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Leaders’ Meetings (Part I)

Posted by Debby on February 11, 2014

Our pastor’s wife, Denise, has always been the head of the women’s ministry. But she has a group of women serving under her to support her in the ministry. These are women she has seen to be faithful not only in attending church regularly, but in their involvement in and commitment to the women’s ministry. She has been able to observe firsthand that they have a heart for the Lord, a heart for women and a heart for serving others.

Our leadership team has grown over the years, and we currently have nine women involved in leadership. In our case, that is not too many because Denise is limited by her health, and she needs extra hands.

We currently get together for a once-a-month meeting. Denise normally has an agenda, which may include delegating responsibilities for upcoming events, discussing issues and problems which have arisen, and touching base with the leaders personally. We pray together for our women and for one another. Denise shares her heart and the leading God has given her for the women’s ministry. This meeting assures that we are on the same page as leaders.

More about our meetings next week.

Posted in: Developing Leadership, Lessons Learned, News & Information, Realities of Ministry, Retreat and Event Planning

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Binding your Retreat Booklet DIY

Posted by Debby on October 23, 2012

We like to hand out a retreat booklet to each woman who attends the retreat. If you are forced to “do it yourself” due to budgetary constraints, the following images show several less expensive ways to “bind” your retreat booklet.

A regular-sized 8-1/2 x 11″ paper can be folded in half and stapled in the middle;

If your church has a binding punch, the plastic binders are relatively inexpensive if you do it yourself;

This is not technically a “binding,” but we have bought inexpensive folders for the contents of our “booklet”and then printed a sticker for the front of the folder;

For another binding idea (normally done at the printer) click here.

Posted in: Lessons Learned, Money-Saving Tips, Retreat and Event Planning, Retreat Booklets

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The Enemy Lurks

Posted by Debby on July 5, 2012

Don’t labor under the misunderstanding that as we escape everyday life to “retreat” that we are also escaping the enemy. In fact, you may encounter an enemy who is mad that his efforts to spoil your retreat were not successful. Expect to deal with the enemy’s shenanigans!

Want to hear some examples from our retreats?

Of course, there are always equipment glitches that come up – the microphone doesn’t work, delaying a session; the recording does not record; the powerpoint doesn’t work; the electricity goes out–we’ve had all of those at one time or another;
Traffic and/or weather issues to and from the retreat venue;
Climate control in the venue;
We have had two or three fire alarms late at night–what are the odds of that happening?
In busy venues, where your meeting room is next to another, there is always the danger of noisy and distracting neighbors, or complaints about your music/noise. Often, our meeting room seems to be located near the hotel kitchen, where the hotel staff and the clanging of dishes can be a major distraction;
One year (and this was classic) the hotel wine cabinet was located in our meeting room. Because of a wedding going on the same evening, hotel personnel were going in and out of our room all evening retrieving liquor bottles!

You can’t plan for it, but you can EXPECT the enemy to bring conflicts and complications to your retreat. Make it a matter of prayer throughout your retreat planning.

Posted in: Lessons Learned, Realities of Ministry, Retreat and Event Planning

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The Teen Scene

Posted by Debby on June 13, 2012

Women’s retreats and teenage young women–how do you handle the teen issue? We love to include teen girls in our women’s retreats! Our practice has been to allow young women who are junior high age and up to attend.

Teens who attend our retreats basically fall into these three groups:

Teens who come to a retreat with their mom and room with their mom;
Teens who come to the women’s retreat with their friends and their mom will not be in attendance;
Teens who come to the retreat with their mom, but would prefer to stay with other teens.

Here are a few things we do to accommodate our teens:

Find a teen chaperone. Do you have a woman wh0 has a heart for teenage girls? Best case scenario, that woman already works with the youth, and is willing to be with them during the retreat.
Permission slip. For those whose mom will not be at the retreat, a responsible adult must be identified (in writing) and given written permission to make decisions as a parent at the retreat. This permission must be signed by the parent.
Give them a room together. We ask the hotel or camp for a larger room, so that the teens can all room together with their chaperone. Hopefully, we can then lower the price for the teens who choose to stay in the group room.
Plan teen events at the retreat. We may plan a few special events for the teens, ranging from a special workshop to special free time activities.

Posted in: Lessons Learned, Ministry at the Retreat, Retreat and Event Planning

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Imposing the “No TV” Rule

Posted by Debby on June 6, 2012

It seems like this should go without saying. Retreats are not the time to relax in front of the TV. We get more than enough TV time in our normal lives. But those nice TVs in the hotel rooms where we often have our retreats can be very tempting. So one of the “suggestions” we make to the women at the beginning of the retreat is that they keep those TVs turned off, so that they can stay focused on the Lord.

How the enemy would love to distract our ladies from what God desires to do in their lives at the retreat by using the television! These days, perhaps we should include iPods, iPhones and other electronic distractions, too!

Posted in: Lessons Learned, Retreat and Event Planning

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