When 1,800 Grade 7 students converged at Surrey’s Pacific Academy on Nov. 5 and 6, it wasn’t only the first fully in-person Spirit Day since 2019. “It was an opportunity for them to rise from the pandemic with renewed faith, joy, and love for God and others,” says organizer Faye McCreedy.
“A key message for them was that the last three years have changed what was once normal for us,” said McCreedy, youth coordinator for the Archdiocese of Vancouver.
So organizers set about making Spirit Day as traditional as possible, bringing together Grade 7 students from Catholic elementary schools and parish religious education programs across the archdiocese as they prepare for the sacrament of confirmation in the spring.
Once again students were offered the choice of attending Saturday or Sunday. Judging from the students’ response, organizers appear to have successfully overcome the two-year hiatus in offering a full, in-person event.
Time-honoured APeX Ministries were back, with performers Brad Farmer and Gene Monterastelli bringing this year’s theme of Resurrection to the next level and delighting students with their customary storytelling, personal testimonies, and antics.
Musical Guests WAL (We Are Loved) energized the young people with praise and worship music before bringing them into a prayerful setting for Mass, celebrated both days by Archbishop J. Michael Miller.
We decided to find a Grade 7 student, a volunteer, and a parent/catechist and ask them what they thought of Spirit Day’s full return, and we were delighted to get testimonies from a single family. The Goldberg family from St. Patrick’s Parish and Elementary School in Maple Ridge shared their experiences.
Evangeline Goldberg, age 12
Spirit Day was amazing! The music was loud and the musicians were awesome! My mom and brother hyped it up before I went because they had attended in previous years but I didn’t expect so many students or that I would have that much fun. When I heard the band WAL playing, I just knew I had to sing and move to the music. It was even better because all the music was about praising God. My mom later told me that I’ve heard their songs before on Praise 106.5 and I thought it was neat that they came all the way from the U.S. to perform at our event!
APeX Ministries’ skits were so funny and my friends and I got to take a picture afterwards with Brad Farmer. The pasta lunch was delicious (but needed some vegetables and cheese!) I was there with my PREP friends and we all had a great time. We were laughing, dancing, and singing to the great music. The energy in the auditorium was intense, especially from the Spirit Team who were dancing and encouraging us. It felt great to be in such a big place with so many other kids all praising God and attending Mass with Archbishop Miller. I recognized many of the priests who were present. The next day I looked up Luke 20:38, which was the verse on our Spirit Day shirts. “… he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.” Alive and happy is just how I felt from my time at Spirit Day.
Elijah Goldberg, age 15
Four years ago I was a Grade 7 participant at Spirit Day, but this was my first time volunteering and I didn’t quite know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find out how joyful, lively, and organized everyone was while serving at Spirit Day. As part of the Hospitality Team, we helped more than 1,600 people over the weekend, from registration to lunch lines to escorting groups between all the various buildings. The Spirit Team was amazingly full of spirit and did a great job with the skits. All the volunteers were helpful, energized, and excited to make this a great event for the Grade 7 students. During the talks, the auditorium was bursting with joy, laughter, happiness, and song. The Hospitality Team worked to bring smiles to the participants’ faces and to bring everyone closer to God by praising and worshipping him. I look forward to volunteering again next year with another group of kind volunteers so I can relive Spirit Day over and over again.
Adelaide Goldberg, PREP and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd catechist
Spirit Day Resurrection 2022 was amazing in its 17th year running! The last time I attended was over 10 years ago as a chaperone and it is great to see the growth and popularity this event still garners for the Grade 7s. It was definitely a highlight for my Grade 7 PREP students and a great way to kickstart our year, rocking out with 1,800 joyful and enthusiastic confirmands.
This year was particularly special to me because my oldest child was volunteering at the event and my second was participating along with 10 of her PREP classmates and my students who I brought with me.
I was especially moved and comforted by how flexible and accommodating the volunteers were with children who had noise/smoke sensitivities. The whole event was very well organized and ran smoothly from a chaperone’s perspective. All the participants were engaged and entertained during the skits, energized by the Spirit Team’s enthusiasm, singing and dancing to popular Christian songs, and reverent during Holy Mass with the archbishop and several priests who concelebrated. I’m sure it was a proud moment for clergy and participants to witness the joy being Catholic can bring when we gather together in-person to praise God. So thank you and God bless to all those who make this event possible for our children and I hope to see this event continue for many more years to come so my younger children can experience it as well.
