Photo by Sarah Silcox

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ––Philippians 2:8-11

Last weekend, high school students from across our diocese came together for “ReGenerate,” a weekend retreat at Camp St. Christopher on Seabrook Island. The main verse for the weekend was Philippians 2:8-11, and our speaker, Nate Morgan Locke, a youth evangelist with Christianity Explored Ministries, talked about how sometimes we put on different hats (like different identities) when we are in different social scenes. He told us that as Christians, we should have the same integrity, rooted in Christ, in all of our social realms. Another strong point that he reminded us of is that we are never done growing in our relationship with Christ. There is always something that we can change and there are ways that we can continue to get closer and closer to Jesus!

On Saturday, there were different seminars that we could go to, including “Jerks For Jesus: Engaging Diverse Beliefs and Disagreeing Well” and “#Depression: What Do I Do When Brokenness is Trending?” Each of the seminars discussed current issues in our broken society and challenged the students to stand up with the courage that Christ has given us and spread His love throughout the world. Nate drove home the point that we need to work out our salvation and really put it in to practice for God’s good pleasure. 

It was a joy and an honor to watch these students mature in their faith. I saw them come together as brothers and sisters in Christ! The bond we created this weekend will never be broken. I pray that they take the words we learned this weekend and apply them to their individual lives! 

The St. Philip’s Senior High Youth Group meets Sunday nights from 6:00 to 8:00 in the Youth Room of the Parish House. Middle School Youth Group meets at the same time and same place on Friday nights. Learn more and sign up for St. Philip’s youth minister David Gilbert’s newsletter at stphilipschurchsc.org/youth-formation.