It has been said that leaders are those who encourage others to be their best. "One of the goals of the office is to encourage youth to become greater leaders within the Church", said Kevin Bohli, director of the Office of Youth Ministry.

During the first two weekends of September, the Office of Youth Ministry sponsored Leadership Retreats for over 50 Catholic youth who are already viewed as leaders within their parishes. Twenty-two high-school aged boys and 29 high-school aged girls from 20 different Arlington parishes participated in the weekend retreats at Hunting Ridge Retreat Center in Winchester. The retreats were organized by Bohli, but led by six men, and five women youth ministers from around the diocese.

The youth that participated were hand-selected by their youth ministers as already showing signs of leadership within their youth group or parish. The goals of the retreats were to teach basic leadership skills, to boost the confidence and self-esteem of each participant through community sharing, to strengthen their faith through the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, and to answer any specific apologetics questions about their Catholic faith. The retreats were planned at the beginning of the school year so that these youth would go back to their parishes excited about helping to organize activities for the upcoming year.

The retreats were single-sex because there was a strong emphasis throughout the weekends on sharing personal obstacles.

"In my experience, true openness and sharing occurs best within a single-sex environment," said Bohli. "Having seperate weekends for the boys and girls allowed the discussions to be focused on some of the differences that men and women encounter in society, in their spirituality, and in the Church."

Joanna Bible, one of the youth ministers leading the retreat, said, "I'm really glad that the retreats were single-sex because the young women were more relaxed without the added pressure of having boys around."

Several priests came to the retreats each weekend to assist with the questions and answers sessions, to hear confessions, to provide Eucharistic Adoration, and to provide Masses on both Saturday and Sunday mornings.

"Coming on this retreat was great," said Amira Koren from Church of the Nativity in Burke. "I wish I could have stayed longer!"

"The retreats were very successful, and will hopefully involve more parishes next year", said Bohli. "I knew it was a good retreat when one of the boys told me he that he had a lot to change when he got home."

A final goal of the retreat was for the participants to prayerfully select the members of the 2002-2003 Youth Board for the Office of Youth Ministry. Each retreatant was encouraged to consider being on the board themselves, but to also select one person on the retreat that exhibited exceptional leadership skills. The youth ministers then collaborated to select the five girls and five boys from across the diocese who would best serve the other youth of the diocese.