Fifty participants and team members came together for New Beginnings #48 this past weekend. The weekend offers a time for participants to get real about their faith while away from family and their home church. Teens talking to other teens about living out their faith in Jesus Christ is the heart of a New Beginnings Retreat. While the Spiritual Directors do give talks on “God is Love” and “Who is Jesus” most of the teaching at the retreat for 7-9 graders are given by high school students. The talks on friends, family, peer pressure, and more get at the intersection of faith and our daily lives. The key points of the talk are the same for every weekend, but the teens work with the spiritual directors to shape the talks to bring out life experience and to make the talks more meaningful for all. Nick White of Christ the King, Valdosta, gives his talk in the photo above.
Allie Simpson of St. Andrew’s and St. Cyprian’s Churches in Darien was the Lead Teen for the weekend and she had especially strong support from adults in her church who served as adult participants for the weekend. Under the guidance of diocesan coordinator Maggie Bloodworth, the New Beginnings program continues to thrive. Look for announcements about the next retreat in upcoming issues of From the Field.
Allie Simpson is pictured at left helping lead music during the retreat. A full album of photos is online here: New Beginnings #48 Photos
The procession to the chapel for the closing Eucharist, which was preached by Madison Cook of St. Thomas, Thomasville, and boys try to sing loud on the male parts in a song to match the voices of the female singers. Below are the participants and staff for New Beginnings #48.
