www.creativeladiesministry.com

[TerryO]

Hi,
I'm starting to plan a woman's retreat for next Mar/Apr 04.
I have never done this. My church has about 75-100 women. We are a small church. There is a limited budget (if I'm lucky).
Do I try to get a location first? Then plan a theme? How do you decide on a theme?
Do you use professional speakers or someone from your church?
I know these are very basic questions & I'm sorry for starting everyone at Retreat 101, But I guess I want to do it right the first time.
any insight & direction would be appreciated.
_________________
HAVE A GREAT DAY!
Terry

[glen]

Hey There Terry;
You have come to the right place. There are several ideas in this place just look around. I was able to find great ideas for our Ladies Banquet last spring . We did the fashion show and used the devotional sugestions. Just pray about it ,,,step back -- and, see God help you bring it all together.Gld Bless glen

[Bethany]

Terry, Julia has some great ideas on the main web site. Here's a link to the section on event planning. You'll probably find other links in that section that will be helpful, too. HTH
https://www.creativeladiesministry.com/ladieseventplanning.html
_________________
God bless,
Bethany
WELCOME HOSTESS

[creativ4]

Hi Terry,

Glad you found the site. The link that Bethany mentioned above is just some basic ideas I've shared from what I've learned over the years of planning many a banquet and retreat function. You should find some things there that will be a help to you since this is your first one.

There is a theme page here.
https://www.creativeladiesministry.com/themes.html
Plus I'm sure other ladies will give you some suggestions too. Or you may come up with some great theme on your own.

Just remember that there is nothing set in stone about planning a retreat for your church. Everything doesn't work for each situation. You have to adjust everything to your church and situation, your church budget, and to the women that you want to minister through the event.

It may all seem a little overwhelming to begin with but you'll find great reward. Things may not fall in place all at once but they will eventually. Just take your planning a step at a time
_________________
Joy and blessings,
Julia

[Oma]

Just wondering how your planning was going.
_________________
ysiHn&l;
Deb

[Peggy]

Hello! We are a small country church & we are planning out 3rd 'get together'. We have had a total of around 80 ladies to come. We had Janet White from Longview, TX for the first 2 years and she is wonderful. We are doing something a little different this year. We're having a neighbor church pastor's wife for our speaker. We are only having 2 door prizes. In the past we've had lots of prizes, but thought that was taking away from our purpose for the day. Haven't decided on a theme yet, but this site definitely has some great ideas I hope we can use. We don't want to call it a retreat or conference, because it is only for 1 day, probably from 10:00 to 2:00. We have singing choruses to get everyone involved. Could use some help on what to call our day. There are only about 6 ladies that actually work on it, but we get all ladies to help with lunch. There is no charge. In our Sunday School class we take a special offering that is used for this, showers, etc. We are small, but the Lord has blessed us and we look forward to Him helping us this year. Our date is set for Nov. 1. Any ideas will be appreciated.

[costacas@rcsis]

Dear Terry,
I completely understand how you feel. I just did my first women's conference. I charged everyone $35.00. If our women wanted to come and would commit to helping with the needs of the conference ( cleaning, lunches, and etc... I would only charge them $25.00. I had a evangelsit come and I paid her 500.00 plus lodging and I also had 2 speaker's for the workshops. I made my budget by 1.10. E-mail and I can give you more specific's Ar costacasa @rcsis.com. What part of California are you in?? I am Northern I know alot of speaker's that are great and you could pay them what you could afford to...

Cindy

[Terry]

Hi, it's been awhile, but I'm back. Thank you all for the help. I've met with a woman in my church who is going to help me put this all together
We decided for our first retreat we should focus on sister's in Christ -unity. We have noticed that lately, we are starting to get those who are getting in groups and not reaching out to others in love. So we want to promote loving others who aren't like you and knowing that God loves us all and we are sisters in Christ!
We had 2 ideas. One is something with a salad theme. For instance; lettuce by itself might be boring, but put in tomato, cucumber, etc. and now it's interesting and better. Also reflecting on, as a child, you might hate onion, but as you mature your taste buds can change. That's what it's like as you mature in Christ.
second idea, fruit. Gal 5:22-23 deals with friut of righteousness which is spiritually healthy for you, but we like the fruit of self-indulgence better. Can be compared that real fruit is healthy for you , but we like to eat junk food instead: cake, ice cream, etc.

Anyway, what do you guys think? Are we on the right track? The point of the veggies or fruit is that God makes variety in people & we all have different tastes, but we need to stretch our comfort zone & grow.

Any ideas on a name? or which idea we should use?
Also I live in Victorville, CA. in San Bernardino County. Any places you know of to do our retreat?
Is a place in the woods better or has any one had success with booking a hotel?
I don't have a budget. I was told that I would have to charge the women first to get the money I need to run this adventure!
Thanks for mentioning speakers. We do need them! Please email me the info.
You all are a lot of help

[guest]

Hi! I'm new here, but have been the director of WM for 3 years at our church...truly a calling from God Himself! Anyway, I was tossed in just before our church hosted our association retreat...so I had to spearhead it--from scratch, no less! As you mentioned, charge for everything, and pray hard! God will lead you to right estimates of everything, so trust in Him. It is for His glory that you are doing this. Get your accomodations *now*--time is very short, so work hard on this. you can look up places online, ask 'sister' churches where they've gone, or check the COC in your area. Soon, I'll be in N. Cali. turning a campground into a retreat center for just this purpose. (again,God's idea, not mine)...
Decide to charge your guests for every penny spent, and don't forget to include copy charges, postage, gifts, gas, accomodations, food, paper, guest speaker...I calculate this by adding the to charge for accomodations. Adding $5.00 for correspondance, $5.00 for gifts/prizes (everyone has a gift bag left on their pillow...it was placed there when they were prayed for), and $5.00 for incidentals. You may not have to charge so much, as you decide what extra's you'll have. Even with all of the extra charges, I kept the cost under $55.00pp for the weekend. I also had a woman in charge of the reciepts. This way, I knew how much I intended to spend, and how much was actually in the account. It is much easier if someone gifted in this area (not my gift...no desire for the gift of balancing 'books') to keep the team accountable.
Remember that your accomodations will set the tone for the weekend. If you want to get away from the "real world" and focus on God--or want to get the women outa their comfort zone's (i.e. 'cliques'), choose a remote area. One that is away from shopping, coffee, distractions. Let them bunk together, because sleeping is very private/intimate, but find ways to mix everyone together. We use different color nametags, and require at meals that one must not sit with another same colored name tag. This mixes everyone up, and soon, barriers come crashing down. Also, there are many games that encourage everyone to reach out.
The key to success without stress is planning. Plan it out well (check your library...I had no luck here, but you may), and be prepared with a *team* of women who will support you. One more note...for the actual retreat, designate one woman to be the "contact" woman...she will troubleshoot for you. One to be the nurse. One who will serve the speaker for the weekend, and one to assist the one in charge. This last woman needs to be a "yes" woman. Someone who works well with the one in charge already, and can "do all things"....
If you want to email me, I'll zip off my ever so brief outline....just from my experience, but I hate to hear that someone else has to pave the way! It is not an easy task, because, like a wedding, a women's event has too many details!
Corri
ChrisnCorri90@yahoo.com

[Oma]

Lots of good advice thank you
_________________
ysiHn&l;
Deb

[MJ]

I was on a retreat board for our churches womens retreat Oct 3-5. We had a great retreat. We picked a western theme and used the verse Be still and know that I am God.
I was mainly in charge of decorations. I have several pictures of my decorations if you would like me to e-mail them to you
If I can offer any suggestions, just let me know.

[costacasa]

I am not sure where you live but I have had excellent service with the Marriott resort and they will work with you , I am planning a retreat for March and the total cost will be 110.00 for 2nights 3 days at a 5 star hotel , this includes everything. Lodging,parking,conference room rental that overlooks the monterey bay, lunch, breakfast, name tags, basket, praise and worship leader and conference speaker. we will be fundraising and then what is left the women will have to pay..Marriott will work with you and rooms are ususally 80-100 a night with 4 people.