As a teenager I loved going on retreats. It was an opportunity to disconnect from reality, focus on healthy relationships and grow confident in my faith. As a youth minister I have realized:
And, I often wonder, “Is all of that work really worth it?”
Think about it. You spend a lot of energy, money and time putting together 48 hours of programming where teenagers are challenged in their faith more than any other time.
When they emerge, they are on fire and super excited about what they’ve learned. We send them off into the world ready to change lives. BUT, THEY NEVER COME BACK!
And, that’s not always the case. In fact there are teens that WILL come back to your ministry and you CAN decrease turnover if you:
If your youth ministry is built on events and retreats you’ll lack the consistency to build momentum. If you want to teens coming back after a retreat experience then you need to:
Retreats create an engaged audience. Teens that have never had access to God are going to want more. That more has to be something beyond a texting group and a follow up event.
Before you invest all your resources in retreats think about the ministry that flows into and out of them. For more on building a sustainable ministry check out Rebuilding Youth Ministry HERE.
When you put together a retreat you need support. Find adults who are already involved with your youth ministry program. The benefits are huge because committed volunteers will:
You can still recruit people from outside of the ministry, but having your regulars there creates a link back to what you regularly do. The better the quality of your leaders the better the experience.
It’s great to coordinate a reunion event when all the participants get back together. It’s also good to invite them to join you for your regular nights. Regardless what’s next you need to make the follow up:
If you could personally call them all that would be great. But, you might not have the capacity. Plus, carrying the responsibility for every teen to be cared for can be too much.
Try assigning every participant to an adult and teen leader to follow up. If they were in small groups on the retreat ask the leaders to meet with them a few times to:
Breakdown their experience
Reflect on what life outside the retreat has been like
Build community and plug them into regular parish life
If participants feel forgotten it will leave a sour taste in their mouth. Make sure they don’t feel alone.
ALWAYS LOOK TO IMPROVE BY MEASURING YOUR GOALS
Before you even plan a retreat you need to answer the question:
What are we trying to accomplish?
If it’s just to fulfill some sacramental requirement that’s not going to help you create a dynamic experience. But, if your goal is to:
Increase the amount of teens coming to your regular nights
Plug teens into ministry at the parish
Accomplish a task or project that has an impact on your community
You’ll be able to evaluate your effectiveness. As you spend time planning dream big of what would happen if you put together the world’s best retreat. Identify small goals that meet the big one.
After the experience sit with your team, determine whether the goals were met and make adjustments for next time. With a quality experience you’ll not only bring more teens to your ministry but closer to Christ.
What have you seen work when it comes to planning retreats for the next generation?