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ALL
ABOUT RETREATS
~
by Robyne Beaubien
Below you will
find just about everything you need to know about planning a retreat
- the only downside to this plethora of information is that it is
all on one continuous page. I hope to be able to break it down and
make it more user friendly in the coming months, but questions about
retreats are always at the top of everyone's list and I know that
you will find a lot of help here to plan an enjoyable and relatively
stress free retreat.
First there is
a timeline with the bare bones of planning and then each segment
of planning has been broken down further and more details are given.
- SIX TO TWENTY-FOUR
MONTHS IN ADVANCE
· Select
a retreat planning team
· Select committee chair/s
· Establish expectations and ground rules
· Decide on retreat type and length
· Decide on a date
· Select a retreat site
· Reserve a site (may be done 2 years in advance, or set a recurring date with
a retreat center)
· Find a speaker (book for the following year if the speaker you want can't make
it this year)
· Consider speaker's subjects and decide on focus (title/theme)
· Brainstorm themes for workshops, crafts, special meals, etc...
· Develop a budget
· Select a registrar/treasurer
· Select
or create a logo
FOUR
TO SIX MONTHS
· Select or create a logo, if not done already
· Create registration flyer, advertisements, posters, etc...
· Send
a confirmation letter to speaker, let her know you are praying for
her, ask about any special need she might have and any
suggestions she may have for the book table.
· Select
music for choir, specials and begin to look at music for worship
sessions.
· Make
arrangements with a local Christian book store to supply books, music,
gifts, etc for a book table.
12-13 WEEKS
· Check in with Keynote speaker (phone call followed by letter)
· Small group facilitator training
· Confirm details - printing, door prizes, etc.
· Decide
where workshops and special events will take place, be sure the room
capacity is what you need.
· Begin
advertising/registration
· Determine
remaining duties
· Delegate remaining responsibilities
· Make a calendar with remaining responsibilities
· Select
someone to MC the event - preferably someone who is not on the planning
committee who will not be stressed out by behind the scene complications
(which there will prayerfully be none of!)
11 WEEKS
· Create your complete schedule
· Have
all speakers secured
· Secure all small group facilitators
10 WEEKS
· Make any necessary revisions to your schedule
· Confirm workshop leaders are ready and set date for handouts to be turned in
for copying
· Begin
choir/music rehearsals
9 WEEKS
· Map your facilities to let women know where workshops, crafts, etc. will be
happening
· Check
registration numbers and make any necessary adjustments
8 WEEKS
· Tie up loose ends. Check and double check that everything is covered. The better
you plan, the less likely you will have any last minute difficulties.
7 WEEKS
· Check back with workshop leaders
· Develop retreat materials (journals, handouts for workshops.)
6
WEEKS
· Continue to pray!
5
WEEKS
· Solicit gifts for door prizes (optional)
· Finish participant and facilitator materials
4
WEEKS
· Hold facilitator/small groups training
3
WEEKS
· Have a time of prayer with your leadership team, thank them for their help
and spend time praying for each speaker and small group facilitator/leader
2-1/2
WEEKS
· Confirm with speakers via phone to make sure no emergency has arisen
· Have final facilitator training
· Confirm schedule with retreat site
· Confirm any special meal requests
· Determine all needed supplies
· Write introductions for MC, or have them do so
· Write closure for MC, or have them do so
· Secure extra food the center will not be providing
· Have
all printed materials completed - don't forget to provide evaluations
to assist you in future planning.
ONE
WEEK
· Have prayer time with small group facilitators
· End registration
· Get all supplies
· Pick-up extra food supplies - coffee makers, popcorn machines, etc.
· Make lists of things to bring
· Pick-up books and misc. for book table
· Assign committee members to greet speaker/s and to pray with her/them before
each session
· Assign cabin escorts for speaker/s
· Assign wake-up crew - if necessary
· Complete any last minute additions to printed materials.
AT
THE RETREAT
· Have
fun!
ONE
WEEK AFTER
· Tabulate evaluations
· Send thank you notes to speaker/s, facilitators, team members, door prize providers,
book table vendor, and the retreat center.
PLANNING
AND EXPECTATIONS
Prayer
and planning are the keys to helping insure a relatively stress free
retreat. Sometimes women find a retreat to be a spiritual high place
and other times they wonder why they are there. There is no way that
you can meet everyone's expectations of what they will take away
from the retreat, but proper planning will help to ensure that the
overall experience is positive for everyone who attends. Keeping
the event bathed in prayer will allow you to be spiritually in tune
with the needs of the women and sensitive to God's direction. If
you seek Him, He WILL pour out His guidance and blessing on your
efforts!
RETREAT
PLANNING TEAM
In
my experience I’ve found that it works best to have a planning team
(or committee) of five or seven people. (The size of your team will
really depend on the size of the event you are planning. If you expect
100-200 women a team of 5-7 is great. If you have more or less, adjust
accordingly.) The team is usually chaired by the Retreat Coordinator,
who has been appointed by the WM director or another church staff
member or possibly the WM Leadership. However, if there is not anyone
in this position the team can decide together on a chairperson. Ask
for God's guidance in the choice. There are probably one or two people
who are gifted to lead and most likely there is someone who is ready
to take on the leadership role of Retreat Coordinator. It is important
to have someone fill this role simply for organizational reasons.
There should be one person who can keep everything together. A good
Retreat Coordinator will work with the team to be sure that the work
load is evenly distributed and that everyone is comfortable with
where their tasks are at various times during the planning period.
Communication between the team members is very important and the
coordinator should hold regular meetings to have everyone touch bases
and share their progress.
If, on the off chance you are the coordinator and have no one on your team
yet, here are a few suggestions to help you pull together a team: Try to
make your group diverse. The more ideas, the better, but keep discussions
on track and work toward group decision-making. Try to pay
attention
to the types of workers you have in your group (the Myers-Briggs
Temperament Indicator is useful here). Get a mix of people - extroverts,
introverts, creative people and detail people. It will help to know how
your team is wired when you begin to delegate responsibilities. Also
try to include women who are not involved in other areas of the church.
Tap into your working women. Many women will volunteer for a "short-term" commitment,
like a retreat, that would not normally step forward to serve in
a long-term position. And finally, find a prayer warrior or 2 or
3 who will dedicate herself to praying for the planning process and
preparing women's hearts before the retreat.
PURPOSE
Once
you have a team together, the next step is to determine the purpose
for the retreat. Do your women need fellowship? Is there a
specific spiritual need in your church body? Does the speaker you
plan to have a specific area to speak on and how does it relate to
the women? How does the retreat purpose relate to the overall mission
of the WM and the church as a whole?
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.
BRAINSTORMING THEMES AND IDEAS
In order to include
everyone in the planning process, you should brainstorm about all
of the things you should do to plan a retreat. 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...
- Here are some
things you will probably brainstorm through:
- retreat theme
- key verse
- logo/artwork
- workshop ideas
- craft/activities
THEMES
AND IDEAS
PLANNING HELP
There are at least
three types of retreats: instructional, thematic, and seminar or
workshop. This information is generally organized to help a committee
plan a thematic retreat since it requires the most elements of preparation
and outreach. Seminars or workshops are almost exactly the same in
planning structure as thematic retreats. Their schedules are nearly
the only things that are different. Training retreats are simpler
in planning structure in that your committee generally need not worry
about theme, outreach or registration as heavily. (Most women's retreats
are thematic but you might consider a seminar or workshop type of
retreat. For instance, a weekend built around learning to keep a
spiritual journal.)
For instructional retreats (like leadership training), the materials which
needs to be included in your retreat are probably already clear to whoever
is organizing it. Instructional retreats involve smaller groups of people
and are often organized by one to three people. Usually, you will have
an agenda which you need to cover for the people who will be required to
attend. In this case, you really don't need to worry about deciding on
an overall theme. Most of the work that you will need to do in order to
plan an instructional retreat will stem from logistical rather than thematic
tasks. You will generally not need to do much advertising or outreach since
your participants will be specific attendees.
For thematic retreats you will select a topic, themes and an approach. You
will plan a schedule, get speaker(s), train small group facilitators, and
advertise. You will work intensely for about four months until you're done,
you will be challenged, and you will have fun.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
For any type of
retreat, we suggest that before you move on to deciding your focus
or training material as a group, you perform a needs assessment.
This doesn't have to be a huge, church-wide evaluation of every woman.
All it is, is a way for your group to look at what needs to be done
... a way to step back and look at what is important to you and/or
your audience.
One thing with which you need to be careful is performing a needs assessment
for another group of people entirely. If a retreat is planned for the younger
women of your church, there should be some young women in on the planning!
The Jetsons cannot assess the needs of the Flintstones--they have two different
cultures, circumstances, and levels of technological advancement. It is
not a good idea to assume that you know what is best for others without
specifically understanding their needs or interests. Our best intentions
cannot offset missing the mark of meeting the need of the attendees.
It is entirely different, however, to identify a need within your group and
offer your management ideas to others whom you think may identify with
you. This is, in essence, what a good retreat does. For instance: a church
that has multiple Sunday morning services probably has groups of women
who do not know each other. A retreat that is focused on creating unity
and building new relationships will help to unify the women from the different
services. Try to identify your own needs and assess their applicability
to larger groups. It's not easy, but when it's successful, it's incredibly
satisfying to know you have helped not only yourselves, but others as well.
If you already have a program in place which you need to teach a group,like
in a seminar , training, or workshop retreat, then your needs assessment
may want to focus on the more interpersonal aspects of your retreat. You
should decide what you want to accomplish besides the act of conveying
information. Do you want people to form more intimate relationships? Take
this time to think about the retreat as a whole, not just the group meetings
or schedule.
(Hey, it doesn't even have to be serious! You could all decide that you don't
get enough chances to have fun and decide to have a comedic and recreational
retreat. Fill the weekend with fun activities for people to pick and choose
from. Women will register, your team will plan, and everyone has a blast!)
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, weather, retreat center availability, other
church activities, all have a bearing on choosing a date for your
retreat.
You need to think about how warm, cold, rainy or melted things will be for
you. Keep in mind that less people will tend to do extracurricular activities
when the weather is extremely hot or cold. However, it is possible to hold
retreats in the extreme weather months of the summer and winter. You just
need to make sure you plan activities and transportation accordingly. If
there is snow, it will be harder for people (especially those who are older
or physically challenged) to get around from building to building, and
you generally won't be able to use outside space. Some retreat centers
are entirely indoors, others have indoor gyms or pools, and some are definitely
warmer in sleeping quarters than others. If it's late spring, early fall,
or summer think about air conditioning (people do not sit well when they're
hot), do you need it? Can you live without it? Try to pick a weekend when
you think the weather will be tolerable for most people.
Another thing you need to consider in setting the date is time of year is the
school calendar. Obviously, it would be best not to have a retreat during
holidays when people will want to spend time with their families. You should
consider whether there are any major sporting events that many of your
attendees would be involved in with their children.
Another important time to avoid are week-ends of Homecoming or Prom. Moms are
some of the most giving people - they will sacrifice a weekend for themselves
if their kids are involved in ANYTHING.
If your retreat lasts for more than one day expect that some people might leave.
It can be very frustrating, especially after you have put so much thought
and effort into planning, but some will not enjoy themselves at all. You
can control this to an extent if you provide a schedule to them before
they get to the weekend. Show them that they will have free time and small
group time, and ... time to take a shower in the morning. People need to
know what to expect as much as possible in order to have a good time and
stay at your retreat.
The longer your retreat lasts, the more free time you need to give people.
You also need to let them get more and more sleep as the retreat is long. It's
not a very good idea to wake them up before seven a.m.. But if you do this
on day one, give them another hour on day two--try to break up the pace of
the schedule. You need to consider this now as you try to allow for how much
time you need for your retreat.
Your choice of location needs to take into account your budget, time of year,
the size of your group, and type of accommodations you desire. Some retreat
centers are more expensive than others. Usually this is because of sleeping
quarter size and layout, amount of support staff service, and quality of
meals. If you can afford it, we recommend padding your budget on this issue.
The nicer the place, the more sleep people will get, the more comfortable
they will be, and the less the accommodations will detract from the point
of your retreat.
If it's winter or chilly, we think that an upgrade in retreat site usually
pays off. You may even publicize the retreat center as part of the appeal
of attending your event. Some of the more rustic camps can be a little
uncomfortable when it's cold and snowy. Sloppy boots and coming in and
out of the weather can tend to wear on the less hearty. On the other hand,
it can be fun and people can usually buck up and take it if you can't afford
the upgrade.
You need to consider the camp's or center's ability to accommodate the size
of your group. Keep in mind that this doesn't just mean that they need
to have enough beds. The center needs to have space for large and small
meeting areas, for small groups, and for free time. There is also the possibility
that yours will not be the only group there. You should ask the retreat
center how many other groups will be using the space on the same date/s
that you are. Try to have the center send you layouts of the space they
are offering you. You need to compare this space with all of the segments
of your schedule and make sure that they have adequate room for you. Therefore,
you should have a loose idea about your schedule at this point. You don't
have to have it finished, but you need to know the structure of speaker
schedules, small group lectures, and small group time you want. You don't
need to know exact times, but knowing which days you need which spaces
is necessary.
Reserve retreat space as soon as you decide on a date. In fact, the dates of
your retreat may revolve around when you can reserve a particular conference/camp/retreat
center. Plan as far in advance as possible to get the dates you want. You
may have to book less favorable dates for a year or two until you get some "seniority" with
your retreat center.
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. (I
once found a hotel that offered a church retreat package! It
required that there be a minimum of 50 participants, but they
blocked off a wing of the hotel specifically for the retreat
and had a general meeting room and dining room as well as all
the sleeping facilities all in the wing.)
RETREAT
SPEAKER(S)
There are many
gifted speakers available for retreats today. One of the most comprehensive
lists I have seen is at WomensMinistry.Net, they
have an alphabetical listing of speakers and how to contact them.
A lot of speakers have web sites and you can also ask a speaker to
provide a demo tape and biographical information before you make
a decision whether to have them come speak or not.
Don't forget to
check locally, there may be a great Bible study teacher or speaker
at a church down the road who would love to come speak to your ladies.
Again, be sure to hear her speak and find out her testimony before
you commit to having her at the retreat.
Another option
is to have women from your church share. Whether you choose to do
testimonies or have them speak in sessions, this could be a really
great way to save some money and get to know the women in your church
better.
MONEY
WISE
The most straightforward
way to deal with figuring out your budget is to consider first your
retreat site cost--it will most likely be your largest expense. Typically,
the cost of the retreat center is passed on to the participants.
(However, if you are requiring your participants to be there, you
should consider covering part of this cost yourselves.)
For thematic and seminar retreats, your next largest cost will probably be
the speaker. There is usually a speaking fee and you will also need to
pay for their travel to and from the retreat. This can become costly when
you have a well known speaker - however, the flip side of that is that
the more well known your speaker is the more draw you have for participants.
Advertising and
Publications will be another part of your budget. You will probably
want to print up some flyers and posters to advertise the retreat,
and will also need to consider the cost of printing registration
forms and any handouts you will provide for participants.
Other costs to consider include printing, copying facilitator materials, pens,
markers, flip charts, postage for mass mailings, phone bills, and money to
take your committee out for dinner once (if you can swing it, it's another
one of those nice gestures).
When you have finished estimating costs for each of these items, list them
one by one on a tally page. Then, list your projected revenue. If you come
out on the plus side, you're doing wonderfully and can plan for a good
night's sleep. If, however, you wind up like most other committees, your
next task is to figure out where you can find some more money.
Example of a moderate
budget:
- Retreat Center
- $70.00 per person ( Friday PM - Sunday Noon, 5 meals, lodging)
- Speaker Travel
and Fee - $1100.00 ($330 flight, $700 speaking, $70 retreat cost)
- Publications
- $2.00 per person (designed by team member and printed out/copied
at church) or $5.00 designed by team member - color copies from
a print shop)
- Participant
favors - $1.00 per person (small corsage bag with bookmark, scented
tea light, confetti, and tea bag)
- Misc. - $1.00
per person (boxes of tissues, extra food, unexpected items)
Using the above
figures if there were 100 women attending the costs would be:
- Retreat Center
- $7,000.00
- Speaker - $1100.00
- Publications
- $200.00 (black and white posters, flyers, etc... photocopied)
- Favors - $100.00
- Misc. - $100.00
- Total - $8500.00; cost
per person if you evenly distribute all the costs - $85.00
Sometimes churches
have budgets for retreats that help to offset the costs. For instance,
if you had a $1000 budget for your retreat you could reduce the overall
cost to to your participants. I have been at retreats that cost as
little as $50.00 for the weekend and others that were over $100.
Money matters will
probably be the part of the planning process that gives you all the
biggest headache. The most effective way to deal with the budget
is to deal with it right away. It is absolutely no fun to be half
way through the process and still not know how you're going to pay
for everything. Do the budget early and fully understand with what
you have to work. You can play with your scope after you know how
much you can spend. It's a little harder to play with what you're
spending after you have already decided your scope.
The last thing
to point out is that you should records! We strongly recommend appointing
someone (who knows how to balance a checkbook) your treasurer. This
person should be responsible for collecting all receipts from the
committee and making sure that you all are not over-spending. They
should also be the one who settles up with the retreat center and
takes care of the speaker's payment. They could also the the one
who collects all the registration money from the participants, or
you could have a registrar and a treasurer. (We have found that whenever
money is being counted it is best to have two people doing it together.
It just keeps everything above board and nice and neat. Being the
treasurer is not a fun job, but it has to be done and there is probably
someone who would love to do it... you just have to find them!
P.S. A quick word
about scholarships. Not everyone will be able to afford to
attend the retreat no matter how inexpensive you can make it. A great
way to help increase attendance is to offer scholarships. There are
women in your church who can probably afford to help in this area.
Whether they put in an additional $5 or $100, every little bit helps
someone else to make it to the retreat. Also, you can have an area
on your registration form where people can indicate if they need
a full or partial scholarship.
JOB DESCRIPTIONS
FOR RETREAT LEADERSHIP TEAM
This
is by no means a comprehensive list, but has several key areas that
most churches will need someone to oversee the planning of a retreat.
Retreat
Director
Pray
Oversee
all areas of the retreat
Delegate
tasks to team leaders
Communicate
with team and church staff
Communicate
with keynote speaker
Develop
the overall schedule for the event and work with team
members
to coordinate music, workshops and other activities
Select
workshop speakers
Publications
Coordinator
Pray
Oversee
the planning and production of registration flyers,
posters,
advertisements, retreat packs, directional signs, and
handouts.
Provide
layout of logo for team to review
Provide
layouts of publications for team to review
Communicate
with graphic artist, printer, etc.
Small
Groups Coordinator
Pray
Provide/choose
materials for small groups
Select
small group leaders/facilitators
Hold
training for small group leaders/facilitators
Music
Coordinator
Pray
Select
Choir Director
Solicit
artists/musicians for worship and special music
Select
music
Hold
rehearsals
Confirm
copyright on music to be copied
Provide
music handouts and/or transparencies
Activities
Coordinator
Pray
Plan
special activities such as hikes, morning exercise class, etc.
Plan
any special event dinner/themed evening and recruit a
team
to help decorate, set-up, etc.
Select
a craft (or 2 or 3!) and someone to demonstrate it
Encouragement/Hospitality
Coordinator
Pray
Oversee
the set-up of a hospitality room with games and snacks
Recruit
a couple of outgoing women to assist in encouraging
others
throughout the event
Pick-up
and coordinate all extra foods
Recruit
women to provide games, puzzles, etc.
Registrar/Treasurer
Pray
Recruit
a couple of assistants
Track
the budget
Receive
all registrations and tally attendance for special
activities,
crafts, and workshops
Report
on budget at team meetings
Provide
non-profit letter to businesses that make donations
Schedule
Coordinator
Pray
Work
closely with Director to plan schedule
Checks
with other coordinators to ensure times on publications
are
accurate
Communicate
with MC (often this position is the MC)
One
last thought... good planning and lots of prayer
are
key elements in planning any event. God bless
each
of you as you seek to enrich women’s lives and
provide
an opportunity for them to draw closer to
the
Lord.
Have a Great Retreat!
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