Perhaps one of the more difficult aspects of going on retreat isn’t getting teens to bond as a group, or even to open up and engage in the retreat itself, but in developing ways to keep that retreat feeling alive once everyone returns to the busyness and routine of their lives. Retreats can be powerful, transformative experiences in which participants have the opportunity to explore their spirituality more deeply and benefit from sharing that faith experience with others. Unfortunately, given the hectic pace of modern life and the fact that you may only see the teens in your group every couple weeks, it is all too easy for a retreat experience to fade into the background.
Here are just a couple ideas for carrying the impact of your retreat into the daily lives of the teens in your group.
• Incorporate ideas and discussions from the retreat into your regular programs and meetings with the teens in your parish or school.
• Offer a follow-up day or evening of reflection where teens can explore more deeply a topic from the retreat. Offering this before or after a Mass that teens usually attend can increase participation and it never hurts to provide pizza or other snacks.
• Meet the teens where they are; this often means making use of technologies that can seem daunting to some of us, but which come naturally to today’s youth. If your parish/school has a webpage, perhaps you can post pictures, reflections, or topics for discussion on them. Depending on the policies of your parish/school, you may already have or could create a blog or facebook page where you can post retreat-related materials. These technologies also allow the youth in your group to post their own comments and reflections. (Many also have features that allow you to review comments before they are posted to the web).
• Invite the parish community to coffee and donuts after one of the weekend Masses and give the teens an opportunity to share their retreat experiences with the parish. This is especially nice if the parish helped subsidize the cost of the retreat, and it gives the rest of the community an insight into the depth of faith of the parish’s young people.
• Make use of post-retreat resources that already exist. For example, I’ve personally made use of a book available through Paulist Press and written by Thomas Hart titled, “Coming Down the Mountain: How to Turn Your Retreat into Everyday Living.” And, there are many more out there that can offer helpful tips.
Perhaps you have your own ideas that others could benefit from, so please feel free to comment and leave your own suggestions for ways to keep that retreat feeling alive.
Peace,
Jim
