Living in east Tennessee it is never unheard of churches in our area going on different retreats and trips. Churches around us have had opportunities to travel anywhere from the mountains just an hour down the road, to mission trips across the world. One awesome part about this is that we have many students at LCHS who have gotten to experience these trips first hand.

One examples of a retreat that happens for students all around Tennessee is a trip called, Resurrection. Resurrection is an event where over 12,000 youth and youth leaders gather in Gatlinburg, Tn to worship. This event is hosted by the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. The adults and youth who come to Gatlinburg for this event are typically from northeast Georgia, eastern Tennessee, as well as southwestern Virginia, but since this retreat gets larger and better every year people from all around the US are attending the event.

Resurrection began 30 years ago and has grown significantly since its start. In the beginning, the event would only hold sessions for one weekend but the numbers have reached such a high that the event must split into two separate weekends so everyone can be a part of the experience. This year the event was split into 3 sessions where thousands of pre-teens, teens, and youth leaders would gather around one goal- Praise. For the past three years the music has been led by a popular contemporary christian group called The City Harmonic. Freshman Carmen Byerly has been to the past three Resurrection retreats “The Music is uplifting and it has allowed me to express myself as well as worship with meaning.” Other musical performances in the past have been performed by Chris Thomlin, Wayne Kerr Band, and Starfield. Speakers including Justin Lookadoo, Adrian Despres, and Andy Nixon  have been part of resurrection within the past decade. This year resurrection welcomed Reggie Dabbs as the speaker after he had spoken at the event two years prior.

This years theme was BE KNOWN. The music, sermons, and skits performed by different youth groups were all centered around this theme. Due to this being the 30th anniversary of Resurrection, the Holston Conference went big. The energy in Gatlinburg was wild and youth walked the streets sporting their yellow or pink lanyards.

Sydni Trout, 12, said “I would recommend for anyone to go to Resurrection because it is a lot of fun and a wonderful as well as moving experience.”

If anything can be taken from this awesome weekend the first would be that Resurrection is awesome, and the second would be not to go on vacation in Gatlinburg during the third weekend of January if you’re looking for rest. “I plan on going back to Resurrection because it honestly changed my life. It made me happy when I wasn’t happy before.” said Bailey Blevins, 11.