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Spirit Rising is a complete charism curriculum for high schoolers that you can run as a one-day retreat or a weekend. You lead it. Everything you need to teach it is in the curriculum.
A full, high-energy day that covers all five sessions. Each session runs an hour or more, and you choose the activities that fit your group from the session guides. This format asks the most of the leader, so we recommend a team of two or three core team members or youth ministers.
The weekend gives you time to go deeper in each session, with more activities and more time for prayer. It works beautifully as a pre- or post-Confirmation retreat.
Short on time? A half-day retreat uses Sessions 1 through 3 to begin the conversation, with teens taking the charism assessment ahead of time. You can pick up Sessions 4 and 5 on later days or weeks.
Spirit Rising is $119 for a single user, or $358 for a site license for up to five leaders.
Confirmation preparation teaches the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Those gifts are given to every Christian for growing in holiness. Charisms are different. They vary from person to person, and the Holy Spirit gives them for serving others and building up the Church (CCC 799–801).
That difference matters to a teenager. The seven gifts tell them what God gives every Christian. Charisms tell them what God gave them, and why the Church needs them. We love bringing teens to the moment when they realize the Holy Spirit has equipped them, specifically, for something.
The charism assessment is a required part of Spirit Rising. Teens take it between Session 2 and Session 3 and use their results for the rest of the retreat. It's written for ages 14–20, and each teen gets a personalized report on their most likely charisms. The curriculum doesn't include assessments, so you have two ways to get them:
Get the assessments sorted out before your retreat date, so your teens are ready when you reach Session 3.
One day or a weekend, with everything you need to lead it.
Yes. It teaches the Catholic Church's understanding of charisms (CCC 799–801), and the charism assessment looks at 24 charisms recognized in Scripture and in the Church's life.
High schoolers. The teen charism assessment is written for ages 14–20.
No. Spirit Rising is made for youth ministers, DREs, and core team members to lead themselves. For a one-day retreat, we recommend a team of two or three leaders.
Yes. The curriculum includes schedules for five weeks of Confirmation prep or youth ministry nights, a week of theology classes, and a five-day mission trip.
Yes, and the weekend format works well before or after Confirmation. For more ideas, see our post on Confirmation retreat ideas.