The Antiochian Men held their first ever in-person Conference & Retreat on March 7-9, 2024 and it was a big success, thanks be to God! The event took place at the Woodland Christian Camp & Retreat Center in Temple, GA and there were 140 men in attendance! The AMEN Conference & Retreat incorporated the best aspects of camping, conferences, & retreats into a first-of-its-kind event for Orthodox Christian men. Attendees also included some catechumens and inquirers to the Orthodox Faith. Over half of the parishes from DOMSE were represented at the event, and there were 46 men from outside the diocese who attended. This included men from all over the country, and even one from Canada!
The event was well organized thanks in large part to DOMSE AMEN President Michael Baclig and the rest of the AMEN Board. It offered a wide variety of sessions for the men who attended including spiritual talks, liturgical services, outdoor activities, sports competitions, workshops, and campfire fellowship, just to name a few! The most unique aspect of this event was the scheduling of activities between guest speaker sessions, especially the outdoor activities which included a flag football game, basketball games, kayaking, fishing, ziplining, and a ropes course challenge! There was truly something for everyone who attended, regardless of age group.
The guest speakers included His Grace, Bishop NICHOLAS, Fr. Stephen De Young, Fr. Hans Jacobse, and Fr. Jacob Andoun. Each speaker gave an extremely edifying talk on the theme of the event, which was “The Audacity of Manhood: Strength Through Virtuous Work.” Fr. Stephen kicked things off with a talk titled “Who Do You Work For?” That was followed by a talk by Fr. Jacob titled “And You Thought the Saints Just Prayed?” Fr. Hans then delivered a powerful talk titled “Work Shapes the Inside and the Outside” followed by another talk by Fr. Stephen titled “Men at Work.” The final talk was given by Bishop NICHOLAS and was titled “God Won’t Do All the Work for You.” All the talks received overwhelming positive feedback from everyone who attended the event!
The event included a fantastic Panel Discussion with all the guest speakers responding to questions from the attendees. Each of the speakers shared their valuable wisdom on some key issues that many men struggle with in our day and age. Liturgical services included morning prayers, a Daily Vespers, and the Akathist to St. Joseph the Betrothed which was followed by a rousing sermon by Fr. Hans. There were two very helpful workshops that took place during the event, including Faithtree’s “Lionheart Sessions” (video with discussion) and a “Restoring Young Men to Manhood” workshop led by Fr. Hans. If that wasn’t enough, there was also a live recording of the “Coming Out of Chaos” podcast with audience participation and another epic AMEN Bible Study hosted by Fr. Stephen De Young, live and in-person!
With the direction of Bishop NICHOLAS, The Antiochian Men are planning to make this an annual event and they have already begun planning for next year. They have received extremely positive feedback from everyone who attended thus far, and they intend to make the next one even bigger and more successful, God willing. Thank you to all the men who participated in the 1st Annual Antiochian Men Conference & Retreat – we look forward to seeing you at the next one!
