Our children’s ministries had an awesome time at BE Retreat! Thanks to all the churches and their students that attended!

Over March 29-30, Cedar Crest Camp hosted BE Retreat, the TWK spiritual life retreat for 3rd-5th graders. 10 churches, and 125 people from across the Tennessee-Western Kentucky conference, were represented at this retreat. Rev. Stephanie Dunn was our keynote speaker, and Belmont student Emmy Moyen led worship.

Throughout the weekend, students broke into small groups, where they had the chance to get to know others from different churches across our conference. The rain held off, and we were able to zipline, play field games, and participate in our second annual BE Retreat Olympics!

The theme of the weekend was BE Bright, centered on the scripture from Matthew 5:14-16. Students reflected on what it means to shine the light of Jesus into the world and considered the different ways we are able to do that. We ended the weekend with communion and a lighting of lamps that each student took home to remind us to be bright!

Hannah Pratt, Director of Children’s Ministries at St. Mark’s UMC in Murfreesboro, shared a reflection of this year’s BE Retreat:

“This is my third year bringing children to BE Retreat, and like previous years, everyone had a fantastic time! BE Retreat invites our children to reflect on God’s presence in their lives and connects them with other children across our conference. I am so grateful for conference events, like this, that invest in the spiritual lives of our children!”

BE Retreat will return in Spring 2026. Follow @CedarCrestCamp on Instagram for more BE Retreat updates and information for future children and youth programming.