My friend Ben and I co-youth pastored for about 8 years together.
During that time we put on our first solo-retreat (aka self-run retreat): a summer retreat for our group.
We came up with different elements that we thought were important and needed:
-Fun! (Huge outdoor games, team games, pool competitions, etc.)
-Times of spiritual impact (both as a group and individually)
-Times to connect our students (small group times, build team unity and identity, team skits)
-Good food (inexpensive food that students would actually like)
-Lots of laughs (Skit night, late night games, etc.)
(*Listen to the "7 Important Elements Of a Solo-Retreat" (aka self-run retreat) here.)
Over those years, we tweaked and perfected our retreat to get it the best that we could. I end up using the exact same format, with just a few small tweaks, at the next group I led for almost 5 years.
And the cool thing was that that new group loved it as much as the first group we tried it with!
What I loved about those retreats was how fun they were for us, our adult leaders and the students. I also loved seeing God move in our students lives and seeing them leave much closer to each other and to God.
And every year it became an anticipated event that the adults and students would look forward to.
It became an event that grew in numbers and importance as we did it year after year.
In mid or late April, we're doing paid teleconference that we're calling "Instant Summer Retreat". We'll give you every thing you need to pull off a retreat like we did.
In preparing for the teleconference, I asked some of our former students what they thought of those summer retreats and it's been really cool to see their response.
Here's what two of them said...
"Summer retreats are some of my most cherished memories from youth group, it was THE most highly anticipated event of the year! I looked forward to the highly competitive games of capture the flag and the hours spent swimming (WHY could you guys not find us a place with a heated swimming pool or a lake filled with something other than melted snow??) and playing volleyball... but mostly summer retreat was a time to sort of recharge and and realign my walk with Jesus before the stress and temptations of another school year began.
"Summer retreat was about fun for sure, but it was also about worship, about bible study, about taking the time to connect with the kids in youth whom were outside of my regular immediate social circle (even if we went back to ignoring each other the following week).
"I can't even count the number of friendships that blossomed at summer retreat and there was always an increased sense of camaraderie amongst the youth kids after returning home. And who doesn't enjoy a good rock-athon fundraiser?"
- Tiffany Mooney
"It's been so long, but I think the summer retreats were so impactful, because they took us out of our normal environment, and made it easier to connect with God due to minimal distractions. The worship was always a favorite of mine. I felt like I could really let go to experience God. That's what still sticks with me today."
-Nikki Molinari
If the teleconference sounds like something that'd help you and you'd be interested in, then we'd love to have you a part.
Sign-up at the link here: "7 Important Elements Of a Solo-Retreat" to get free tips and learn more about the paid event.
I'd also love to hear any experiences you want to share or questions you have about pulling off your own summer retreat. POST THEM IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. I'll use them as a way to help us make the free tips and/or paid teleconference the most helpful they can be.
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