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Is your small church looking for ways to connect with more women in your community and women from other churches? If you want to support women in their growing relationship with God and equip the women in your church, community, and other small churches, we have some tips for you as you plan your very own women’s retreat.
Hosting your church’s women’s retreat is an extraordinary way to build relationships with the women of your home church and community. By hosting a retreat, you provide an opportunity for Christian women to increase their faith; while inspiring them and having fun.
Still not convinced? This interview with Debby Summers from Retreat In A Bag is full of tips to help you have a successful retreat! She provides some tips on the following:
- Setting up an organizational chart so things get done
- Points to consider before you choose a speaker
- Why you might offer workshops or breakout sessions at your retreat
- Cost-saves to use table decorations for giveaways
Retreats Are Perfect For Small Churches
Debby has been at the same small church in Plano, TX (Calvary Chapel Dallas) for 40 years. When we came, it was very small–maybe 30 people or less meeting in a hotel. I have been involved in women’s ministry for most of that time and as a part of the women’s leadership team for approximately 30 years. Our first women’s retreat consisted of ten women in a cabin at a fishing camp!
Tell us about Retreat In A Bag.
We started this (Retreat In A Bag website) after many years of doing annual retreats as a small church. We had learned a lot and had some amazing resources we created — graphics, skits, and quiet time studies–that we wanted to share. Why should a church have to reinvent the wheel?
Also, our skits were so popular with our ladies, and we knew from experience that it was almost impossible to find skits like we wanted (funny skits that have a Biblical theme) at a reasonable price and without copyright concerns. (You can visit Retreat in a Bag for more information.)
Looking for a step-by-step guide to starting or restarting your women’s ministry?
Check out the Women’s Ministry Bundle For Small Churches!
What A Retreat May Look Like
What does your church retreat event look like?
We found a system that works for our retreats. Our retreats begin on Friday night and extend through Sunday noon. Some of the building blocks include:
- Finding guest speaker and location and date
- Determine worship leader
- Retreat theme, theme verse, and related decorations
- A booklet with a schedule, pages for notes, and any handout the guest speaker wants to add. You can find a sample retreat workbook in this post, Hosting Your First Women’s Retreat In Your Small Church
- Session titles (possibly from the guest speaker)
- Skit
- Evening personal devotions and a quiet time study. You can find prayer station ideas in Women’s Retreat Theme: A Moment In Time
- Registration
- Name tags with promise verses (we give promise verse suggestions)
- Friday night question “What do I want to hear from the Lord at this retreat?”
- Reflection question at the end of the retreat “How has the Lord touched your heart this weekend?”
- Communion
- Time of reflection for women who want to share how the Lord touched them during the retreat.
Optional retreat building blocks:
- Afterglow – Saturday evening time of worship and prayer
- Book table – Selling any suggested Christian books/devotionals, including any book(s) written by the guest speaker (if the speaker has a book to sell),
- Donations book table – people donate books and other media (must be approved), and people can pick up these books for a donation. This gives women who can’t afford to buy books an option.
Build Your Retreat Around A Theme
What do you think is the best thing about this event?
One thing I love about our retreats is how we determine a theme and theme verse (taking into account topics our guest speaker may have). Then every part of the retreat builds upon that theme: the decorations, the skit, the quiet time and personal devotions, and even the giveaway. Every part works together in harmony and is designed to impress the retreat theme on our hearts.
3 Core Values For A Successful Event At Your Small Church give the importance of knowing your purpose and having every aspect of your event work towards that purpose.
Top Organization Tip For Small Church Retreats
You created a great organizational chart to organize the retreat and make sure everything gets done. What aspects and parts of the retreat do we need to assign people to? How do you assign these roles?
When we are in the early planning stages of a retreat, the organizational chart is one of the first things we do so we know who is in charge of what. Of course, our women’s ministry leader is at the top of the chart, and she directs it all.
There are a few decisions that need to be made at the beginning – 9 months to one year before the event. Then for many of the other areas, we assign a leader to be praying about, but she can only actually do anything or assign other people as the event gets closer. For instance, someone in charge of greeters at the retreat first needs to know who has signed up to come to the retreat.
First decisions (for us, the leader normally does this with some input or suggestions from the leadership team):
- Securing the date/location, the speaker, the theme verse, and graphic
- Worship leader
- Budget
Other assignments (done closer to the event)
- Prayer (before and during the retreat)
- Event promotion (flyers, slides, church announcements, website, social media),
- Sound/projection/recording
- Registration and rooming (much of this is online now)
- Schedule, booklet, name tags
- Book table (buy books, collect donations for donations book table, assign book reviewers)
- Skit production (includes finding actresses, props, and scheduling practice)
- Communion supplies
- Writing skits, writing devotions
- Decorations and giveaways, work party prior to the retreat
- Hospitality table (table at retreat for snacks, necessities ladies may have forgotten)
- Greeters at the event
Best Speaker Tips For Retreats
What do we need to think about when it comes to speakers?
- If you don’t personally know the speaker, you want to check out her doctrine, listen to some of her messages, etc.
- Some speakers may determine their own retreat themes, so that is a consideration before you make major plans around a certain theme.
- Cost. Some speakers have set amounts they charge per session or may only want to do a maximum of three sessions per retreat. Others are so beautifully open to be used however we need them.
- Be ready to give the speaker very specific instructions, such as the length of time they speak for each session, etc.
- Will they be bringing a travel companion? Special dietary needs? Allergies? Is there any special equipment needed?
- Will they have some handouts and/or PowerPoint slides that we need to prepare ahead?
- Travel: if coming from a distance, the cost of travel and possibly accommodations may need to be budgeted. If flying, the schedule might necessitate someone picking up from the airport and taking her to the airport.
- Regular communication with the speaker prior to the retreat
*One thing we almost always do is ask our guest speaker to share a little bit on Friday night about “her” story, her testimony, her family, etc. We have found that it really helps our ladies to better relate to her teachings.
Inviting unknown speakers, as given in An Easy Plan To Host An Interdenominational Women’s Event In Your Community, encourages us that “God has given women in your community stories to share.”
Add A Workshop For Deeper Connection
Why is it good to offer workshops (or breakout sessions) at a retreat? What are some workshops that women may enjoy and find helpful?
There are a couple of reasons I like to offer workshops at a retreat. First of all, the groups are smaller and more individualized. For instance, one example of a workshop grouping is: married, singles, divorced/widowed, and teens. In that case, women would meet other women with similar life experiences, which also encourages fellowship.
Ideas for workshops:
- Married, single, divorced/widowed, teens
- Moms of preschoolers, elementary, teens, young adults, prodigals
- Prayer
- Having a quiet time
- Doing a prayer notebook or journaling
- Sharing the gospel
- Spiritual gifts
- Friendship
- Memorizing scripture
- How to study the Bible (various ways)
- Worship.
We can never tell how many ladies will want to attend a particular topic. If we know one workshop will be more popular (such as we have more married women attending), that workshop may take place in the main meeting room.
Other times, we have a limit of attendees per workshop. Often, our rooms are smaller, and there is a physical limitation for the room. Women must choose their workshops and pick a ticket at the beginning of the retreat for that particular workshop. Sometimes, we offer the same workshops twice during the retreat so ladies can attend two they are interested in.
Try one of these 33 Questions To Ask For Deeper Conversations as an icebreaker at the beginning of your workshop or breakout session.
Inexpensive Giveaways Are Perfect For Women’s Retreats
You have some great ideas for using table decorations as giveaways for retreats. What are some giveaway ideas for small church retreats?
We almost always do a bookmark remembrance, in addition to another giveaway which has the retreat, graphic, and theme verse. An alternative to that is a magnet, which is easy and very economical to create. It also commemorates the retreat date, theme, and theme verse. These can happen for almost any retreat.
I do like it when we can find or make something that is a reminder of the theme in a more concrete way, such as:
- Theme “Wonders in the Deep”: We made a little life preserver.
- Theme “Hearts Set on Pilgrimage (Ps. 84:5): We found a little wooden chest at a hobby store that we decorated with the theme and travel stickers.
- Theme “Fixer Upper” (Phil. 1:6): We found a heart made from what looked like shiplap boards and put the theme on it.
- Theme “Touch of the Master’s Hand” (Eph. 2:10). We used a small clay water pitcher, as we were using a potter theme.
- Theme “Steadfast and Immovable” (I Corinthians 15:58): We gave small lighthouse ornaments.
- Travel theme: We made little suitcases from Altoids tins.
- The theme of our walk: We had miniature shoe ornaments.
- We have also used small charms for various themes – a heart for “Hearts Entwined with His” (Eph. 3;16-19), an athletic shoe for “Surefooted” (Isaiah 33:6)
Let your ladies’ creativity run wild!
Before the retreat, we have a work party to put these kinds of crafts together.
Most of these things are in my office on a shelf, and they all serve as sweet reminders of the various retreat themes.
Start Planning Your Retreat This Week
Any words of encouragement for someone in a small church reading this interview?
Just do it! You can do a retreat! Everyone can make all the aspects of your retreat a matter of prayer. You have women in your church with hidden talents in the organization, hospitality (greeting), computer skills (making a booklet/schedule), decorating, acting in a skit, and crafting a giveaway. God can multiply your small offering.
Thank you, Debby, for taking the time to tell your story and to provide us with some great tips and tricks as we host our own women’s retreat.
For all of you in small churches, you can do this! Debby provided a great plan for us to use. Make it your own! There are many women looking for a way to connect, grow in their faith, and build relationships. We’re excited to see how God can use your small church retreats to encourage others and build community. Let us know how you used these tips!
You can learn more about Debby, free Skits, and other resources at Retreat In A Bag.
Read More:
10 Best Ideas For Your Next Women’s Retreat Theme
