Peer-led small groups key to confirmation retreats for Christ the King youth

On Saturday, Nov. 5, the Christ the King Parish Youth Ministry in New Vernon held its annual Rock Retreat for first-year confirmation students. Rock Retreat is led by a group of seniors and juniors who, the weeks prior to the event, plan talks and activities for the candidates for confirmation.

Erin Ranft is the former Christ the King Youth Minister from 2006 to 2016, and since the latter year, she has been director of Religious Education and also serves as Safe Environment Coordinator for the parish. In the mid-2000s, the retreat had a different name.

“In 2008 or 2009, a few of my kids who were co-directors from my freshman retreat wanted just to change it up a little bit and take more ownership of the retreat,” Ranft explained.

Rock Retreat was the newly chosen name, with the idea of using the Matthew 16:18 bible passage, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church …”

“That is the foundation,” Ranft continued, “and because it’s a freshman retreat, and they do confirmation in their sophomore year, the first year of preparation is kind of the first foundation for them to start taking ownership of their faith.”

The first Rock Retreat was held in 2010, and the confirmed often returned to lead the Rock Retreat for the new candidates.

“I had such a positive experience at my own Rock Retreat, building relationships with people, so I wanted to emulate that same experience for younger teens, especially since we were no longer restricted by COVID-19,” said Morristown High School senior and current Rock Retreat leader, Anna Tarzanin.

As part of the Rock Retreat, large group games are conducted, then one of the juniors or seniors will share a talk or witness with the younger individuals, and there is also small group activity and additional talks.

“With this pattern of hearing talks with a large group and then discussing them in smaller groups, the small groups become really the highlight of the retreat for so many of these kids,” said Miranda Fitzpatrick, Youth Minister, since the summer of 2021. “You have an opportunity to get to know one another a lot better, and especially by the end of the day, you might be going a little bit deeper and sharing more vulnerably.”

Olivia Lombardi is a 17-year-old Ridge High School senior who has both taken part in the Rock Retreat as a confirmation candidate and now as a leader.

“The most memorable part of it was getting close with my small group,” she recalled, “and I admired and looked up to the leaders who led my small group. They did a really nice job of keeping us all together and on task in the presence of God while also having a lot of fun.”

The first-year Rock Retreat leads into a second-year Antioch Retreat.

“The Rock Retreat is helpful because it is, for so many of these kids, their first experience of ever attending a retreat,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s a great way to spend the day here and figure out what this is all about, get comfortable with being at the church, and being with all their peers for that amount of time. And then I think it helps them to enter the Antioch Retreat the following year with a different mindset, knowing a little bit more of what to expect.”