Nurturing Young Adults at The Manna Retreat

Originally written for Montreat Conference Center’s 2023 Annual Report.

After months of Zoom calls, hours of planning, dozens of team conversations, and long flights, we were finally there. On January 27, 2023, the doors to Convocation Hall flew open, music pumped through the speakers, and The Manna Retreat began for the first time as 80 young adults in their 20s and early 30s streamed inside. It was a holy moment I will never forget.

The Manna Retreat is an initiative to create a conference space for young adults. For generations, Montreat has done an incredible job fostering the faith of youth and college students. I have witnessed and experienced that nurturing first hand. However, after college graduation, many of those young people never venture through those gates again. Based on my own experience as an associate pastor for young adult ministry, I knew that if we could create a space to nurture the faith of young people, they would come.

So for three days, The Manna Retreat leadership team spent our time and energy pouring into those young adults. Like manna in the wilderness, our prayer was to nurture and sustain the faith that those young people brought through small groups, keynote, worship, late night trivia, workshops, and group hikes.

At the end of the weekend, the entire conference group circled Convocation Hall. We stood shoulder to shoulder, and looked around the room as we promised and reminded those young people that they were the rock that Christ was building the church on. There were tears and smiles, laughter and hope. It was a holy ground moment that I cannot wait to experience again. So, if you are a young adult and your faith could use some nourishing, I hope you’ll join us. We have manna to share.

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