So, What is a TEC Retreat?

Teens Encounter Christ Retreats pose a new way to explore and experience the Paschal Mystery through Evangelization and Catechesis. All of this is done within a community of love and support, backed by hundreds of retreats and years of tradition and prayer. TEC is an international movement of the Roman Catholic Church, and can be found in over forty dioceses and 6 countries around the world.

Wichita TEC began in 1984 when Fr. Andy Kuykendall and several others traveled to the Diocese of Omaha to help bring the retreat movement back to Wichita. Since then, the retreat program has served over four thousand people as candidates.

Wichita TEC is part of the larger national TEC Conference, who has helped oversee the TEC movement since the first TEC Retreat weekend in 1965. TEC was founded by Fr. Matthew Fedewa and Dorothy Gereke in the Diocese of Lansing, MI. The TEC Conference is incredibly active today, and operates through the dedication and hard work of its team, Leadership Team, Regional and State Directors, and other key volunteers.

”Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains but a single grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

John 12:24

This bible verse from the Gospel of John is the cornerstone of every TEC Retreat. Christ calls us to step deeper into His love in the Paschal mystery, and only by dying to ourselves can we embrace the joy of the Resurrection. Our call to ‘Die, Rise, and Go’ continues to push us forward, striving to be Disciples of Christ in our everyday life.

In this same way, a TEC Retreat never really ends. TEC is the embrace of our call to continue to pick up our cross and follow after Christ, and this continues long after the end of a three-day retreat.