Over a beautiful, sunny weekend at the end of February, Cedar Crest Camp hosted BE Retreat, our TWK Children’s Spiritual Life Retreat for 3rd-5th graders. Nine TWK churches and over 100 participants made a full house for this year’s retreat! We took inspiration from Mr. Rogers and leaned into the theme of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Rev. Katie Sorey gave messages that encouraged us to expand our idea of who makes up our community as well as how it is important to love ourselves and all of our neighbors. Caleb Purdue led us in worship, even writing an additional verse to the infamous Mr. Rogers theme song for us to sing to commemorate BE retreat.

Video clips and quotes from Mr. Rogers were woven into the messages of the weekend. We reflected on Mr. Rogers’ assertion to, in times of crisis, “look for the helpers,” noting that there are always people who are there to help, even when times feel scary. As we planned BE retreat months ago, we could not have imagined how appropriate the messages would be to the recent weeks following the ice storm that hit Middle Tennessee in January.

Rev. Gracie Dugan of Belle Meade UMC had this to say about the weekend:
“After the events of the ice storm, it felt really appropriate and helpful to give kids space to reflect on their community and what it means to be a neighbor. We heard some really cool stories shared of how kids were loved and helped by their community during the ice storm (a place to stay, warm meals, hot showers, etc.), and ways that some of them were able to be the helpers. The theme really fit our current moment!”

During small groups, through low ropes activities, over field games, and while roasting s’mores, kids and leaders got to practice being good neighbors. It was a joy to see churches from across the TWK conference coming together and creating memories!

Sammy Evers of Lawrenceburg FUMC, who attended her fourth BE retreat this year, had this to share: “I had a fun time learning about what it means to be a neighbor in God‘s community. I met many new friends and loved participating in all the fun activities at BE retreat 2026!”

We are grateful to each church that brought kids to BE retreat this year, as well as to the TWK Children’s Team for their role in planning this event. Each year, we are struck by how significant it is to gather our kids and give them space to play, to worship, and to connect. We believe it is imperative for kids to have mentors who look at them and say, as Mr. Rogers did, “There’s no person in the world like you, and I like you just the way you are.” We give thanks to God for the children of our conference and the leaders who serve them!

BE Retreat will return February 27-28, 2027!