Father's House on Fri night Sept 8th to Sun morning Sept 10th

$45/person for the retreat
$10/child for daycare (See 20 sec video from Jeff and Marissa and Family! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of7YHGYGo2M) 
Lodging is on your own

Watch this FOCUS Retreats 2-minute video to learn more: https://vimeo.com/856533663/e9706afcd7

Watch this Video with Fr. Luke and Paul Wilburn to learn more about this retreat and why YOU should attend! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VgsRg45_9c

Use Form Below to Register
If viewing on your mobile phone: switch browser to Desktop Site/View or use this link to register: https://share.hsforms.com/1DCbb-tt-SRmQHSn8RZ3fiQdbiml

More information on Retreat, Schedule, and Speakers below the form

Please welcome three guest speakers for this retreat!

Jessica Navin
After discerning her vocation for 3 years with the Poor Clares, Jessica joined FOCUS in 2011 to assist with FOCUS retreats. Since then, she has coordinated over 185 retreats for college students in the United States and Europe. Jessica currently serves FOCUS as Sr. Manager of Spiritual Formation and resides in Denver.


Msgr. Gregory Schlesselmann
Ordained a priest in 1993, Msgr. Schlesselmann has served the Fargo Diocese.  He served many years as the Rector of then Cardinal Muench Seminary in Fargo, Vicar General.  Currently he’s stationed at St. Paul’s Newman Center serving the students at NDSU, teaching accredited theology courses, and serving as Director for the Permanent Diaconate program for the Fargo Diocese.


Father Gabriel Gillen, O.P.
Father Gabriel Gillen, O.P., was ordained to the priesthood in 2000 and currently serves as co-chaplain to the national Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) based out of Denver, CO. He produces videos for Blackfriars Media, and hosted the weekly program “Word to Life” on The Catholic Channel (Sirius XM 129) for six years.


Father's House Retreat FAQs

1) How much does it cost? - $45

2) Is this an overnight retreat? - No. While the retreat does span 3 days, every attendee will stay in their own homes for the duration of the weekend.

3) Is this a couples retreat? - No. You can attend with your spouse, but that's not required. The retreat is designed for an individual to experience.

4) Is there childcare? - Yes!

5) How much is childcare? - $10 per child for the whole retreat Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

6) Does my child(children) need to be in childcare the whole time? - No. You or an approved gaurdian can drop them off or pick them up at anytime.

7) Are there age requirements for childcare? - We ask that all children be potty trained, but if that's a dealbreaker for you attending the retreat, just let us know and we will accomodate!

8) Who is running childcare and watching our children? Young adults involved with the NDSU Newman Center who babysit and volunteer for or other Newman events. All of them are required to go through the Fargo Diocese Safe Environment training.

9) Can my nursing children be with me while I'm on the retreat? - Yes! 

10) I have a teenager, can they come? - Yes, if you believe they have the maturity to attend and participate in teenage same gender small groups, you can add them to your registration at $45 per person.

11) What is a small group? - During the retreat you'll be in an assigned small group to unpack the talks and talk about your experience throughout the retreat.

12) Do I need to have a small group to sign up? - No, but you're encouraged to invite your friends to join you!

13) Can I request who is in my small group? - Yes! We will reach out closer to the retreat to collect requests in building the small groups.

14) What's the schedule for the retreat? - See form above ^

15) Are food and drinks provided? - Yes! We are providing lunch on Saturday, Saturday dinner, snacks during the day, and coffee/water, but we are not providing dinner on Friday evening or breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.

16) Why should I go on this retreat? - Do you currently, or at moments, experience a distance in your relationship with God?  Do you wish you could experience a deeper friendship with God? Is it difficult to relate with God in a Fatherly way? Have any "father like" relationships in your life to "let you down"?   If you answered Yes to one or more of those questions, this retreat is for you. As St James says in James 4:8, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."

17) Who are the guest speakers? - Jessica Navin, Fr. Gabriel Gillen, and Msgr. Schlesselmann. Anyone one of them would be reason to attend and we get all three for our entire retreat. You're not going to want to miss this.

18) What if I can only attend part of the retreat, should I still register? - Yes! You'll still get a lot out of this retreat even if you miss parts. We hope to record the talks and make them available to retreat attendees. 

19) Is there a deadline to register by? - Please register ASAP to help for planning purposes, but yes, 1 week before on Sept 1st is our registration deadline.

20) Anything else I should know? - You won't want to miss this retreat. If you have something scheduled Sept 8-10th, if possible, you should consider rescheduling that commitment. We hope to continue scheduling retreats like this in the future, but this one with these guest speakers will be a one of a kind retreat!

21) Where can I sign up and pay? - See form above! ^