How to Organize a Christian Women's Retreat
How to organize a Christian women's retreat is a topic of interest for churches, women-groups, and faith based ministries. Church-hosted retreats for women are filled with fellowship and fun. The retreats can take on a number of different purposes, including showing appreciation for ladies who serve in the Church; revitalizing those who hold leadership positions; providing a time of prayer, reflection, and companionship for women within the Church; and much more.
Planning such an event requires a couple of steps that the organizer needs to be aware of. To begin, a theme of the retreat needs to be chosen. For example, perhaps the retreat can be a spiritual getaway specifically for new moms who are also members of the Church. After the theme is chosen, the organizer needs to speak with the Church's pastor about a date and time for the event, and invites need to be sent out for the retreat.
After invitations for the retreat are sent out, information and materials will need to be gathered for the event. Religious bookstores, online religious shops, and Church bookstores are excellent places to look for such items. If it is decided that a video or DVD is going to be played as a part of the retreat, then the organizer must make sure that the event location has a player to accommodate this.
Next, the organizer needs to make up a retreat schedule that leaves space for quiet time, group sharing, teaching, and good old fun. With this said, the retreat location should either be quiet and lovely or just a spot that specializes in holding retreats. Such an environment relaxes one's mind and soul. Retreats are typically held in a hotel, cabin, tent on a camping ground, or private home. The cost of renting the facility, meals, materials, etc. Should be split among the group.
After a schedule is made up and a location is booked, the organizer needs to make a list of the fun things in the area. Retreats should definitely include some time for fun. For instance, perhaps the ladies could go out to eat together or attend a museum.
The organizer of the retreat also needs to ask each of the ladies to bring parts of the meals that will be needed for the event if food will not be provided by the lodging facility. Furthermore, the person putting together the event needs to remind the women of all that they should bring to the retreat, including toiletries, a Bible, paper, pen, etc.
Last but not least, the organizer should think of an exercise that breaks the ice for everyone attending the retreat. Perhaps the ladies can sit in a circle and introduce themselves. After this, they can each mention what brought them to the event. In addition, she should perhaps make up little gift bags to give as thank yous to the ladies attending the event. Also, lots of pictures should be taken at the retreat to commemorate it and capture different memories.
In conclusion, there are a lot of steps involved with planning a Christian retreat for women. These include choosing a theme for the event, gathering retreat materials, sending out invitations, making up a retreat schedule that includes time for fun, asking ladies to share in bringing meals, and creating an ice breaking exercise for those attending the retreat. Furthermore, little favors provide a nice way to say thank you to the women attending the event, and lots of pictures should be taken to commemorate the retreat.