St Lawrence Catholic Church

Last year we raised money to send our high school youth to the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC). But this year it’s the Middle Schoolers’ turn!

Retreats and conferences can be an invaluable experience for young people who are just starting to wrestle with their faith and what it means to be Catholic. There are so many voices and distractions in their lives that sometimes it takes a special experience to give them the time and space to encounter our Lord for themselves. This is the reason we take our high school youth to events like NCYC, but this year we wanted to take special care to ensure our middle schoolers also have a chance to have an experience like that.

This year for Giving Tuesday, St. Lawrence is raising money to send our middle school students to Holy Fire, hosted by NFCYM (the people who put on NCYC). Holy Fire is a one day conference that “invites and challenges youth to embrace their baptismal call and the powerful, relevant gospel of Jesus through talks by dynamic speakers, witnessing by peers, inspirational praise and worship, and rich experiences of the Eucharist through adoration and Mass.” Unlike NCYC, which is a national conference, Holy Fire is a regional conference that takes place at several locations across the United States every fall, with Nashville typically being one of those sites. Unfortunately, the dates and locations for 2026 have not yet been announced, but we’re raising money now so we can be ready to send as many of our middle school youth as possible when they are.

We hope you’ll consider giving this year so that our youth can have a powerful experience of the joy of the Catholic faith and the love of our God.