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About the 8th Grade Retreat…
To the 8th Grade Confirmands, Parent(s), and/or Guardian(s) –
I’ve been working through the information that Jim left me after he announced his resignation. Before he left, we talked about the retreat for the 8th grade confirmation class, and we scheduled the retreat for April 9-11, 2010, not knowing if he or I would be the retreat leader.
Jim scheduled the retreat and signed a contract for the retreat at the Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center in Oregon, Illinois. If you want to check out this camp online, please go to www.lomc.org.
According to MapQuest, LOMC is 63.5 miles from our church (if we go west on North Ave / IL 64 for 63.5 miles and go south on IL 2 / S 4th Street for 1.6 miles we’ll be there!)
I think Jim would usually send this letter out 3 months in advance … but I don’t have any record that he actually did so prior to his resignation and departure. I realize that this letter is late … but I hope it is not too late.
I spoke with the folks at LOMC today … they are aware of our staff transition … and they are ready to help us have a great experience at their camp! But right now we need to find out IF this retreat can be a GO or not. I need to now ASAP if YOU, the confirmands, are able to attend this retreat … and … if YOU, their parent(s) or guardian(s), is/are willing to support this retreat.
Jim signed a contract for 24 confirmands and 8 mentors at $104.00/person. I believe he said that he anticipated that the cost of the retreat would be $125/camper (the extra $21 helps cover some of the costs of the retreat like gas, mentors, etc.) I believe that some of you put a deposit down at registration, so if you subtract that from $125, you will find your balance. LOMC does have scholarships available if need be. We never want money to be a reason why a student couldn’t participate. Jim used to say that confirmands could make two payments, but we don’t have enough time for that this year. Due to those time constraints, checks for the balance of what you owe can be made out to LCM YOUTH and returned to me by Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010.
Throughout the years of my ministry, I have always enjoyed retreating, camping, and hiking. I was the “key leader” or an adult advisor for ten backpacking trips into Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains with 36 or 48 high school campers in each. For my call to Prince of Peace in Schaumburg, I had to get a bus driver’s license so I could drive to Atlantic Mountain Ranch in the Black Hills of South Dakota and to the Bighorns. For several years, I felt like I lived at Lutherdale Bible Camp in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, because we took so many retreats there (junior high, senior high, and adult). Having served on 22 Cursillo Teams, I’m pretty accustomed to the joys of bunk beds, sleeping bags, and camp schedules.
So, yes … I’m delighted to be able to spend this retreat weekend with you, confirmands, and/or with your son/daughter as we spend some time thinking about the meaning of the rite of confirmation, the transition into high school next fall, and what God has wired into each of us for the sake of God’s Kingdom. The camp we are going to will be a GREAT place to explore all the thoughts and feelings that a new high schooler may feel.
Since we won’t be going to the same place that current senior highers in 212 went to on their retreats, this will be a new experience for the adult and high school mentors as well. I’m delighted that several of those 8th grade mentors, adult and high school, are ready and waiting to go on this retreat with us.
Specific details still have to be arranged, and I may need your help in order to finalize plans. We should leave from LCM @6:15PM on Friday, April 9 … and … we should return to LCM around Noon on Sunday April 11.
For those who are asking about this retreat being “mandatory,” let me just insert the paragraph from Jim’s letter which is probably what he would have shared during registration last fall: “I will never label an event for Confirmation as ‘mandatory;’ but there is a reason why we do what we do in Confirmation, and I would hope that you will place this retreat on high priority. I do understand that ‘life happens;’ things come up in life that we cannot control; but I hope that we all agree that the spiritual development of our students is very important. Retreats are GREAT ways for students to explore who God is in their lives outside of their everyday life. And please do not let finances be the reason why your student couldn’t go. Like I said, we have scholarships available for that very reason, so please call me if you would like to talk further about that.”
What to bring for the retreat:
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Warm/Cool Clothes (it is going to be April after all – you may need a jacket – you may need shorts ????) Bring clothes that can be layered for warmth.
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Comfortable shoes for indoors … and shoes that will work for playing sports or hiking outside.
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Notebook and Bible w/pen
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Sleeping bag or sheet set w/blanket
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Pillow
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Toiletries AND TOWEL!!
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An outfit that can get dirty
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A garbage bag for dirty clothes
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A big size of your favorite snack (that can feed 6-8)
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You can bring in ipod (but 212 is not responsible for anything that gets lost or stolen)
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Boots (if snow…hey, your guess is as good as mine. It can snow in April.)
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PJs….if you believe in that sort of thing!
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AN OPEN MIND AND HEART!!
Remember we are meeting at church @6:15pm on Friday the 9th to pack up and leave…EAT DINNER BEFORE YOU COME!!
If you have any questions, please call me or email me: 847/609-5348 or cegerald@comcast.net.
So … right now … I need to ask you to fill out the sheet enclosed (see links below) and return it to me ASAP by email, in person, via snail mail, or place it in my box in the church office …
Click here for PDF of 8th grade retreat letter & form.
Click here for DOC of 8th grade retreat letter & form.
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