EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
ATTENDING A SANCTIFEYED RETREAT!
1. WHY SHOULD YOUR PARISH ATTEND A CONFIRMATION SACRAMENTAL RETREAT?
This retreat is helping Families Fall in Love with the Sacraments. SanctifEYEd is a family retreat designed to help families rediscover the mission and beauty of the sacrament of Confirmation. Dr. John R. Wood, an eye doctor, uses analogies of the eye to help parents and students learn to “See the Light of Christ, and Be the light of Christ.” He also draws from his experience as a state champion runner featured in his book, “Where There is a Will There is a Way,” to inspire families to be saints!
Research is clear that parental lives are the most powerful religious curriculum of all. If parishes are not reaching parents as part of their sacramental prep, they are missing a huge opportunity. Parents are called to be primary educators, not parishes, but parents are difficult to reach. We want to help you reach them!
2. WHEN ARE THESE RETREATS OFFERED?
Most retreats take place on Saturdays or Sundays during the school year. The list of available dates can be found at our schedule page. Contact us if you have a special request by clicking below.
3. WHAT IS THE RETREAT STRUCTURE?
Sample schedule: SanctifEYEd Retreat 12:30pm - 4:00pm
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12:30pm - 1:00pm
Registration
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1:00pm - 1:45pm
Session 1 The Power of Sacramental Grace/Jeopardy game
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1:45pm - 2:30pm
Session 2 Our Story and the Love of the Father
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2:30pm - 2:45pm
BREAK/Transition
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2:45pm - 3:30pm
Students in Adoration
Parents in Gym with John
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3:30pm - 4:00pm
Session 3 The Holy Spirit’s Gifts that Make us Saints!
4. WHAT KIND OF FACILITIES ARE NEEDED?
We will need a large gym/hall/auditorium style room for the main part of the retreat. We highly encourage both parents to come, so you need a space big enough to accommodate 3 people per family.
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We also need a location for adoration big enough to handle the number of students attending the retreat.
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5. HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN ATTEND A RETREAT?
As many as your facility will allow. See #4 above regarding the need for a large hall and adoration.
6. WHAT RESPONSIBILITIES / EQUIPMENT DOES THE PARISH NEED TO PROVIDE?
A. Book the facilities for the day.
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B. Contact families inviting them to the retreat. One parent is required to attend with the child, but we HIGHLY recommend both parents. We provide you with a Parent Letter to get them excited and encourage them to both come and encourage parents to write letters to their student.
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C. Provide us with a roster of kids so we can order materials. (We need to order crucifixes AT LEAST one month before the retreat.)
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D. Provide us the EMAILS OF THE PARENTS IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT (Click here) before the retreat so that we can register them for the follow up 25-week Saints in the Making Family Email Challenge.
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E. The parish is responsible for any food provided.
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F. A priest or deacon for the Eucharistic adoration portion of the retreat and to bless the crucifixes.
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G. An XLR Connection and a microphone are useful. We can bring a sound system if needed. A microphone and piano for adoration are ideal.
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H. We highly encourage you to invite parents, sponsors, and other family and friends to write care letters to the students to be handed out during adoration. You will be responsible for gathering and distributing these letters if you choose to do so.
7. WHAT ARE THE COSTS?
Note: Please don’t let costs be a barrier. Scholarships from the Knights of Columbus (KofC) are available, and we can waive the retreat fee for first-time parishes wanting to try it out.
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Starting in 2024-2025, the retreat fee is $20 per student ($500 max per each 100 students). This includes access to all our online retreats, which you can use as needed. Family gift bags are $30 each. For live events, we handle ordering and supplying all materials—no extra work for you.
Covering Costs: Fundraising Options
We are confident that you can fully cover the costs of the gift bags by considering one or more of these fundraising options!
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A. Seek Sponsorship from the Local KofC.
Ask your local Knights of Columbus council to sponsor the materials, or share a contact person with us, and we’ll reach out. John Wood, a KofC member, is available to present to councils on how these events strengthen families and vocations. We include a KofC ad in the Retreat Resource Manual and encourage membership among young dads. Most parishes have secured full or partial sponsorship this way. Watch the video below to share with your council!
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B. Parish Mentorship and Family Adoption Program.
Invite parishioners to “adopt” a second-grade family by covering the $30 gift bag cost and committing to pray for that family throughout the year. We provide a flyer, bulletin ad, and video to help promote this program.
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C. Host a Parish Mission with John Wood.
We recommend hosting a one-night parish mission with John Wood every 4-5 years. We offer various topics, a marketing plan, and promotional tools. No parish fee is required if you follow the marketing plan. A freewill offering supports Dragon Slayers retreats, with 50% of the funds staying in your parish. We plan to offer around 12 fundraising events per year.
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8. WHAT KIND OF FOLLOW-UP DO YOU PROVIDE?
A. Surveys for Parents
At the retreat, we provide an anonymous survey to every parent which gives us valuable information on where they are currently at in their spiritual journey and how we can help them. At the end of the school year, we ask you to distribute an end of the year anonymous survey to measure growth. This can be completed electronically, but when possible, distributing physical copies in person tends to yield more responses.
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B. Ongoing Support
We don’t just encourage parents to be primary educators and leave them on their own. We follow up for 25 weeks with our Saints in the Making Family Challenge. This weekly email includes resources and activities for the whole family across four tracks: Deep Roots (parents), Dragon Slayers (children), SanctifEYEd (middle school/teens), and Into the Breach (men).
9. WHAT IF A CHILD / FAMILY IS UNABLE TO ATTEND?
Sometimes conflicts happen or people get sick (or pandemics suddenly strike!). No worries. Families may join other area retreats, or we offer an online version of our retreat as well and give you all the tools necessary for a family to experience the retreat from home. Live retreats are always best, but if necessary, you can offer the VIRTUAL RETREAT OPTION (Click here).
Note: The virtual retreats are included for FREE for all parishes who do our live retreat.
10. WHERE ARE THE RETREAT VENUES?
You can view our current retreat schedule by CLICKING HERE. If there is a venue you are interested in contact us to check for availability. We are working to find venues large enough to accommodate more parishes. Please contact the Mission Director at 419-731-3518 or at areinhart@extraordinarymission.com to discuss venue options. If you are not in the diocese of Toledo, OH or surrounding area, please consider our VIRTUAL RETREAT OPTION (Click here).