Good Stuff: 160 Youth Have a Whale of a Time at Beach Retreat

Last weekend 160 youth from churches across the North Georgia Conference and neighboring UMC youth from Alabama traveled south for our inaugural Conference Youth Beach Retreat ​held at Laguna Beach Christian Retreat Center in Florida, just outside Panama City.

Organized by our Center for Congregational Excellence and Allison Sligh, leader of Experiential Discipleship and Retreats, the retreat was designed for youth groups (6th-12th graders) and their adult chaperones. 

Guest speaker was Evan DeYoung of our UM Commission on Higher Education and worship featured Sound Wise. The focus for the 3-day retreat was on the Book of Jonah.

"We learned that God loves us even when we turn away and continues to pursue us," said Allison. "Evan was phenomenal and I can’t begin to summarize how profound and funny he was through the 5 sessions."

Each day included morning and evening big group sessions with games and fun, breakout groups, and excellent worship. Even the food was good! Afternoons were free to play on the beach and spend time as a youth group. There were coffee runs, ice cream trips, and church-to-church game challenges.

See photos from this fun and meaningful retreat at https://www.ngumc.org/photoalbum/17480641! And follow NGUMCyouth on Facebook and Instagram.