Saturday Night Solution
Your speaker sessions have finished for the day, a delicious dinner has been enjoyed, and now night is falling.
Instead of giving your women the “night off,” seize the opportunity to provide a great evening of fun and fellowship!
This particular year our retreat was at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina instead of our usual trek to the beach. Our team needed to come up with a low-cost, fun activity that would meet the needs of 80 women ranging from their early 20’s into their 80’s.
In our pre-retreat information letter we asked our women to bring a fun pair of slippers and requested they wear them Saturday evening. We didn’t give them any further details.
One of the members of our planning team came up with the Slipper Contest categories and certificates – the wildest slippers, most comfortable, silliest, etc. We had a total of 5 or 6 categories in all.
When we gathered in the auditorium on Saturday evening we passed out the category list to every woman. Those that were interested in competing modeled their slippers on the stage for all to see. Our emcee really talked up each model and their slippers. We made sure we said each name multiple times so our judges could fill in their ballots completely.
We tallied the ballots and put names on our certificates while we showed the comedy DVD “Thinking Out Loud” by Anita Renfroe. It was so funny! We laughed so hard we cried.
Not only did we bond and laugh over the funny things in the video, but we all shared in the experience of the Slipper Contest. Was it a little silly and cheesey? Yes, but our goal of bonding and laughter was met with great success!
Cyndee Ownbey blogs over at Women’s Ministry Toolbox and is passionate about helping other Women’s Ministry Leaders reach and encourage women in their church and community. She and her husband, two sons (12 and 15), and miniature schnauzer, Heidi, recently relocated to the Charlotte, NC area. When she’s not gathering and gleaning great ministry ideas you can find her trying out new recipes or immersed in her latest Christian fiction pick.
