5 Hurdles to Planning a Women’s Retreat and How to Overcome Them

I’m sure large churches face challenges in doing a women’s retreat.  Challenges come with the territory when you have a spiritual enemy who aims to kill and destroy, confound and confuse.

Speaking from the perspective of a small church, there are hurdles that loom large and seem impossible to overcome in our own strength. But we serve a God who is a creative Hurdle-Jumper.  He says that NOTHING is impossible with Him.  Consider the following five hurdles and the means to overcome them:

• “Doing a retreat costs money, and we don’t have any money in the budget!”  Putting on a retreat costs money, and even a “bare bones” event requires expenditures here and there.  The small church rarely has extra in its budget for special events, so your event must be planned so that it pays for itself.  As you plan for the cost of your event, take into account the cost for paper products (booklets, nametags), speaker honorarium, decorations, and other miscellaneous costs.  This total must be divided by the minimum number of women that you hope will attend and added in to the final cost of the event per person.  When possible, consider what could be donated or borrowed for your event (particularly in the decorations area).  Pray that God would show you ways to save money and yet put on a quality event.
• “We can’t find a suitable and affordable venue for our retreat!”  With a small group, it can be difficult to find a suitable location for your retreat.  Your group may not need a large meeting room, and room rentals can be high when not many women are in attendance.  Don’t give up!  Look beyond the obvious locations of retreat hotels and women’s retreat camps…pray, and be open to other possibilities.  Our first very small retreat was held in a “fishing camp” on a nearby lake, and we all met in the living room of one of the trailers.  You may also be able to cut costs by finding a place where you can cook your own meals, or bring in breakfast pastries.  And there is always the option of an “at home retreat” where you meet at the church during retreat times, and go home at night. Pray that God would lead you to the perfect place for your group.
• “We don’t have the people with the know-how to put on a retreat!”  While you may feel that you are lacking in people with the talents and abilities you need, God may have His own plan to raise up those who don’t know they have those gifts and abilities!  Pray for volunteers who are willing and available; those are the ones He will use.  Yes, He may stretch them, and use them outside of their comfort zone…but He may reveal gifts that women didn’t know they possessed.
• “Our women can’t afford to attend a retreat!”  With the depressed economy, this is a common complaint everywhere.  Retreats are considered non-essential.  But our pastor’s wife always reminds us that retreats are life-changing events.  That time away with the Lord should be a priority in our lives–a priority that is worth saving up for.  Tell your women months ahead of time when the retreat is and how much the retreat will cost–and encourage them to begin saving for it (see this creative idea for saving).  Remind them to pray and watch for God’s provision.  And consider a fund-raiser of some sort, the proceeds of which could go toward lowering the cost per person for your retreat.
• “We can’t find a speaker, and if we could, we can’t afford to pay her!”  How we would all love to have a “big name” speaker at our event.  However, well-known speakers have busy schedules, set honorariums, and, often, travel expenses.  On a tight budget, we may need to look a little closer to home. Pray, then consider other pastor’s wives close by, ask around about local speakers, ask your ladies–and even consider an “in-house” retreat, where the speaker is the pastor’s wife or another woman from your own church.  If she is not an experienced retreat speaker, do a little extra to help her.  Besides the theme of the retreat, give her specific scriptures and topics to speak on.  And always budget a retreat speaker honorarium into your retreat budget.  Adding a few dollars to the each attendee’s cost will provide the money for an honorarium.

You may have noted that, as always, prayer is the key to overcoming challenges.  It has been said that problems are only “opportunities with thorns on them.”  While we would love to have smooth-sailing in all these areas, finding ways through these obstacles will help your women to grow spiritually.  As you persevere together, your women will bond with one another.

Are there any other obstacles you have faced – and overcome?