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

Archive for Ingredients for a Great Retreat

Schedule a Quiet Time

Posted by Debby on May 30, 2012

By its very name, a retreat suggests a time to withdraw and a place of privacy or refuge. And yet, we can unwittingly make our retreats a very busy time, where a tight schedule of teaching sessions, skits, activities and workshops are sandwiched between meals. And while women love the activities and the change from their daily routines, we are doing them a disservice if we fail to schedule into our retreats a time to be quiet with the Lord.

Quiet time at a retreat can be scheduled like any other activity. This is time that women are encouraged to spend in the Word and with the Lord, apart from other distractions. Often, we give them guidance for their quiet time, so that those who are new to the concept have (at the very least) a Bible passage to read and reflect upon. An hour is not too long to set aside for quiet time at a retreat!

Posted in: Ingredients for a Great Retreat, Lessons Learned, Retreat and Event Planning, Starting Points in Retreat Planning

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Book Reviews at Retreats

Posted by Debby on April 25, 2012

We have discussed in earlier posts why to have a book table at your retreat. If you do sell books at your retreat, it is helpful if some time for book reviews can be squeezed into the retreat schedule. Also, this is a nice way for women to be involved in a small way at the retreat.

“Book Review” is really a misnomer. Because time is nearly always limited, this is a time to recommend rather than review books. We do not have time to do a thorough review of these books.

A book recommendation consists of:

Name of the book and author
Show the book
Very brief synopsis
Why you liked the book/what you took away from it.

We allow no more than two minutes per book for the book recommendation. If more than one book is being reviewed, you could spend more time on one book and less time on the other.

Posted in: Book Table, Ingredients for a Great Retreat, Retreat and Event Planning

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Free Time Options

Posted by Debby on May 24, 2011

As an old adage reminds us “the mind can’t take in what the seat can’t endure.” That goes for retreats, too! Every retreat should include “free time” as a part of the schedule. It’s essential to give your ladies some down time–time to relax and have fellowship with one another. Some ladies may just want to nap!

We have found early afternoon to be a good time for “free time” activities. And there are always those night owls who are revved up and ready to party in the evenings after our last session ends. While there are endless options, we like to make specific options known that encourage fellowship.

Depending on your retreat location, there may be recreational activities available, such as volleyball, tennis, walking trails or even swimming. For those who prefer something less active, we try to provide a “game room.” We will discuss this further in a coming post, but a game room is especially nice for those who are new, because it is open to anyone who is interested and wants to join; games and puzzles tend to encourage casual and friendly fellowship without putting demands on those who may be shy or less social.

Posted in: Ingredients for a Great Retreat, Ministry at the Retreat, Retreat and Event Planning

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Promise Verses

Posted by Debby on February 24, 2011

Each book in the Retreat-In-A-Bag series contains two listings of promise verses in its Appendix. There is a list of the verses we have selected, each verse written out in its entirety; then there is a separate page listing the references (verse “addresses”) only.

At every women’s retreat, we give each women her own promise verse for the retreat. They are “randomly” given out, but we always pray that God will make sure that each woman gets the promise that will be meaningful to her. Our ladies look forward to finding out their promise verse every year. Often, the promise verse is noted on their retreat name tag, so that as soon as they arrive at the retreat and pick up their booklet and name tag, they can look up their promise verse.

So why would the Appendix mentioned above be handy? Yes, it is easy enough to compile a list of promise verses on your own. In fact, we did that ourselves each year for many years. However, we found that many of the same general promise verses were used from year to year (with the exception of promises specially selected to relate to the retreat theme). Each time a list was compiled, there was a process of checking and re-checking so that there were no errors when the references were copied onto the name tags. By using our list of verse references, the process is streamlined and we don’t worry about copying errors.

Posted in: Ingredients for a Great Retreat, Resources, Retreat and Event Planning, Starting Points in Retreat Planning

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A Tip for Name Tags

Posted by Debby on November 17, 2010

We want our ladies to wear name tags at any event to promote fellowship and getting to know one another by name–not to mention helping those of us who forget names that we should know!. There are various options when you are considering name tags.

There are peel-and-stick name tags which are the most economical option, but they are best used for one day events.
There is the pin style badge where the name tag slips into a plastic cover which can be pinned on. Although these say “garment friendly” now, we find that these are not the best option for women, because the pins may pull and even ruin certain fabrics.
There is the clip-on badge, of which there are several varieties. While better than pin style, these also can be detrimental to clothing.
There is the lanyard, which is a cord worn around the neck.

We have used all of these options. But now, for many of our events, we use lanyards. What is a lanyard? It is defined as “a cord worn around the neck” and they may be purchased at any office supply for use with name badges. Some have clear covers attached at the end, others have clips. As you can imagine, this option is the most costly per person.

How do we justify the extra cost? At the end of the event, we ask that the ladies leave their lanyards in a basket at the rear of the room, or we pass around a basket for the lanyards to be dropped in. That way, we can reuse those that are returned. We have also done this with badge covers. So while the initial outlay may be a little more expensive, in the end, they are not only the safest for our ladies’ clothing, but they result in a lower overall investment.

Posted in: Ingredients for a Great Retreat, Lessons Learned, Registration

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