This is just a thought, and it may not be right for your son. But I’ll throw it out there and let you decide. Perhaps if you aren’t interested, others will be.
Summit Ministries:
summit.org/conferences/student/colorado/
There’s only one conference date still open, and it’s at the end of August, so act quick if this sounds interesting.
We learned about this from one of our circuit judges (no, my daughter wasn’t in trouble!
)
This is a Protestant-run organization, but after reading their newsletter for several years now, I have never seen anything anti-Catholic, and I have seen many pro-Catholic articles, including articles quoting the Pope, various Catholic bishops and priests, and ancient Catholic saints and teachers. They use a lot of stuff by C.S. Lewis, who most Catholics don’t have any problems with.
Summit teaches students (and in recent years adults) a Christian world-view, and how to defend it against challenges. It’s an apologetics conference, but it’s more than that–it teaches Christian WORLDVIEW. No particular denomination–just Christian.
They do this during weeklong conferences held in Colorado, in Manitou Springs. I see there is now a Tennessee location, but my daughter and her boyfriend attended the Colorado conference, so that’s the one I can vouch for.
The Conference is intense–classes run from early in the morning (around 8 am), and go until evening. But don’t get the wrong idea–this isn’t a “cult”. The kids are given plenty of free time and opportunities to hike up Pike’s Peak, or hike in the Garden of the Gods, and they all take trips down to the quaint little town of Manitou Springs to shop and snack.
The students really seem to love the intense nature of the Conference. This isn’t some feel-good emotional pep rally for Our Good Buddy Jesus. No, this is a college-level seminar, with excellent classes taught by Ph.Ds, not just pastors and youth leaders. The kids have textbooks, big ones!
My husband and I sent our daughter and her then-boyfriend (now husband) to Summit at the recommendation of that judge. We paid for it–we thought it would be good investment.
They absolutely LOVED the conference, and her boyfriend seriously considered becoming one of the counselors (he decided to stay in college instead). They loved the teachers, they loved the classes, and they loved Colorado. They brought back a library of huge books (that’s part of what the fee includes). It’s been over ten years now, and they still speak about that conference as one of the best weeks of their lives.
Perhaps this isn’t right for your son. But perhaps–if you approach him and tell him that you would like to try to make up for a lack of religious background in the family, and that you think he might enjoy this trip to beautiful Colorado and the opportunity to really immerse himself for just one week in Christian classes–perhaps it’s something that he would go for, especially if he’s into the outdoors, nature, hiking, etc. One possibility is to send him and one of his friends (boy or girl). Yes, it’s a financial investment, but you will not be sorry. It could be a way that might make up for years of not teaching him much about God. It kind of crams it all into one week!
Good luck to you, and good for you for looking into opportunities for training up your son.
