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2009 Christian Home Month: Families Called to Love -- Retreat Model
The following is offered as a guide to those congregations who wish to have a churchwide retreat using the theme, "Families: Called to Love."
Planning for the Retreat
1. The congregation prays for the retreat, the participants, and the team that will plan the retreat.
2. A Retreat Planning Team is created, made up of 3-5 people in the congregation.
3. The Retreat Team meets and:
Chooses a date and location.
Decides on the study to use.
Designs and plans the retreat.
Prepares a budget.
Secures a location.
Recruits leaders.
Plans times for prayer and worship.
Plans food or arranges with the location to meet food needs.
Plans an offering for an organization in the community that has as its mission helping families become places of peace rather than violence.
Designs a flyer or announcement, including registration
form and information about fees, dates, and location.
4. The team prepares for publicity and promotion. Someone from the team prepares information and distributes it through the church newsletter, e-newsletters, worship bulletins, bulletin boards, and other avenues in the congregation. Regular notices, with sign-up forms, should appear beginning six months prior to the retreat and leading up to the week prior to the retreat.
5. The team collects supplies needed for the retreat. The supplies needed according to this retreat model: songbooks/sheets; Bibles; board games; sports equipment; camera(s); a copy of Dancing with Words by Ray Buckley (Discipleship Resources, 2003) for each retreat leader; songbooks/sheets; one poster board per small group; magazines, scissors, glue; modeling clay or play dough for each small group; one large paper bag for each small group (with each bag containg 3 sheets of construction paper); a roll of masking or painters tape; 6 markers of assorted colors; a skein of yarn; scissors; 4 paper plates; and 6 plastic cups.
Retreat Plan
FRIDAY
4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Registration
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Dinner (A served meal or bring-your-ownbag-supper)
7:15 - 7:30 p.m. Gathering Time
Share announcements and opening prayer. Sing familiar camp songs, favorite hymns, and praise choruses.
7:30 - 9:00 p.m. Divide participants into "family" groups of 4-6 (mixing up actual family members with other families in the congregation). Ask each group to come up with a list of stories it enjoys that illustrate love for God and/or love for others. Each group should have one story for each category:
- Old Testament story;
- New Testament story;
- Story about a church member or of something that happened in your church; and
- Favorite "folk" story or a story from a book or movie.
After the family groups have agreed upon the four stories they would like to share with the larger group, they need to decide on three pieces of information for each story that they can give to the larger group to help them guess the stories. For instance, if the group's story from the Old Testament is "Noah and the Ark," the three pieces of information could be: (1) A dove is important in this story; (2) An extended family was involved in this story; (3) The rainbow is a sign of a promise given in this story. When the total group gathers, each family group can lead in getting the other families to guess the stories.
9:00 - 9:30 p.m. Read or tell one of the stories found in Dancing with Words as an illustration of love. Lead the group in a time of prayers, sharing joys and concerns, and singing together.
9:30 – 10:00 p.m. Snack and Game Time Share snacks.
Have board games available, music to listen to, and other
activities for all ages. If the setting allows, have a campfire or
take a flashlight walk.
SATURDAY
8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Morning Worship
Lead the group in
singing, reading Scripture, and praying.
9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Ask the participants to reassemble
in the same "family groups" as assigned last night. Provide
a Bible for each group. Distribute the paper sacks with the items prepared in them. Ask each family group to choose either an Old Testament story or a New Testament story from the night before. The groups are then to use the items provided in the paper bags as props for retelling the story they selected to the larger group.
10:30 – 11:00 a.m. Break
11:00 – 11:30 a.m. Ask groups to present their Bible stories.
Noon – 1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 – 5:30 p.m. Afternoon Fun: Encourage naps. Provide
walking/hiking trails maps, recreational/sports equipment,
arts and crafts.
5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Dinner
6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Ask the participants to reassemble in
their "family groups." Ask each group to go back to the story it has chosen regarding the church or a church member. Ask each group to create scenes or a picture illustrating the story it has chosen on the poster board provided. Instruct the family groups to lift up ways this story illustrates love that is found in your church.
7:30 – 8:15 p.m. Gather the "families" back together and
allow each family group to share its poster.
8:15 – 8:30 p.m. Break
8:30 – 9:00 p.m. Lead the group in sharing and praying
about their joys and concerns. Ask those who wish to name a song, or a Scripture verse, or something they have seen this day that helped them understand God's love.
9:00 – 10:00 p.m. Snack and Game Time. Recruit
volunteers to plan the ending worship service for Sunday. If
weather permits, go outside for star gazing or a campfire
SUNDAY
8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Closing Worship
10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Clean-up and Journey Home
Return to Christian Home Month 2009 Home Page.
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