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When: Friday, Nov. 3–Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023
Where: The Watermarks Camp in Scottsville VA
Cost: $125 (lodging, meals, a t-shirt & more)
Your Congregation’s High School Youth and High School Youth Leaders are invited to attend the SED High School Youth Gathering – Friday, November 3 through Saturday, November 5, 2023. This year’s district retreat will be held at Watermarks Camp in Scottsville VA.
Our theme is “Rooted,” which comes from Ephesians 3:17-19 “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Teens today are hearing from so many different voices. Voices tell them who they are and what to believe. More than ever, it is important to help our teen develop their Christian identity and be grounded -rooted- in their Christian faith.
Our guest speaker, Deaconess Dr. Janine Bolling, MPA is a transformative student and community engagement specialist from Brooklyn, NYC currently serving as Executive Director of Our Saviour Lutheran School in the Bronx, NY.
She holds a BA in Theology from Concordia University Chicago, a Master’s in Public Administration from CUNY Baruch College, and an EdD from Concordia University Wisconsin in the Leadership, Innovation, and Continuous Improvement (LICI) program. Her dissertation focus is a quantitative study on financial literacy education among young adult minority females.
Dr. Bolling works full-time in the secondary educational space at Our Saviour Lutheran (OSL) one of the few Lutheran schools in the country with a diverse administration, teaching staff, and student body. She serves as an adjunct professor at Concordia St. Paul and Maryville University in St. Louis teaching and course designing in the Human Development and Family Services program.
She has also spoken on podcasts, at schools, at community events, written for devotionals, blogs, and websites, and is an advocate for racial justice in the LCMS church body in her work with Lutherans for Racial Justice. She and her brother, Rev. Dr. Gerard Bolling co-host “The Impartial Church,” a podcast produced by the Lutheran Hour. Dr. Bolling is a member of several different boards and committees within education, including the CUEM Center for Urban Education Ministries board, located in Chicago, IL.
Dr. Bolling is a talented home chef, a gym rat, and a fan of poetry, deep conversations, and OSL Basketball #FalconFamily. Her passion for educational equity, inclusivity, small business, and creative collaboration shapes the value she seeks to get out of each day and each area of her life.
Leading our worship time together will be Rev. Nicholas Gonzalez. Pastor Nick serves as the Associate Pastor of The Lutheran Church of St. Andrew in Silver Spring, MD, where he focuses on Youth and Family Ministry. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in 2019. He was born and raised in New Jersey and loved being so close to New York! He is a big New York sports fan (Go Yankees!), but his favorite sport is soccer. He played while in college at Concordia College – New York and Concordia University Wisconsin. When Nick isn’t at church or playing soccer, he loves hanging out and going on walks with his amazing wife, Lauren, and their Goldendoodle puppy, Benson. Through it all, Nick loves getting to share and experience the grace, mercy, and love of Jesus in all things. Connect with Nick on Instagram and TikTok @revnicholasg
The cost for this retreat is $125.00 which covers all meals (Saturday and breakfast on Sunday), lodging, a T-shirt, and camp amenities. There are a limited number of spots reserved for this retreat.
If you have any questions or would like more information about the SED High School Gathering, please contact: