They were going to call it Camp Trees, but that did not sound very cool. They they tried Camp Lot O Trees, Camp Tall Trees, Camp Leafytree (our personal favorite) and Camp Treetrunk. None of those worked. They couldn't use Camp Treetrunk because some people thought it sounded like they had elephants there - which they don't - and people threw a fit because they wanted to see elephants - so after much deliberation - they finally ended up with Pineywoods. Actually none of that is true. AI probably made it all up. And put it on this page without our permission.

How we getting there? Our bus. Unless of course you can't ride in the bus without leaving your trash there or without being obnoxious. If that is the case, your parents will need to provide transportation for you to/from camp.

How we getting our stuff there? A trailer. It will follow close behind the bus.

What are we going to do?

Retreat things. You know, like games, activities, time to hang out, Bible study, talking with friends, getting to know people better, enjoying a weekend away, worship, eating, and spending some time outdoors. We'll have a theme of some kind which will guide our Bible study and worship times. The focus of the weekend will be on the Lord. The things we do will all help us to know Him better.

Here are some additional questions you might (or might not) be thinking:

What if I have a schedule conflict?

Just invite everyone who is a part of the thing you have planned to join us. For example: if you have a game or practice, just invite your whole team. Then the possibility of playing the game or practicing won't exist because they'll all be at the retreat. You probably have lots of practices or games anyway, but there is just one retreat like this during this entire school year. And if it's a team sport, and you bring your whole team, we can have a practice and Monty will coach. See, before he was a youth minister, he was a math teacher, and before he was a math teacher, he was a model. And before he was a model, he was a coach. He knows most sports pretty well. Of course, he knows water-skiing best. But there is not a boat ramp on the pond at Camp Pineywoods to launch a boat, so we'll just hook a rope up behind a church van. It'll all be fine. Oh and for those who are safety-conscious and are now worried, don't be. We would never do anything to put any student in danger...so the possibility of land-skiing is probably out. We'll just go sky-diving instead. We'll bring a bunch of helium and some balloons and you can go up a few thousand feet and then let go of the balloons. It will be great.

Can I bring a phone or a battery powered life jacket? Nope. By definition a retreat weekend means to get away from routines and distractions for a few days. Because of this we're asking students to leave electronics at home - this includes phones, smart watches with cell connectivity, music devices, earbuds, video gaming devices, electronic tablets, etc. Or you can check them in on Friday night when you get to the retreat. We'll keep them safe and you are welcome to use your phone anytime you need to call your parents. And parents can call you anytime by calling Monty or Heather's phone.

I know, you're thinking: "why can't we just ask everyone to keep their phone put away during the retreat, then everything will be fine?" Well, that does sound like a really good idea. But if Sunday morning and Wednesday night youth class are any indication, phones will be out all of the time, even when our teachers ask for them to be put up. So, we'll just try the phone box method and try to help all of us be emotionally and mentally present during the entire weekend.

Oh and don't bring a battery powered life jacket either. Who even has one of those? That would be stupid. Batteries do not float. Neither do battery operated life jackets. So see this conversation is completely pointless and we're going to end it right now.

Can I bring a fan for the bus ride? Yes, you can. However, it's not summer so you probably will not need it. But...summer will be here before you know it. So if you want to put one of those little fans which plug into a USB power outlet on your Christmas list, you would probably enjoy it next summer. The ones we saw in the bus this past summer were well used and helpful.

Can I bring friends? Of course

How do I sign up? Click the link below. It will take you to the sign-up page in CCB.

If I sign up for the retreat but I miss the bus, can I fly my personal airplane to the retreat? No, sorry unless you have a plane that can land on the water (the pond at the camp), we are sad to say you cannot fly a plane to the retreat. There are no runways in the area, however, let's talk about why you have a plane and you have never told us. Don't you think it would be cool for a youth group to have access to an airplane? We could take turns flying it around and going to really cool places and doing really cool things. And you've been keeping this info all to yourself? Our feelings are hurt.

If I sign up but can't go, what do I do? Let us know as soon as possible (money you pay in for the retreat is non-refundable after November 2.) If you no-show or back out within a few days of the retreat it costs the church the full amount for your retreat spot (which again is quite a bit more than $75) so please let us know as soon as possible if you end up not being able to go.

Packing List? We will send out a packing list and details about the weekend by November 10.

What do I do if I still have questions? Talk to Monty or Heather at church. Texting and email will work too

It's going to be a great weekend we hope you can join us!

***Click here to go to the sign up page***