Planning a church retreat is hard work and there are challenges every time you think you have things under control. But it really doesn’t have to be that way. One thing is for sure, it will take time and a lot of due diligence on your part. Just remember that a poorly planned and poorly executed retreat is worse than no retreat at all. The following is a list of helpful tips for planning a successful church retreat.
Tip #1 – Why you should have a retreat Ask yourself some relevant questions like “Who is this retreat for?” or “What are your interests, needs, and wants?” Make sure what is offered at the retreat holds everyone’s interest. Don’t assume that because it’s interesting to you, it will be interesting to everyone else. Ask people in the congregation/fellowship what their interests are. Get an idea of what everyone needs.
Tip #2 – Choose the right facility Find out from potential retreatants what type of facility they expect. Several questions to ask are:
What kind of accommodations do we want: dormitories, motel-type or “rustic” cabins without plumbing or heating?
Do we want to cook for ourselves or have meals provided? If we cook ourselves, is there any extra charge?
Do we want bathrooms in the cabins or are outside showers ok?
Do we want “carne asada” or a “tuna surprise”? In other words, are we picky about the quality of dinner?
How much money do we want to spend and, more importantly, how much is the group as a whole willing to spend?
Tip #3 – Plan a program that will keep everyone interested Plan a program that includes entertainment, musicians and speakers. Make sure that what you are planning meets the interests and desires of the people who will be attending. Keep up with current trends and don’t trust those who tell you “this is how we’ve always done it”. Your first reaction to that would be to say “Well, maybe that’s why no one shows up anymore” (and make sure you have that sarcastic smile on your face if it gets to that point).
Tip #4 – Money matters Make sure you have a solid budget for all of this before presenting it to the board for approval. The first thing you need to do is figure out all of your costs: food, lodging, facility rental, musician and speaker fees, etc. Once you’ve figured this out, add another 20% to that to cover incidentals and anything that comes up later. When you’re determining the cost per person to help cover all of these expenses, work the numbers backwards. In other words, let’s say your expenses will be $10,000 and you expect 100 people. Normally that would equate to $100 per person. Take that $10,000 and divide it by 80 instead of 100, because out of every 100 people who say they will attend, 20% of them won’t. So now, it will advertise the retreat at $125 per person instead of $100 per person.
Tip #5 – Promote, promote, promote Start advertising the retreat 3-4 months in advance. Print flyers to hand out and make sure they are in the lobby every time there is a service. Post bulletins on all church bulletin boards and make sure every bulletin that is printed has a comment about the retreat. Here’s another tip: Offer a price discount for early sign-ups. If you end up losing another $25 per person but instead of 80 people signing up and waiting it turns out to be 120 ($100 each), that’s $12,000. The bill is paid and everything else can go into the church fund for future activities and expenses.