This is the second installment of a series of articles on Retreat Planning. This week we will look at ... Purpose and Planning Helps. (Check out the Retreat Planning 101 in !ssue 308.)

PURPOSE

If you are planning a retreat, you will be approaching it from one of two ways. Either it is something your church has been doing and you will have a specific focus for this retreat, or your church has never held its own retreat and you feel that there is a specific felt need that can be met through a retreat.

Whichever your case, sit down with your planning team and write out a purpose statement for your retreat. Some questions to think about when determining your purpose:

 

• Why do you want women to attend?
• What do you want them to experience at the retreat?
• What do you want them to "take home" and apply in their lives?
• How does the retreat purpose relate to the overall mission of the WM and the church as a whole?

Another thing to consider is your speaker. Does the speaker you plan to have a specific area to speak on and how does it relate to the women?

Write a brief purpose statement for the retreat and find scriptures that relate to the purpose. This will give you a foundation to refer back to when making all the other plans. Try to tie everything back to your purpose.

PLANNING HELP

BRAINSTORMING THEMES AND IDEAS
Coming up with great ideas can be challenging. Brainstorming is a great way to toss them around and sift out the really good ones. Consider using your first team meeting for brainstorming. Remember, this is just an idea building meeting and none of the team leaders should be required to use everything that is suggested. Begin working with your purpose and any other information you have in place, and start brainstorming ideas for worship, drama, specials, crafts, workshops, activities, etc... Have a member of the group write everything down as you go. Remember the rules of brainstorming: there are no bad ideas, nothing is evaluated either verbally or non-verbally, say everything that pops into your head out loud, write everything down. (This is a really important lesson to learn!!!! It is easy to give negative feedback on someone else's idea and then later regret it. Let the creative juices flow and let the ideas fly!)

Work through one area at a time. If you are working on the retreat theme and someone has a great idea for a workshop they should write it down and save it for later. This will help keep you focused and minimize rabbit trails. Keep each idea on a separate piece of paper (post-its work well). After the group is satisfied with its effort to brainstorm, place all of the notes on the table for everyone to see. Think about the purpose of the retreat and discuss various ways the themes can be elaborated on in music, activities, etc...

PLANNING DATES
One of the most crucial decisions that you all will make is to decide on a retreat date. People today are BUSY and finding a good date for everyone is impossible. But there are factors to consider that will help you find a date that will be most likely to have the least amount of conflicts. Holidays, school events, weather, retreat center availability, and other church activities will all have a bearing on choosing a date for your retreat. You will never choose a date that 100% of your women will be able to attend. Find the best date and stick with it.

RETREAT SITE
Finding a good retreat site can be a challenge! If your church is affiliated with a denomination there are probably one or two retreat sites that are available for your use. There are also retreat centers, camps, hotels, and even large bed-and- breakfasts that can accommodate various sized groups. When choosing where to have your retreat there are other things to consider:

• What age are the participants? If your retreat encompasses women from 18-118 you will probably not want to choose a sleep on the ground and rough it retreat.
• What do you want to accomplish? Do you want the women to feel pampered and get away from their everyday responsibilities? If so then you will probably choose a camp or center that prepares all the meals and has fairly comfortable lodging.
• How much will it cost? If cost is an issue, than this is your primary consideration. Shop around and see what is available. Check with hotels and see what kind of package deals they might have

Retreats are a lot of fun! Think of ways to make yours unique and applicable to the women in your church. Next time we will look at Choosing and Communicating with Speakers.

If you have a specific question about retreats, email robyne@womensministry.net and we will try to cover it in this series.

In Him... Robyne Beaubien, Editor
 

Purpose: Provide an opportunity for the women of our church to interact in a small group setting, promote reading, have some really good chocolate.

Description: We hosted book discussions followed by fellowship around chocoate fountains.

We selected three christian books, a 100-page novel, a 127-page novel, and an inspirational book. The books were advertised one month out and carried in our church bookstore. Our flyers included a coupon for 15% off their book purchase.

We advertised with ladies dressed in pink who gave out chocolate kisses and distributed the flyers. The books sold like hot cakes.

The event was held on a Monday night from 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm. In our gym we set up 6 "living rooms," two for each book. Each setting has a hostess/facilitator and room for about 15-20 ladies. Six round tables were scattered down the center of the gym each with a chocolate fountain. (We purchased the fountains for $35.00 each and hired a caterer to prepare the chocolate.) The ladies were asked to bring some goodies to dip. They brought everything from fruit and cake to marshmallows. (One sister even brought potato chips.)

We also invited a local chocolate company to bring samples and advertised our event in their store as an out reach.

We needed several teams to make this event happen: Advertising and promotions, food service, greeting and registration, setup and clean up teams.

Because our church is large, the ladies enjoyed having an opportunity to just sit and discuss how God ministered to them through the books.

Submitted by: Pam Ross
Email: pross@familychristaincenter.org
Church:Family Chrisitan Center, Munster, IN
Church Size: Between 1000-5000

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