As you may know, part of my job involves running the Student Ministry at St. James UMC in Atlanta. One of the things we do in the Methodist Church world is confirmation classes for our 7th and 8th grades (the grade range varies from church to church). St. James UMC runs their confirmation classes from September through January.

This past weekend, we took over 20 of our confirmation students and adults to Camp Glisson in Dahlonega, GA for a 2-day retreat. 

Now after almost 20 years of student ministry, I stepped away from students about 2 years ago. But this past September, I jumped back in on a part-time basis in addition to running the activities ministries for the church. Therefore, this was my first retreat weekend with students in almost 3 years!

The weather ended up not being the best for the first half of Saturday. We started with quite a bit of rain. Nothing like trying to get everyone’s luggage off a bus and into cabins in the pouring rain. Fortunately, it didn’t damper anyone’s spirits.

From team building exercises and s’mores by the campfire to singing and learning more about the confirmation experience, we had an excellent time with the students.

We will close the 5-month experience this weekend with a banquet on Saturday night for all of the students and their families. And then we will officially confirm the students on Sunday morning at our late service. I’m excited to welcome in 26 new students to the church.