One of our retreat planners, Paul Weber, has been serving as the interim pastor of a church near his home in Atlanta, Illinois. Paul began pastoring in January at Atlanta and had shared in the MCR office about some of the progress they were making but also some of the needs. In February the project began to take shape and each department began putting their expertise to work to assist the ministry in Atlanta. Here is a list of what was accommplished...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

The team at Midwest Christian Retreats has assembled our best ideas for recreation activities! We have assembled these as we have helped planners facilitate these activities and as we have watched adults, families, and youth play on a beautiful summer day while we are stuck in the office working... We hope you'll find this guide helpful in planning a balanced schedule that utilizes recreation as a relationship builder, a memory builder, and tool to engage your attendees...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Being an Apple enthusiast that I am... I have been playing with my new iPad since it arrived in the mail last Friday, and love it. The device captivated me all weekend long. It was fun to play and get it all set up, but my brain had turned to mush after a few hours. Physical activity is one of the best ways to refresh my mind and renew my ability to focus. I go crazy if I just sit around all day. In the chair in the office, in the chair at the dinner table, on coach watching tv... If you go by this track record when someone asks me what do I like to do, I ought to answer "sit around"...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Recreation is a natural topic to think about when planning an event for students. The weather this week has been distractingly beautiful - spring makes sitting in a chair excruciating! Regardless of the season including activities in your retreat is especially important for young people. Just as we discussed in our entry about planning schedules last Tuesday, start with your event goals and evaluate how each activity (be a worship service or gym sport) will contribute to your event's success. It's likely your goals are going to direct many of the event's financial resources to support things like worship services and small group materials forcing you to be creative with planning recreation activities...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Somewhere along the line it seems a decision was made that adults go to meetings to be serious and busy. All I know is... I was not invited to cast a vote at that meeting because my age has not limited my fun quota. Retreats and conferences are really a collection of meetings with a collective message. It can be easy to get wrapped up in making everything purposeful and productive thereby, trying to input too much into our attendees. That is more likely to leave them feeling overwhelmed and confused than it is feeling like the event was value packed. Activities, especially a little recreation, can aid development of interpersonal relationships that are essential for productivity in those meetings...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Many event planners have pretty lofty goals of what they would like to accomplish. Often we simplify our goals down to a weekend of discipleship and fellowship. Either goal by itself takes time to accomplish - discipleship requires time for teaching, study, and q&a. Where as fellowship that is anything more than superficial acquaintance making needs group activities, unique experiences like team building, and free time. Add in a service project, time to eat, sleep, and clean-up, and any travel time and your weekend is JAM Packed! I have a couple thoughts on organizing your event schedule...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Finding a church home can be one of the most difficult things to do.  I remember when I was on the search for a new church.  The first church I went to had so many people; I think I could have met a new face every week.  I just felt like a face in the crowd.  No one really took the time to come say hello or talk to me about what the church had to offer. The second church I went to didn't seem to have any life.  The worship music and the service seemed to lack motivation and excitement.  The third church I went to, I knew it was the one the moment I walked in the door.  The members were welcoming and the church was excited.  The thing I noticed about this church from the others is that it had a lot of small group activities...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Last week I shared in my Bolivia post that one of the things I was looking forward to most was a meal with the Kittleson's. During these meals that work and things to do are forgotten for a time and we can just share stories, laugh until we cry, and the come away from the table a stronger community. I think the same can be said for meals shared at events and your church...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

It is a beautiful 90-degree day in the Midwest. The sun is shining and there is a nice breeze blowing. I am sitting in a lounge chair soaking up the sun while watching the kids play in the lake. The sound of the kids laughing and splashing around in the water fills the air. It is a beautiful summer day! Ok not really, it is the middle of December and is 32-degrees. The only wind that is blowing is a chilly one and I haven't seen the sun in two days. But it was nice to imagine being at the beach for a second...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

What is more exciting than getting ready to go on a retreat? Knowing all of the cool things you are going to get to experience and just the fact that you get to get away from the everyday routine for a while. When I was growing up, my favorite part to any event was the recreation. I hated being stuck in a classroom; I wanted to be outside and enjoying the games and fellowship time...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Ok, so maybe the title isn't completely correct. Most of us don't really forget winter. How can we with the cold temperatures and the snow! For me, winter is a season that I would just like to skip. I like the warmer temperatures! That is why so many people flood to the south for the winter months! But of course, living in the Midwest, we will never escape the winter months. So why not take advantage of the situation. A winter retreat can benefit a group in so many ways...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

When you're in ministry, sure you're employed by a church or an organization and you go to work, but rarely do I feel like I'm stuck at work or just running out the clock. Just the opposite most of the time. Its easy to get wrapped up in what I'm doing and look down and the clock will say 2am. I am convicted that the work I am doing is helping God fulfil his mission...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment