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Open to incoming 9-12th gradersSummer Festival is not just an insanely fun summer camp (though we can't overstate how fun it is) - the camp also features some of the best Christian speakers and music in the country! We stay on Gustavus' college campus (enjoying their award-winning food), and every day includes awesome worship, great morning and evening speakers, some of the best small group discussions you'll find anywhere, and a TON of crazy camp games (like huge water fights, a 4-story water slide, campus-wide night games, hilarious improv and skits, and the spectacular "Messy Fight"). Seriously, this will be the best week of your year!
Date/Time: July 7-10 (Sun. morning - Wed. night)
Location: Gustavus College (transportation provided to/from St. Odilia)
To Register: Register by March 30 for the early registration price, only $285 for the 4-day camp!
This is one of our best retreats every year, with tons of teens calling it their favorite weekend of the summer! Our Leader Retreat is for all high schoolers (incoming 9th-12th) who are either leading already or are interested in doing it in the future (as part of Retreat Team, Spark Team, or VBS After Hours).
While on retreat, we have a series of great talks and discussions on Christian leadership, plenty of time for reflection and prayer, small groups, worship music, and some more unique "new" or cool types of prayer too. There is plenty to learn, plenty of ways to deepen your faith, and plenty of great role models to meet and work with. We are also very intentional that this be a "hands on" retreat - every skill we work on is something the teens will get to practice firsthand. We make learning and becoming a great peer minister a really fun process!
Speaking of fun... these retreats are also where we do a lot of our most popular games and team-builders, including some games that are too cool (or too crazy) to do anywhere else. Previous years included our first zombie survival game, the popular "Secrets and Spies" competition, and a few renditions of our "Food Games." It's our teens' favorite weekend for good reason!
Date/Time: August 10-11 (Saturday 1:00 PM - Sunday 5:00 PM)
Location: Camp Onomia in Onamia, MN (we provide transportation to/from St. Odilia)
To Register: Register online now!
Join us on Sundays for our 8-12th grade youth events, where we aim to "encounter Christ in worship & in each other." We focus on growing closer together as a community and on growing in faith, with fun games, engaging prayer experiences and live worship music, and authentic small group conversations.We model each Encounter Night after a mini-retreat experience. To start with fun and fellowship, dive into a message for the night and some meaningful prayer, and follow up on those experiences in consistent small groups, with teens that you'll bond with more and more over time. We know that our retreats are the most-loved events that we offer, and for good reason - there are aspects that really resonate on retreat in a way few things can.
But we're not content to just have those experiences every few months - we want to live a "Retreat Life" - one in which we support each other, grow together, and live our spirituality just as we would on a fantastic retreat. We see our Sunday night Encounters with Christ as a way to keep that retreat life going strong in between the big experiences. We hope you'll join us on a Sunday and that you -like so many others before- will encounter God in a meaningful way!
Day/Time: Sundays, 7:00-9:00 PM
Program Dates: Jan. 6, Jan. 20, Jan. 27, Feb. 24, Mar. 3, Mar. 10, Mar. 24, April 14, April 28, May 19
Location: Starts in the Courtyard (then uses the church too)
To Register: No Registration needed, and it's free! Open to 8th-12th graders
Do ministry with our most popular, life-changing team!Retreat Team is an awesome opportunity for youth to share their faith, have a lot of fun, be part of a close-knit community, and change lives! The Team helps plan and run off-site retreats through St. Odilia, working with our Youth Minister. Team members can help with anything from skits, games, icebreakers, testimonies, prayer ministry - even help lead worship!
Retreat Team has business meetings on Tuesdays, then meets on Sundays for Retreat Night to be able to pray together and grow as a team. New leaders start on Sundays, as they get to know the team and grow in their own faith! After joining the "Retreat Life" community, students can start the process to officially apply to be on team.
Day/Time: Tuesday meetings 4:00-6:00 PM, see above for Retreat Nights
Program Dates: Every Tuesday! Seriously, we only take off a couple major holidays (Christmas week, July 4th week)
Location: Meetings are in the new St. Odilia Youth Room
To Register: No registration required for Sundays or Tuesdays (but non-team members can only attend 2 Tuesdays a month until they are actually a Junior Leader or Leader). There is an application process to be on team, and each retreat will include a registration form & discounted event fee. Meetings continue throughout the year, as we prepare for each retreat. Teens can apply to be on team, contact Scott for details, or stop at a Tuesday meeting if interested!
Check out the huge teen mass & event with over 1,000 teens each month!Lifeline is a huge teen mass and event that draws over 1,000 people per event! There are excellent, youth-oriented homilies and fantastic music by Christian rock group SONAR. Each month after mass there is a keynote speaker, concert, or breakout sessions. The event is hosted by NET Ministries, and features students from dozens of parishes each month. St. Odilia organizes a group to travel to and attend the events most months, and we also get dinner before the event - check below for details on registering and joining our group for the trip!
Day/Time: Saturdays, 3:30 - 10:00 PM
Program Dates: Dec. 1, Jan. 5, Feb. 2, May 4
Location: Event is at NET Center in West St. Paul, we carpool from the Faith Formation building
To Register: Watch for online registration to open about 3 weeks prior to each event!
High Schoolers - Join the Spark Team and help us lead Faith Spark!Faith Spark is St. Odilia's new youth ministry program for middle schoolers, designed to pump up our youth and inject some excitement into our experience of faith!
With great high school leaders, funny videos by by the teens, and high-energy games, these nights are sure to help spark some interest in faith for our kids. And the youth-oriented messages help students take those first steps in their faith. If this is our kids’ first experience with youth ministry, we want it to be an awesome one!
Program Dates: 6:30 - 8:00 PM on Wednesdays - Sept. 19, Oct. 3, Nov. 7, Dec. 5, Jan. 9, Feb. 6, March 6, April 10, May 1
Spark Team meetings: 4:00 - 6:00 PM on Wed.- Sept. 12, Sept. 26, Oct. 24, Nov. 28, Jan. 2, Jan. 30, Feb. 27, April 3, April 24
Location: The Courtyard at St. Odilia
To Register: No registration required for middle schoolers, but high schoolers apply here to be on Spark Team!
