AWAKENING 2025 DETAILS!
Dates: January 18 – 20, 2025
Check in (send-off) will start at 8:00am (please eat breakfast before you come!) Sleepers, Sponsors, Awakening leaders and Parents (whether they have been to a GB or not) are invited to Send-Off.
Location: Guys will be sleeping and showering at Marywood Retreat and Conference Center. They will spend the days at Mandarin Presbyterian Church and be transported in the mornings and evenings. Girls will spend all their retreat time at Mandarin Presbyterian Church. Sleepers can be picked up (if they are not driving themselves) from the Mandarin Presbyterian Church Loretto Campus at 6:00 pm on Monday.
Cost: Sleepers are asked to pay $100 to offset the cost of the weekend. This includes transportation, food and lodging, and activity costs. *Scholarship money is available for anyone who may need it.
Sponsors: Each sleeper will have a “sponsor” who has attended an Awakening or other Cursillo/Great Banquet weekend.
Sponsors can be students or adults – and they will be contacting parents with more details leading up to the weekend!
Cell Phones and Watches: On all Awakening/Great Banquet/Cursillo weekends participants are asked to leave phones/watches and electronics at home. Part of the experience is unplugging from our devices and being present to the moment and other people we are with. Parents/families will be given a set of emergency numbers to use if they need to reach their child.
Housing: Guys will be staying in bunk bed dorms at the Marywood retreat center. Girls will be staying in rooms with air mattresses at Mandarin Presbyterian Church. Guys and Girls will have separate talks, worship times and meeting spaces. A few times a day the two groups will join together (free time breaks, evening worship, and meals).
Registration: There is an online application to submit and a medical form to complete. If a Sleeper needs to drop out, their weekend cost will be refunded minus a $25 non-refundable deposit (included in payment).
Leaders: Each Awakening team consists of adults and students who have been through an Awakening or Great Banquet/Cursillo weekend. All leaders are background checked and known by our community. They also sign and follow the Child Safety policies and procedures of Mandarin Presbyterian Church.
Questions: You can direct any additional questions to the Lay Director of each weekend:
Awakening #7 Girls
Dana Johnston
240-441-9233
Awakening #8 Guys
Keith Johnston
240-216-4280