What Is TEC?

Our Mission

Believing that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the core message of our Christian faith, TEC is a recognized movement of the Roman Catholic Church, offering to youth and young adults an experience of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus. Through evangelization and catechesis, this intergenerational movement facilitates spiritual growth of youth and young adults with a community of adult mentors. TEC calls forth one’s goodness for service in the Church and world. Toward this end, TEC is committed to providing formation and education of adult leaders, quality resources, and a network of support and communication.

Local History

TBD piece on the local history of Prairie TEC in South Dakota... Pending interview with some of the original people involved.

National Roots

In the afterglow of the Second Vatican Council, Fr. Matt Fedewa, a priest of the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, designed a retreat experience to focus the essentials of the Catholic faith for older adolescents. As a teacher of a senior class, Fr. Fedewa was well aware of the disenchantment of youth. The initiative for his work was informed, in part, by his experience in adult faith communities like the Cursillo movement. Two insights contributed greatly to Fr. Fedewa’s development of the new Teens Encounter Christ Retreat:

Ministry to youth in America needed to adopt the approach of missionary catechesis, which meant that the Good News should be presented within the context of youth culture.
Many youth have been sacramentalized without having been initiated into the faith. There was a need for young people to experience the core truths of the faith.

The first TEC weekend was held in October 1965 on the campus of the Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan, where Sr. M. Concetta, RSM (now Dorothy Gereke), the administrator of the hospital, hosted and assisted in refining details. In the following years, the movement met with great success in the Lansing Diocese and was shared with many other dioceses. Today 81 TEC programs are active in 60 dioceses, including several outside the United States.

TEC is now being revived in the Sioux Falls Diocese after many years of dormancy, beginning with East River TEC's first weekend to be scheduled in 2026. We hope to generate great enthusiasm for this movement, and grow to offer retreats in several locations throughout the diocese, making it accessible to all. In this way, our goal is to impact all local pastorates of our diocese with a vibrant and active spiritual community.

East River TEC is a non-profit organization operating under the blessing of and full transparency with the Diocese of Sioux Falls. It is guided by a core group of community members who work to maintain this transparent relationship with the Diocese in order to continue fostering this spiritual community, with the ultimate goal of sending our young people back to their pastorate on fire with the faith. East River TEC is currently preparing for the first TEC in the Diocese of Sioux Falls in over 20 years. This and all future TEC retreats will be staffed by a priest, and a trained team of former TEC retreatants.