NET Retreats - Office of Youth Ministry

NET Retreats

What is NET?

Each year approximately 90 young adults age 18-30 volunteer nine months of their lives to serve on the NET teams. These young adults are placed on eight different teams of 10-12 people.

For nine months, these teams become like family for each other as the travel across the country in a van with a trailer, providing retreats for junior high and high school youth in about 70 dioceses. The teams stay with host homes and usually provide six retreats each week! View "A day in the life of a NETer":

What are the Themes of the Retreat that I can pick from?

Bringing NET in to do a Confirmation Retreat?

All our themes are appropriate! The goal of the NET Retreat isn’t to catechize the young people about the Sacrament as much as it is to encourage them to grow in their relationship with God. Even if the retreat is being used to fill a “Confirmation requirement,” you’ll find any of our themes effective in inspiring the young people to take Confirmation and their faith seriously. Just tell the team leader the retreat is for Confirmation and they’ll adjust the talk and the testimonies team members give accordingly.

Why Faith?

What’s the big deal with this “God stuff” anyway? This retreat addresses four common reasons young people don’t seem interested in their Catholic faith and challenges young people to reconsider their perspective. They are exhorted to live their Catholic faith to the fullest!

The Adventure

Using a visual/drama format, this talk shows the young people how they fit into the story of Salvation. God did not abandon His children to the power of sin and death, but in the fullness of time sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins and restore our relationship with God. He sent the Holy Spirit upon us at our baptism to free us from original sin and begin our journey of faith.

Soul Satisfaction

All of us are hungry. We all “hunger” for peace, joy, meaning, and happiness in our lives. This theme looks at the two places we can look to satisfy our spiritual hunger. Do we look to what the world/our society tells us will satisfy our hunger for happiness or do we look to God?

Igniting the Flame

This theme addresses four main ways that we can allow the fire of God to burn boldly in our lives. Fun, interactive demonstrations explain different tools the Lord gives us that enables His flame to grow. With a theme of confirmation woven throughout, youth are encouraged to respond to Christ with a resounding yes to be a burning light in this world, ablaze with Christ's passion and purpose.

Home

Home is where the heart is. It's where we belong and are free to be completely ourselves. God has given us an inner longing to be at "home" to point us to our ultimate end in Him and in heaven. This theme explains God's desire to fulfill our heart's longings and his gift to us of the free will to choose or reject Him. Through an interactive demonstration, the youth see how sin leaves us lost and how Christ is the Good Shepherd calling out to lead us home.

Overnight and Weekend Retreats (Offered for Grades 9-12 only)

The overall theme of the overnight and weekend retreats is “The Adventure”. After an Opening Session of songs, game and skits to break the ice, the team will encourage the retreatants to take a serious look at the role their Catholic faith plays in their lives. Beginning with the talk, “Why Faith” the NET team addresses the common reasons why God doesn’t seem to be a priority in so many young people’s lives. Using stories, personal testimonies, drama and music, the team will exhort the young people to live their faith to the fullest.

Throughout the retreat, young people will participate in small group discussions, prayer and activities aimed at helping the young people take ownership of their faith and growing deeper in relationship with God. And, of course, there will be time for recreation and fun!

On day two of the retreat, the retreatants are present with practice steps they can take to build their life on Christ (Prayer, Sacraments, Fellowship, and Service). They’ll also spend time separately as women and men to grow in their understanding of what it means to live as God’s daughter or son.

The retreat closes with the presentation “The Adventure” followed by a time of prayer, during which the young people are invited to respond to God’s love.

How much money does NET cost?

NET Ministries depends largely on retreat fees to continue operating as a ministry. When determining fees, we must consider the cost of purchasing vans, vehicle insurance, fuel, medical insurance for team members, administrative costs, training and supervision of our team members, retreat materials etc.

One day retreat up to 6 hours	$675.00
One day retreat of 6 hours to overnight	$825.00
Weekend retreat (two overnights in a row)	$1,200.00

The policy of NET Ministries is to never allow a parish's financial situation prevent them from hosting a NET retreat. If your parish has difficulty affording the full cost of a retreat, please call the Diocesan Contact Person to discuss alternatives. A great cost saving idea – (especially if you have a small group of youth) is to join with another parish! The ideal number for a NET retreat is 60 youth, and the maximum is 150 – so you have a lot of area to work with!

What are my date options?

Date	Retreat Location
January 11	Arrival Day (no retreat)
January 12
January 13
January 14
January 15
January 16
January 17	Team Day (no retreat)
January 18
January 19
January 20
January 21
January 22
January 23
January 24	Team Day (no retreat)
January 25
January 26
January 27	Departure Day (no retreat)

Contact Information:

Shayna Deitchman
deitchman@diocesekcsj.org
(816) 756 - 1850 ext 553

Visit netusa.org for more information!