Last weekend, middle and high school youth from both Maine and New Hampshire gathered for a winter retreat at Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center in New Hampshire. Titled “Have Your Say,” what began as a listening session and opportunity for youth to offer feedback and share experiences about being young Episcopalians in our respective dioceses a few years ago has grown to include a full-scale youth retreat experience. This year’s event added a deep dive into Jesus’ identity. “Who do you say I am?” became a leading question throughout the weekend as youth shared time studying scripture, wondering about Jesus’ and the disciples’ experiences during their lives on earth, and how people who have come after them have lived according to their understandings of who Jesus is. And what does all that mean for us, in 2025?
Although the event was abbreviated due to a snowstorm, youth explored saints who knew Jesus and wrote icons together, prayed Compline and shared Eucharist, shared in role-playing games and went sledding, and so much more. They even saw a shooting star!
