Planning Retreat Take Aways

Our annual planning retreat was this past weekend. We had a great time out at the lake with several of our leaders. After hashing, rehashing, and prehashing the previous and upcoming years, I'm really excited about what's ahead. Here are the five take aways that I'm most eager to apply.

1. Small Group Resources:
Extra stuff that leaders creatively add to our curriculum is what makes their group time great! Collect ideas from leaders, scan and put them on our website, and compile a notebook to promote a culture of idea exchange amongst leaders on our team.

2. Wake Frontlines:
The most important people in our ministry are the next 100 people that walk through our doors. Welcoming and connecting our guests is an area that definitely needs improvement in our Junior High ministry.

Increase visibility of a place for guests to "check in" when they arrive at our weekly meeting with a big "Welcome Guests" banner (duh). All guests will get a silicone bracelet with our website on it as a gift. Student volunteers will be equipped with a list of leaders and basic group demographics (gender, grade, school, etc.). Student volunteers will greet guests and take them to find a group that the guest would fit in. The volunteer will stay with the guest and the group for the entire morning and then fill out an Info Card with the guest after Wake.

We'll send a welcome letter to parents of guests that A) explains what we do, B) inspires them to engage with our ministry and the spiritual development of their child, and C) gives them practical ways to get involved as a parent.

3. Experiential Worship:
Right now during our "worship" time, we simply sing. We're going to test some creative ways to allow kids to sing, pray, read, and share during our worship time at Wake. It seems like stations would be distracting but it may really help kids engage. We'll see...

4. Small Group Service:
While we offer opportunities for our large group to participate in service activities, it is often more meaningful if our small groups take ownership of it and do it themselves. We want to put together an extensive list of local service opportunities with contact info, locations, times, and descriptions of how to get involved. We want to make service a "lay up" for our leaders and groups.

5. More Intimate Leaders Meetings
Up until now, almost all of our leaders meetings have been large gatherings of all of our leaders from both Junior High and High School. We've made plans to mix things up big time next year with Junior High/High School splits, Guy/Girl splits, and even grade-specific splits. Our aim is to get people back in homes, help them feel more personal connections, and help deepen the equipping piece by making it more specific and interactive.