There are lots of ways you can grow, bond and unite together as a ministry team. While each are important and have tremendous value, one of the best, most effective things I have done is to have an annual team retreat. For years, I have taken an annual team retreat time towards the end of the summer to get ready for the fall for a few different reasons.
During the year, leaders are busy with the school year. Whether they have kids and families of their own, time between September and May are really busy. Then, in the summer, especially early, the summer is filled with vacations and trips. That is what makes the end of the summer the perfect time to catch up and reestablish community together.
Building and developing community is very important in any leadership team. After all, the make-up of your leadership team can be very diverse. For instance, you have leaders who are college students, in the workforce, who have children and who are single. When you go away for a day, a night or a weekend together, it provides a great opportunity for everyone to get to know each other on a different level.
As you seek to build community, an important element here is fun. Spending time doing fun things and simply socializing can be just as essential as anything else you do together. A team that plays and has fun together will have a tighter bond. away is the perfect way to build and develop a bond with each other. In all the years we have been doing them, it has provided us with a great start to the year with each.
Not only is an annual team retreat a great opportunity to build community, it is also perfect to cast vision and get everyone focused on the year ahead. After a busy previous year and summer vacations, gathering everyone together to cast vision for the fall is so important. Taking everyone away somewhere where you can cast that vision and pray together for the year ahead has proven to be an essential part of the new year. Everyone leaves on the same page and are inspired to follow God’s lead for the new year.
In addition to building into the team of leaders from a ministry perspective, at our annual team retreat, we focus on building into them spiritually and personally. We care for the team not just for what they can “do for us” ministry wise, but we care for their own spiritual journey. That is why we spend time looking over scripture, worshiping together and going over different life skills that they can develop. Again, your ministry team may range in ages from college students to older adults who are empty nesters. How can you help them in their relationship with the Lord or help with them with life skill? Set up individual times with them throughout the annual team retreat time to work on those.
Options and Tips
While an annual team trip sounds great, it may not be possible for your team. So, here are some options for you to consider in setting aside time for you and your team to have time together.
- Plan a day trip. There are some great places you could go for a whole day and do a lot of team building activities while also focusing them on the new ministry year. You could even set up a few day trips throughout the Fall season to accomplish what you could do during a weekend trip away.
- Local retreat. See if anyone in your church has a bigger home or even a connection to a place where you could go for a discounted price. The great thing about this is if you can find a place like this, you will save a lot of money rather than going to a retreat center.
- Get it on the calendar. There will never be a perfect time or day, but the earlier you can get the date announced, the more likely you’ll have full participation. Find a good day, overnight or weekend time where most of your leaders can do this. If the summer is not a great time of year for your team, find the best time.
- Make sure your objectives are clear. Just like no one wants to attend a meeting without an agenda, no one wants to take time away for a day or weekend where the objective is not clear. Write down your objectives for your time away and make sure your team knows.
Conclusion
Taking an annual team retreat has tremendous benefits and will help start kick start your ministry year each year. You honor your team by taking them away and treating them to fun, caring for them spiritually and helping them personally. Make it a priority and see how it impacts your team and your ministry this year.
Before you finish reading this post, write down a quick action plan. What else can you do? Share them below or on social media.
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