2025 YouthTREK RED DEER and YouthTREK VERNON bring Youth and their leaders from ​BC, Southern Alberta & Yukon together!

In RED DEER
September 27-29
at Gaetz United Church

For youth ages 12-17
​REGISTER BY SEPT 15

In VERNON
October 24-26
at Trinity United Church

​For youth ages 12-15
REGISTER BY SEPT 22

YouthTrek 2025 Information

How much does it COST? 
​What do I need to BRING?
What do I need to KNOW?

Click  +  to open all the details!

The Cost

The cost is $250 per participant and includes all your travel, meals, supplies, program plans, etc.  There are bursary funds available and you can self select up to 50% off depending on what you feel you can afford in the registration process.  If you need more than that to attend, please contact your local community of faith to see if they have funding for youth events or contact us at [email protected].  No one is ever turned away because of money, we will find it - we want you there!

What To Bring?

What to bring? You will receive a welcome email that has the list about 2 weeks before the event, but it's all pretty basic: clothes, toiletries, towel and bathing suit, sleeping bag, pillow, foamie (if you don't have a sleeping bag, let us know).  Anything specific we will make sure you know.​

What do I need to know? ​

What do I need to know? YouthTREK will operate under First Third Ministry's All-Gender Accommodation Policy. Find out more below!

Looking for an event for your 16-17 year old? We're adding a senior youth event​, details coming soon! 

How do we get there?

Youth will travel by chartered bus, by car, by plane, by ferry depending on where they live and the best way to travel to the event!

• During registration, you will be asked for the transportation choice that makes sense to you. 

Click  +  to open the route details!

Going To YouthTrek RED DEER

Routes and plans are subject to change, but you can expect that your travel day will start on Friday morning, and that you will be home late-afternoon on Sunday. Our administration team can work with you to figure that out but this is what we know so far:  

​For the most part, folks with either meet us in Red Deer (parents or leaders will drive them) OR they will be at one of the pickup/drop off locations for the chartered bus, with potential stops listed (subject to demand upon registration)

• Lethbridge
• Okotoks 
• Fort MacLeod 
• Nanton
• Calgary

Going To YouthTrek VERNON

Routes and plans are subject to change, but you can expect that your travel day will start on Friday morning, and that you will be home late-afternoon on Sunday. Our administration team can work with you to figure that out but this is what we know so far:  

​There will be one chartered bus, and we will be flying folks from the island -- which is why our registration deadline is so early! 

Projected Bus Stops

• Pacific Central Station, Vancouver
• Eagle Ridge United Church, Coquitlam
• Cineplex Cinemas, Langley
• Kelowna International Airport
  

​
If you are coming in on a flight, you will be picked up from Kelowna International Airport as part of the bus schedule.  ​

How do I REGISTER?

All Online Registration is at THIS LINK.
Look under 'Youth | 2024 Events' drop-down to find 'YouthTREK Lethbridge' and 'YouthTREK West Vancouver' listings!

Bursaries are available and we encourage you to use them!

Enter TREK25 or TREK50 for 25% or 50% off, or give us an email at firstthirdministry.ca for the 75% and 100% codes. Don't let money be the barrier to attending!

Attending YouthTREK Vernon? From Vernon or the surrounding area? We have a special discount available to you!

​What will we DO? ​

We get it, you want to know what we might be up to. We are in the midst of planning these great events and the schedule won't look exactly look like this but generally, this is what you can expect to happen at YouthTREK! 

Click  +  to open the draft schedule!

Friday 

Travel to the Event (Chartered Bus, Plane, Car...)

4:00pm   
Registration, Welcome Table, Nametags, snacks, find out where you will be sleeping (and set up your sleep area)... 

5:30pm
Dinner 

6:30pm
Welcoming & Gathering, Get to Know you Activities including an overview of the weekend, creating a community covenant, etc

8:00pm
Vespers (Evening Worship)

8:30pm
Hangout spaces (Board Games, Crafts)  & Evening Snack 

9:30pm 
Head to Bed (because you know, travelling is tiring!)
​

Saturday

7:30am
Coffee/Tea is on  

8:00am
Breakfast Bar (open until 8:45 am) 

9:00am
Opening Gathering & Worship 

9:45am
Community Gathering - Games, Music, Worship, etc

10:45am
Snack

11:00am
Activities focused on the Theme

12:30pm
Lunch

1:30pm
Workshop/Activities Choice 1
There will be choices including art activities, games, hikes, thrift store fun - depends where we are - you will be able to choose at the Welcome Table on Friday)

2:30pm 
Workshop/Activities - Choice 2

3:30pm
Afternoon Snack  

3:45pm
Swimming (or Showers only, or sitting by the pool...your choice)

6:00pm
Dinner 

7:00pm
Community Event - could be a Movie Night, Talent Show, TBA  

9:00pm
Closing Vespers  

9:30pm
Hangout spaces (Board Games, Crafts)  & Evening Snack

10:30pm
​Lights Out  

Sunday

7:00am
Coffee/Tea is on 

8:00am
Breakfast  

9:00am
Clean up spaces 
Prepare for Worship Service 

10:00am
Worship Service  *to be led by YouthTREK

11:15am         
Youth leave to go home (with a bag lunch)!  See you next year! 

Go To Online Registration >

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All-Gender Accomodation Policy

All-Gender Accommodation
To create a supportive and inclusive setting, we organize our retreat accommodations based on sibling, extended family and friendship connections, and camper's age rather than focusing on like-genders.

• All-Gender Accommodation means your participant can expect to share sleeping space with other participants whose gender identity or expression may and may not be the same as theirs.
• All-Gender Accommodation empowers friends and siblings of different genders to room together.

"We found that by all-gendering our accommodations last summer, the greatest positive impact was that children and youth were able to make more connections and build friendships with people that had similar interests to themselves. Masculinity and femininity fall on a spectrum, and we had girls that were excited to engage in activities that boys in their cabin groups were interested in, and boys that were excited to engage in activities that more of the girls were interested in. 
 
We also noticed that there was less bullying behaviours amongst the boys and less 'mean girl' behaviour amongst the girls than we typically deal with during a week at camp. During Camp Cha7elkwnech, our one week where we did have gendered cabin groups, there was a spike in both behaviours and obvious incidents where a few boys didn't relate to or connect with their male peers, and a few girls didn't relate to or connect with their female peers." 
 
— Terra McKenzie, Executive Director, Camp Fircom 

Affirming Christian Community
All-Gender Accommodation is an expression of First Third Ministry's commitment, as an integral part of the Pacific Mountain Regional Council, to create safer spaces for 2SLGBTQAiP+ belonging, as outlined in PMRC's Affirming Ministry Statement.

Inspired Approach to Retreat Accommodation

• First Third Ministry staff place our participants into well-considered sleeping spaces where every attendee has their own bed, and with at least two group leaders for each group.
• Our leaders help create an positive, caring bedtime experience and healthy sleep environment.
• To ensure comfort and privacy, we have changing tents available.

Belonging, For All 
If you need support in understanding our commitment to All-Gender Accommodation, please contact Tasha Whitney at ​[email protected] for conversation and information.