On February 2, sophomore students drove nearly two hours to reach Life Teen Camp Cove Crest in Tiger, Georgia. This Catholic retreat site is perfect, featuring plenty of nature to explore and also includes John Paul the Great Theater, Mary’s Chapel, Cole House, and many more spots for prayer.

Sixty sophomores go on the Nazareth retreat and are led by 34 juniors to guide them. The retreat is also designed and organized by Campus Ministers Nik Rodewald and Brian Freel.

The Nazareth retreat and school retreats in general help bond the community together. During the retreat, students are placed into random small groups where they will make new friends and bond with classmates that they may not normally talk to.

The retreat is structured around five major themes. These themes include acceptance, encouragement, humility , forgiveness, and service.

The junior students educate the sophomore students about these five aspects and also give insight about how these themes work in their own lives.

Mason Hubbard shared his personal experience on the retreat. “The Nazareth retreat was a great way to connect with my friends and get to know people I did not talk to as much,” Mason said.

As the only sophomore retreat, Nazareth is a key part of our school’s campus ministry program. Learning from upperclassman about their experience’s is very enlightening for the sophomores, and it is also a way for both class’s to disconnect from the busyness of school and to connect, instead, with nature and God.

As our very own school website states, “Participants are encouraged to reflect on how discipleship impacts their relationships with others.”

At the end of the retreat, Fr. Bill Rowland drove up to Cove Crest to lead a Mass. This visit and Mass was the perfect way to end the retreat because it reminded students that the main purpose of the retreat was to grow closer to God.