20/30 retreat energizes leaders
This year's 20/30 retreat was a huge success and sent our young adults home ready to organize progressive Catholic community at home. The group of 17, some who've been leaders in CTA for years as well as new faces, gathered in Boston for a retreat and skill sharing workshop focused on initiating and sustaining small faith sharing groups in their home communities.
"We were blessed to have Emily, a former member of the CTA 20/30 Leadership Team who now works in young adult ministry in downtown Boston, as our facilitator. Throughout the weekend, we had the chance to build community amongst our large group, to get to know each other more personally in small groups, and to vision for what we can create in each of our home locations to sustain us in our faith and our spiritual lives," reports 20/30 Team member Kristen. "Many of us were energized by the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversation with other like-minded, progressive young Catholics, feeling like we had this safe and sacred space to share our sources of both joy and frustration in terms of our Catholic identity. It is often a struggle to find these sorts of spaces in our day-to-day lives, yet we left feeling more equipped and empowered to start groups that can meet this desire."
The weekend also included Saturday night socializing with local CTA 20/30 and Guerrilla Communion folks and a Sunday liturgy celebrated by Revs. Ron Hindelang and Jean Marchant from the Spirit of Life Catholic Community. John, who is active in an RCWP parish in Illinois writes on the 20/30 Blog, "In central Illinois, I often feel very alone. Until recently, I thought I was the only young progressive Catholic in a hundred mile radius! [...] I was about to lose all hope. But then I met the proud Catholic mother of a gay son who told me about Call to Action. I met another woman who was about to be ordained a Catholic priest, who attended a Call to Action conference in the past. I learned about the 20/30 CTA group, and asked if I could attend their summer retreat. Even though I registered late, and they weren’t sure if there would be space, in the end I was welcomed with open arms." He says he knows the friends he made on the retreat will be people he'll hope to work closely with as he builds a progressive Catholic community in Illinois.
John found common ground and a listening ear with the others at the retreat, who came from California, Nebraska, Baltimore and points in between. These wonderful leaders are key to building the Church we envision; we look forward to hearing more about what they are building locally!
