Last fall, Alexy Mondak, pastor and Southeastern California Conference (SECC) assistant director of summer camp, had an idea. She recalled attending a women’s retreat as a teenager with her mom and wondered what something similar could look like in SECC. As summer camp director, she had seen firsthand the impact of youth ministry in her territory—so what if she helped create a retreat specifically for teen girls?
Mondak recruited a team of female pastors who began dreaming of what a retreat could look like, particularly one that celebrated the female experience. “We knew we wanted to create something different,” Mondak said. “We wanted a space where these girls could feel empowered in their identity, their beauty, and their relationships.”
Those dreams came to reality on March 8-9 with the first-ever Bloom Conference, hosted at Camp Cedar Falls. Over 100 teen girls arrived to receive goodie bags, sing together in worship, and hear messages from Dilys Brooks, campus chaplain at Loma Linda University, on how to thrive as young women. They also enjoyed a range of breakout activities, from making vision boards and flower crowns to learning self-defense and relationship resilience.
“We wanted it to be a weekend where the girls didn’t just sit and listen but were actively learning together,” said Elizabeth McDonald, family and children’s pastor at La Sierra University church and a member of the planning team. “It was so exciting to see something that we had all worked so hard on actually come to fruition.”
Perhaps the highlight of the weekend was “The Bloom Experience,” a makeshift fashion show where the girls made outfits out of wrapping and tissue paper before walking down the runway to applause from their peers. “All the girls immediately became one at that moment,” McDonald said. “It went from a space of uncertainty to one where we were together.”
“The Bloom Conference was truly a beautiful experience,” said Autumn White, a teen from the Azure Hills church. “I made so many new friends and had so much fun. I cannot wait for next year’s retreat!” Another attendee told Mondak, “You all literally thought of everything we like!”
“We wanted to give them something we didn’t have at their age,” Mondak reflected. “To know they felt their needs were met makes all of the stress and planning worth it.”
- An attendee shows off her paper dress in The Bloom Experience. ↩︎
- Dilys Brooks shares a message with the teen girls. ↩︎
- Attendees participate in a self-defense class. ↩︎
- Friendship bracelets were a fun breakout session at Bloom. ↩︎
- Two girls craft flower crowns together. ↩︎
- A group of attendees gather in prayer. ↩︎