Diocese of San Diego hosting Camp Emmaus:

The Diocese of San Diego holds the annual youth leadership camp for high school students and youth leaders at Whispering Winds Catholic in the Cuyamaca mountain. (Photo taken from the Southern Cross website)

There would be no more Zoom meetings for the young people at this year’s Camp Emmaus. The Diocese of San Diego holds the yearly youth leadership camp for Whispering Winds Catholic in the Cuyamaca mountains from June 20 to June 24.

The Southern Cross website stated that they never canceled the event. Even at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the camp has been modernized significantly in the past couple of years. So they could avoid the possible spread of the said virus.

Three Years in Making

In 2020, the camp was presented as a series of six online classes through Zoom's online conferencing app. Then they said last year, they held the camp in person but as separate day camps in two areas.

These sites include Mission San Luis Rey Parish in Oceanside and St. Catherine Laboure Parish in Clairemont, as reported on the website.

Maricuz Flores, director of the Office for Youth and Young Adult Ministry, said the camp was three years in the making. She added that the plans for returning the event to Whispering Winds in 2019 started in earnest nearly at the beginning of the new year.

The website noted that Flores’ office sponsors the annual cap for high school students. These youth currently serve or are asked to work as members of the primary teams of their parish young people groups.

Camp Emmaus

The Whispering Winds website revealed that Camp Emmaus is a five-day leadership program provided by the Diocese of San Diego. This program is created to train young leaders in Christian leadership skills.

They added that they do this by assisting them in reflecting on their call to discipleship. The week's interactive learning approach helps the youth encounter hands-on learning and team sharing. The website mentioned that there would be daily mass and reconciliation during the camp.

Besides, they posted that the camp would have three tracks. These include beginners for first-timers and veteran tracks for those who have attended in the past. Young adult tracks for ages 18-20 are actively involved in Youth Ministry.

The website said this track must be one year out of high school and is limited to two participants per parish.

More importantly, they stated that the camp would allow high school students and teen leaders to grow spiritually. They could attain this maturity through daily mass, worship, and reconciliation. They added that this is an excellent chance for all teenagers to connect to God sincerely.

The website also mentioned that campers would enjoy learning about youth leadership through various activities at Camp Emmaus. These programs include praise and worship, large group presentations, and concerts.

There would also be a talent show and a proposal for a parish project.

In the camp, participants would also learn how to plan prayers and would have the chance to listen to keynote speakers, as posted on the website.

They informed those interested that the registration would be $325. This admission fee includes four nights of lodging and 12 meals. They said that the leadership training program is also covered in the cost, as is a T-shirt for the camp.