• High School Seniors Retreat –
scheduled for April 23,
to prepare participants for life
after high school.
• XLT – a regular ministry throughout
the year of praise and worship,
inspiration, prayer and fellowship.
• Marriage Preparation – new classes in
spring for couple considering and those
preparing for marriage.
For more information on retreats at the
Fr. Bernard Youth Center, call 503-845-4097
or visit www.fbyc.info online. Resources,
prayers and mentors are always needed,
Robison said.
By Mary Owen
Empathy, compassion, respect – three little words with a huge impact.
Sixty-seven middle school students at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Milwaukie, Ore., learned all about the importance of embracing them at a recent retreat at the Father Bernard Youth Center in Mount Angel.
“The focus of the retreat was being a good Samaritan, on being able to show empathy, compassion and respect to everyone, especially those people who might not be nice to you or who are not in your circle of friends,” said Gretchen Wunderlich, the Faith Formation and Youth Ministry coordinator for kindergarten through eighth grade at St. John the Baptist school.
As part of the middle-school curriculum, students attend three retreats during the school year: a fall retreat at the youth center, a spring retreat on campus, and a special eighth-grade retreat, again at the youth center.
“It’s a great place because the facility is large enough to hold our entire group with different rooms that allow the retreat to be very active,” Wunderlich said of the nonprofit center, serving young people ages 14-38.
The retreats are affordable at the Fr. Bernard Youth Center, thanks to gifts from local donors who “believe in our efforts, and believe young people are worth the investment of time and money, especially when it relates to their eternal lives,” said Don Robison, center executive director.
It’s all about steering young hearts toward heaven, he said.
“Our objective is to help young people share Christ with others,” Robison said. “As Fr. Bernard Sander, who passed away in 2008, said, ‘If young people don’t take Christ into the world, he ain’t gonna get there!’”
Retreat fees make up about half the center’s budget, and for each, scholarships are available. A recent retreat for high school seniors cost $75 per student, and included four meals, lodging, speakers, retreat leaders, a Christian rock concert, music ministry and take-home resource materials, Robison said.
“Clearly the actual costs would be much higher than the $75 fee covers,” he said. “That’s the beauty of donor support clearing hurdles for young people living in a tight economy. In our case, they are glad to meet at least half-way.”
For Wunderlich, affordability meant that her students could participate in a weekend of games in the Great Room, prayer in the chapel, movies followed by discussions and other small and large group activities.
“The middle school students – since they are ‘mixed’ grade groups and since it was early in the school year – had a chance to work together and get to know each other better,” Wunderlich said. “And with the high school leaders, who led the small groups, the middle school students are more comfortable sharing and talking than with teachers.”
Wunderlich said students went home with tools to use empathy, compassion and respect when dealing with classmates.
“They also made a pledge to not judge their classmates, especially because it is impossible to know all the information before passing judgment,” she added. “They had fun, had an opportunity to grow closer to God, got to know each other better and worked with some really awesome high school leaders! Having a retreat center to bring everyone to where they can be loud, energetic, active and silent, quiet, prayerful in the chapel – all this brings them closer to God.”
A 15-year-old boy who attended a recent retreat wrote in a follow-up report, “It’s a great place for youth to grow in faith.” A girl, also 15, wrote, “It’s very eye opening, and you really do learn and get closer to God.”
Danielle Wise, a teacher, coach and campus minister with Blanchet Catholic School in Salem, loves to bring her students to the center, which, she said “has everything we need.”
Blanchet held a seventh-grade retreat and freshman and sophomore retreats, which, Wise said, greatly impacted participants.
“Access to the youth center has really helped contribute to the growth of our retreat program and the spirituality of our students,” she said.
