“We cannot always build the future of our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” – Theodore Roosevelt
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What is the purpose of a youth retreat? There are many ways to answer this question. For me, the three best reasons are:
- To give your students and leaders a chance to spend meaningful, and purposeful time together.
- To provide a place where they can unplug, rest, and recharge.
- To help students draw closer to God.
We’ve done many local retreats and also gone to lake Shasta in California for a houseboat retreat. Bellow are some ideas and documents to help you as you plan your retreats for your students.
Camp Casey:
An affordable and close by venue with plenty of outdoor and indoor rec space. Stayed just for a weekend and we made our own food. So biggest thing is just to pack games, devotional material, and plan for food.
Documents for Trip: Camp Casey Group Leader Info, Meal Plan 2019
Houseboats:
One of the highlights of high school youth ministry! An eight day trip where we stay on a houseboat for six days with two leaders and thirteen students. Enjoying God’s creation, fellowship, and intentional time of drawing close to God; this is a trip I highly recommend.
This is put on by Sonshine Ministries. Bellow you’ll find documents for this trip:
- Permission Slip: FCC Houseboats Permission Slip
- Parent Information: Houseboats 2016 info
- Worship Music Booklet & Outline for Study (God’s Boundaries for Abundant Living – Chip Ingrum): Booklet Houseboat
- Student Trip Checklist: What to Bring and not to bring
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Retreats don’t have to take place in “exotic” locations, simply using the facilities that you have (even if you don’t, get creative!) is more than enough. It’s all about you creating a program and making space for your kids to connect with one another, your leaders, and most importantly with Jesus.