This year’s Fall Retreat is our first ever “modular” retreat: while youth are encouraged to participate in the whole thing, everyone is welcome pick which pieces work best. Please note three important things:

1. We need registrations for this weekend! The only piece that does not require a RSVP is Friday night’s Youth Group. Saturday’s events require numbers so we can coordinate transportation and food. The Crop Walk requires a different registration to begin fundraising.
2. The only cost ($20) will be for participating in Camp Canaan activities and dinner while at Canaan.
3. The link to register is at the bottom, but please read all the details between here and there carefully as there are a lot of moving parts!

Why Retreat?

The Fall Retreat has been a favorite activity of many of our youth and leaders and typically it’s a weekend away spent in Christ-centered community with lots of time outdoors. It’s an intentional time away from our usual routines of screens and obligations where the time out of the ordinary helps us to be more aware of God’s presence in our lives and in our group.

While a weekend away isn’t a possibility this year from a COVID safety standpoint, our intention is to approximate some of the experience of fun and fellowship. In other words, the more one participates the more of that typical retreat experience one will have.

This year’s theme is Rebellious and we’ll be exploring how Jesus sets us free to rebel against the rules of the world and live in a way that reflects His Kingdom on Earth. We’ll be living that out through the practice of serving others by participating in the Day of Service and the Crop Walk. We’ll also have a ton of fun doing some games and add in some quiet, reflective time outdoors.

COVID Safety

1. Almost everything we are doing is outdoors or has an outdoor option (the one exception being the service project at Crisis Assistance, but participants are free to select another Day of Service project). Masks are required when inside and optional when outside.
2. In case of rain, we will:
   1. Youth Group: Night Mode: we will move indoors and limit to 1 hour (8-9 pm)
   2. Camp Canaan: if there is rain predicted for a small window within our time at the camp, we will take advantage of the semi-enclosed basketball court to get out of the rain and resume activities afterwards. If it looks like rain for the entire time we are there, we will cancel.
   3. Crop Walk happens rain or shine.
3. Anyone carpooling will be masked while in the vehicle with windows cracked if possible.
4. Food: snacks at Youth Group will be single-serve. We are asking participants to bring bagged lunches on Saturday which we’ll eat outside. And dinner on Sunday will be pizza and salad served by designated food handlers with very clean hands.

Activities

Youth Group: Night Mode (11/5 8-10:00 pm)

We’re going to introduce our theme for the weekend with some games, teaching, small group conversations, and bonfires! The first hour will feature a quick game, teaching, and small groups. We’ll add in a larger, more active game and bonfires in the second hour.

Day of Service (11/6 8:30 am – noon)

The Day of Service is a day when all of DCPC is invited to go out into our community and serve with our amazing local missions partners. Youth have 2 options:

1. Our “official” retreat project will be at Crisis Assistance Ministry where we will sort and hang clothes in the Free Store Production area. We will gather at Ada Jenkins at 8:30 am with all participants and then drive down to Crisis Assistance. Participants who want to carpool can ride the church bus or a leader’s vehicle. Anyone not wanting to carpool will need to provide their own transportation (parents are welcome to participate with us at Crisis Assistance). All participants are asked to bring a lunch which we’ll eat at a nearby park after we complete our project and from there we will head to Camp Canaan. If you are joining us at Crisis Assistance, you do not need to sign up on the DoS Sign Up Genius.
2. If you have a favorite project or your family is already signed up for a different one, feel free to do that (sign up by clicking here). Participants who are not doing the Crisis Assistance project will need to arrange their own transportation to Camp Canaan and lunch.

Camp Canaan (11/6 1:00-9:00 pm)

You can either carpool with us from our Day of Service project or meet us at Camp Canaan at 1:00 pm for a great fall afternoon and evening! RSVP is required for Camp Canaan and the cost is $20 to cover activities and food. Parents, if you are driving your kids to Camp Canaan and want to stay with us, you are welcome to do that (contact Matt please). Here’s the schedule for our time on the island:

1:00 – 1:30 pm Arrival and exploring

1:30 – 2:00 pm Orientation & reflection activity instructions

2:00 – 3:00 pm Reflection activity & small group discussion

3:00 – 5:30 pm Archery tag, climbing tower, disc golf, hiking, fishing, basketball, and other free time activities

5:30 – 6:00 pm Dinner (Pizza & salad)

6:00 – 7:30 pm Night game

7:30 – 9:00 pm Pack up and drive back to Davidson

9:00 pm Pick up from Congregation House

Crop Walk (11/7 4-5:30 pm)

Register for our team, fundraise for Church World Service, and then walk 3.6 miles with us on Sunday the 7th starting at the Congregation House! The Crop Walk is an easy and fun way to help end hunger locally and globally. It’s also open to anyone who wants to participate if families want to join in too. Instructions and more details can be found here.