For many students across the country, September spells the death of summer and compels a return to textbooks, teachers, and classrooms. But for the high-school classes at Grace Brethren Christian School in Clinton, Md., the transition is made easier as the school leads fall retreats for each of its high school classes.
“Our goals are threefold: to introduce non-Christians to the gospel while challenging believers to live their faith, to build unity among the class, and to build good relationships among staff and students,” says Pastor Matt Geier, director of student ministries.
The retreats provide valuable bonding time for members of the classes and prepare them for the upcoming school year. More importantly, they provide opportunities for the staff to encourage the students in their faith, and lead unbelievers to Christ.
Retreats take place between September 15 and October 15 to ensure the availability of enough vans and buses for transportation. Participants leave on a Friday afternoon and return on Sunday at 3 p.m. Each weekend features four meeting times, group game times, and some free time with a campfire on Saturday night as the highlight of the retreat. Geier writes a four-message curriculum with a unique message for each class, but all the messages are united by a common theme. Past themes have included “Take a Stand,” and “Who Am I?” Four different retreat sites, one for each class, are also selected.
An estimated 80 percent of each high-school class attends their retreat and their two class sponsors serve as the main staff. Other teachers fill in as needed. “We try to get a five to one student to staff ratio, with never higher than ten to one,” says Geier.
The tradition began in 2000, when a group of senior class sponsors decided to schedule a spring retreat. Geier joined the staff that fall and he scheduled another one for the spring of 2001. After that, the school gradually added several more, until the spring of 2003, when they settled on four a year, one with each of the high-school classes.
Geier sees it as a tradition that will continue for many years. “I feel like we have seen some really good things happen in our school as a result of these retreats,” he says. He notes that the retreats give students an invaluable opportunity to start the school year right, by committing to God and to their classmates. — By Pete Semple
Pete Semple was an editorial intern with the Brethren Missionary Herald Company during the summer 2008. He is a member of the Grace Brethren Church of Columbus, Ohio, and is a student in the professional writing program at Taylor University-Fort Wayne.