Retreat-in-a-Bag - Ingredients for a Great Retreat

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Try Something New

Posted by Debby on January 13, 2015

The beginning of the year is a good time to do some “out-of-the-box” thinking with your leadership team. Try something new! Do your women’s ministry events for 2015 include a lot of the usual, the familiar, the traditional and the tried and tested? I think most of us would say a resounding “yes!” to that question, even though we are always on the lookout for new and exciting things to try and incorporate into our women’s ministry.

Maybe Retreat-in-a-Bag can help you try something new. Have you ever used a skit? Start small and try one of our one-act skits or pull a short skit from a skit series and see how your ladies respond. A good one to start the year out might be “Good Intentions” from our Confronting Your Giants skit series.

We also have a section for Quiet Time Studies that we have used at retreats. But some of our most recent ones have been “interactive”meaning that they can be done in a group and requires some sort of interaction. Check out “Strongholds of Unsurrender”.

Perhaps you have never had a retreat for your women. You can start out small. Take some of our retreat ideas and make them your own–or look into one of our Retreat-in-aBag books where the planning is done for you. Or maybe you have never used promise verses at an event or retreat.

And if Retreat-in-a-Bag doesn’t have what you need, check our our links. There are some great women’s ministry sites out there!

Posted in: Ingredients for a Great Retreat, Little Things Make a Big Difference!, News & Information, Retreat and Event Planning

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My Soapbox | Are we entertaining or empowering?

Posted by Debby on September 2, 2014

I’m going to get up on my soapbox for a moment.

I know there is a place for fun and fellowship in women’s ministry. But as I do research online for women’s ministry, sometimes the emphasis seems to be games, crafts and entertaining the women. The www.retreatinabag.net website was originally created to share skits for women’s ministry, so obviously we encourage entertainment…but only so far as it helps you reach your goal of sharing and applying the Word of God and bringing your women closer to God.

Here is my “bold” statement regarding any women’s event: If your priority and focus is not the Word of God, you are just spinning your wheels and going nowhere. Fun and fellowship are wonderful, but it is the Word of God that will transform lives.

Posted in: Ingredients for a Great Retreat, Inspirations, News & Information, Retreat and Event Planning

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Preparing the Pray-ers

Posted by Debby on April 15, 2014

We have scheduled times where women can ask for prayer at every retreat. This gives women a time to respond to what the Lord is doing in their lives, and we also want to support them in prayer for overwhelming personal situations. Sometimes we have prayer circles set up after an evening session where a woman can go to a prayer circle to request prayer. Other times we have had rooms where women are encouraged to go for prayer. We carefully select women who are mature spiritually to be available for prayer. If other churches are joining us, we ask them to have a prayer team available, so that if their women want prayer, they can go to someone familiar if they so desire.

These women are then required to attend a meeting, normally during free time during the retreat, where we review guidelines for those willing to serve in this area. At this meeting we assign prayer partners, pray together and cover a few important reminders.

Here are a few of the things that the meeting covers:

The schedule – when and where they will be praying
Prayer partners assigned – we always have two women in the prayer circle
Confidentiality
Issues of abuse (i.e. should a teenager ask for prayer about abuse that they are experiencing, you are legally required to report it)
Be prepared to share the gospel should the opportunity present itself
Gently cut off lengthy and emotional explanations; the entire situation does not need to be understood in order for you to pray. Help the women focus on their specific request for prayer by saying “How do you want us to pray for you?”
Use of breath mints :-)
Reminder: They are there to pray, and not to be counselors. If their need requires counsel or professional help, pray-ers should encourage those women to set up an appointment with their pastor when they get home.

Posted in: Developing Leadership, Ingredients for a Great Retreat, Ministry at the Retreat, News & Information, Retreat and Event Planning

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Promise Verses – Revisited

Posted by Debby on November 26, 2013

Just about every women’s retreat I have attended, no matter where, uses the idea of giving each woman attending their own promise verse. The time and manner of distribution varies from place to place and year to year, but our women now expect and look forward to receiving their own individual promise verse each year. The Lord often uses this promise verse to speak personally to our ladies.

Where do you find these promises? Each of our books in the Retreat-in-a-Bag series has a comprehensive list of promise scriptures that we have used from year to year. But you can easily compile your own list as you go through the Bible. You can select from books which are devoted to Bible promises, and even find lists of promises on the internet. We then ask God in His sovereignty to make sure each woman gets His intended promise. We don’t try to determine through our own human wisdom who needs what promise; instead, we trust God to work through our random distribution of the promise verses.

Most often, we put the promise verse on their retreat nametag, but we have also been known to affix the promise verse to the retreat booklets, which may seem more random, as the ladies can pick up any retreat booklet when they arrive. While your group is small, everyone can have a unique promise, so no one has the same promise as another; as your group grows, this is not possible.

Two notes of warning:

Many promises read better in one translation than in another; be sure you are using the translation used by most of your women.
Check and double check your promise verse references; the smallest error in the scripture reference could direct one of your ladies to verse of judgment, reproof or warning, instead of a promise, which could be upsetting, to say the least!

Posted in: Ingredients for a Great Retreat, News & Information, Retreat and Event Planning

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Inclusive Pricing

Posted by Debby on October 29, 2013

I had the opportunity to chat with a pastor’s wife recently about retreats. At the time, we were few weeks away from our 2013 retreat, and she had also been planning their women’s retreat–so we compared notes. We are doing ours at a retreat campground, using their hotel on site. Meals are provided, and we will be eating together with other groups in a dining hall. Women are staying 2-3 per room. Price for this retreat ranges from $125-145 per person for a two-night, four-meal retreat.

Her women had planned a weekend retreat about 350 miles away. They were renting a bus for travel and hotel upon arrival. Meals were to be determined when they arrived. Their retreat cost was approximately $350 per person plus the cost of meals.

Now, I understand that different groups expect different things from a retreat. And I’m sure their retreat will be lovely and a fun weekend away in a vacation locale. But what comes to my mind is: How many women can afford a retreat like that? Are women being priced out of that retreat?

As you plan your retreat, it may be tempting to do something elaborate. But consider this–is your pricing excluding women? Could you change something so that it would include more of your women?

Posted in: Ingredients for a Great Retreat, News & Information, Retreat and Event Planning, Starting Points in Retreat Planning

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