Steps for Attending an Alternate Confirmation Retreat (at another parish)
We realize that sometimes that there are extenuating circumstances (like illness or tragedy) that make it impossible for a student to attend their own parish’s Confirmation retreat, and we want to help you out if we possibly can. The MORE Team presents quite a few Confirmation retreats every school year, and so we have a process in place for anyone interested in trying to attend another parish’s Confirmation retreat. We ask that you follow the following steps, in order, if you wish to pursue this option.
- Please make sure that your parish’s Confirmation coordinator is comfortable with you attending another parish’s Confirmation retreat. If you have their permission to pursue this process, then please…
- Look over our list of retreats and choose two or three options that will definitely work for you and your family. Please make sure that you choose options that are of a comparable length to the retreat being offered by your parish, and please make sure that they are Confirmation retreats, since (as you will see) we offer a wide variety of retreats to a wide variety of audiences.
- Send an email to paul@marianistretreat.com AND to your parish Confirmation coordinator and make sure that this email includes the following information: name of the Confirmation candidate, his or her parent/legal guardian, the name of your parish Confirmation coordinator, which parish you are from, and the two or three options that work best for you.
- Please wait patiently for a reply, keeping in mind that not every parish is amenable to guests attending their retreat, that some retreats require the students’ sponsor (or a sponsor substitute) to attend, and that some parishes my require a fee to offset the cost of retreat expenses.
- If it works out for you to attend an alternate Confirmation retreat, please check with your parish Confirmation coordinator to find out how they would like to verify for your attendance. The MORE Team does have an official form that works for this purpose; if you need that form, please contact Paul Masek (paul@marianistretreat.com).
- Finally, we would ask that you prayerfully consider a financial gift to the Marianist Retreat Center for offering you this opportunity. A donation is not required, but it will help to support our mission of bringing quality retreats to God’s people.
Should you have any questions about this process, please contact your own parish’s Confirmation coordinator or Paul Masek, Program Director of the Marianist Retreat and Conference Center (paul@marianistretreat.com).
We are praying for you; please pray for us!