Truth #1 You Cannot Choose a Date to Please Everyone!

Selecting the date is your greatest challenge! Don’t conflict with a holiday or a special church event. Announce it early!
Best months for a weekend retreat: September, October, November, January, February, March and April.

Truth #2 “Location, Location, Location”

If possible, stay within one hundred miles of your church. The location should have a good reputation and be affordable with comfortable lodging, nice meeting rooms and... great food.

Truth #3 The Speaker is Your Most Important Responsibility.

Your speaker will lead your group in developing a stronger walk with the Lord. It is essential her doctrine and beliefs agree with those of your church. Her personality and teaching style should fit the personality of your group.

The Internet provides excellent directories listing Christian speakers and their topics. (Visit ours at WomensMinistry.Net.) Most speaker have web sites providing background information and personal faith statements. Do not hesitate to request references.

When your speaker is selected communicate your group’s needs with her. Some groups prefer a light study, others a more in-depth one.

Speakers’ fees vary. They should include travel, food, and lodging expenses. A nice touch is providing someone to take care of your speaker, including transportation to and from the airport, water at the podium, room snacks and simply being available for her needs. I call this the "speaker's keeper."

Truth #4 “Affordability”

For some women the cost determines whether they can attend. One solution - offer full/partial scholarships. If there are no extra funds in your women’s ministry budget, ask women in your church to contribute to a scholarship fund. Most women are willing to give a little extra or provide an entire scholarship for a needy woman to enjoy a special weekend.

Cutting Costs:

• Search for a speaker within driving distance to eliminate airfare.
• Choose the music leader from your church. She will probably be delighted to contribute her talents.
• Host the retreat at your church when money is limited. Remember, there’s no place like home!

Truth #5 Promoting Your Retreat is Important!

Once your date is set, location selected and speaker chosen – get information out early. You are competing for TIME.

Assign someone to publicity. Design a flier listing the top ten reasons women need a retreat. Make it creative and clever.

Make a special effort to invite every woman in your church. Sometimes new members, young mothers, or older women feel excluded, especially if they are not active. A personal invitation is the most effective way is reach them. Send a special invitation to everyone. Along with the necessary information include a few words of encouragement. Express your desire for her to attend the retreat and remind her this is a wonderful opportunity to get know women in the church.

If your pastor approves, present a fun and clever skit promoting the retreat during the Sunday morning service. Make the retreat seem absolutely irresistable!

Truth #6 Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

Ladies love to laugh. From simple board games to crazy skits or an un-talent show, schedule a time for good old-fashioned fun!

Truth #7 Your Team is Key

A strong group of mature women with a heart for women will make your retreat a success. Everyone has different gifts, so use the all the talents available.

Truth #8 Pray, Pray, Pray and Then Pray

PRAYER before any of these guidelines are put into action. Prayer is the most important part of preparation.

In Jeremiah 33:3 the Lord says for us to “call upon Him and He will show us great and mighty things.”

We know that God always keeps His promises!

God's best and blessing as you plan your retreat!

Theme Title: How are you being stretched?
Based On: Titus 2; Proverbs 31
Description: Elastigirls unite! From the movie, "The Incredibles," Elastigirl is a super-heroine whose limbs and torso can stretch the length of an Olympic swimming pool. She pauses for just a second on the way to saving the world to check out her rear end in the form-fitting super-suit. It seems that after three children, there's a bit of stretching there that doesn't have anything to do with superpowers. We used the party favors with this theme for a retreat. Our objective was to look at how each one of us was being stretched in our own lives as well as how are we allowing God to stretch us!
Submitted by:Laura Buffington: gray- laura@sbcglobal.net, Austin, TX

Theme Title: Be a beautiful builder!
Based On: Nehemiah - The rebuilding of walls of Jerusalem
Description: We decorated with pink hard hats and tools. Pink gloves & pink T-shirts (Hands to Work-- Hearts to God) were our favors. We had a 20 ft. stone wall that all the ladies wrote their favorite Scripture on.
Submitted by: bonjour59@yahoo.com First Baptist Church of Blanchard (Louisiana)

Theme Title: Being a woman of excellence in a changing world!
Based On: Matthew 5:14-16
Description: An excellent retreat decorated in purple and white!
Submitted by:pntokwan@yahoo.com

Theme Title: D.O.L.L. (Daughters Of the Living Lord)
Based On: 1 Peter 3:3-4 The theme of outward adornment was contrasted witn inner beauty as outlined in 1 Peter 3.
Decorations: We had a variety of dolls on each table as centerpieces and groups of paper dolls (hands attached together) on walls. Each table also had a "craft box" containing material and ribbon scraps, buttons, glue, tape, and scissors as well as a generic paper doll (gingerbread man style) for women to create their own paper dolls.
Submitted by: BFCC-WomensMinistry@hotmail.com, Bethalto, IL

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