Senior High Youth Explore Baptismal Covenant

by Mandy Strutner
Combine one weekend, a beautiful camp, and fewer than thirty people. Add a sense of adventure and faith. That gives you the Senior High Retreat which took place September 22-24, at Camp Carson in Newport, Tennessee.

This retreat was for Episcopalian high school students. We came together to share ourselves and our beliefs with each other. Some people knew each other, but there were a few new faces. Old friendships were renewed, and new ones formed. The theme of the retreat was "Watermarked". Each of us is "watermarked" at baptism. Just as watermarks identify sheets of paper as having come from certain companies, we are God's own, having been created by Him, and we are "watermarked" as His children.

We explored five avenues of being watermarked. These questions are asked and answered during the baptismal ceremony. Each of these avenues was presented by a different leader of the retreat. The first is: "Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?" Second: "Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?" Third: "Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?" Fourth: "Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?" Fifth: "Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?"

The response to each of these five questions is: "I will, with God's help."

We discussed each of these, and did various activities to explore them further. We passed a bowl of blessed water around the room, each dipping a finger in the water and crossing ourselves with it. This is a symbol of confirmation and renewal of our "watermarks". We also passed loaves of bread around, participating in the traditional and meaningful "breaking of the bread". We split up into smaller groups and learned about each other, by sharing things about ourselves within our groups.

We explored our own weaknesses and obstacles in our struggles with sin by writing in "Perseverance Journals". We expressed our personal struggles in these journals, and some shared their entries. On Saturday night, we had a "coffee house" where we shared our talents in instrumentals, voice, and dance. Later, we had a time of meditation, where we all sat with our eyes closed and just listened as a guitar was strummed and prayers and Bible passages were read.

An important part of "proclaiming the Good News of God in Christ" is serving others. We did this by creating "goodie bags" for residents of a nearby nursing home. We filled gift bags with items such as tissues, toothpaste, and candy.

On Sunday morning, we all attended the service at the Church of the Annunciation in Newport. We brought bread --- the same kind we passed around at the camp --- for communion, and the goodie bags were blessed.

After the service, we went to the nursing home. We went through the halls, singing, greeting residents, and handing out the goodie bags.

All of us have a fire of faith within our souls. Experiences such as this retreat rekindle that flame within us all, building it to a bright fire, which we can share with those around us. We got to know each other and learned new things -- through music, conversation, and prayer -- with people who share our beliefs. This Senior High Retreat brought us together in the serene setting of a camp in the woods, where we experienced God's love and found Christ in each other.-----------------

Mandy Strutner, a retreat participant, is a communicant at St. Paul's, in Kingsport.