Maybe planning a women’s retreat with your best Bible study girls feels like a great idea in theory, but seems to be too complicated to make a reality. Don’t worry! We are here to help with some great women’s retreat ideas!
Whether it’s a weekend getaway with a few girlfriends or a larger retreat organized through your church, getting away with the girls is so important to deeper relationship development. Weekly Bible study can be rich in spiritual content, but leave little time for chit-chat. A women’s retreat is a great way to get to know each other on a more personal level.
How to Start
Use a scheduling tool like Doodle to find a weekend that works for everyone.
Where To Go
If you have a smaller group, see if anyone has connections to a lake house or cabin that you could use for the weekend. You never know who might have an aunt with an empty private getaway right on the water. If you have a larger group, a retreat center might be the way to go. You can also look into hotels that offer discounted group rates.
Staying in town can be an excellent option as well because the focus is to be together—not the destination. Consider organizing an adult sleepover at someone’s house. If a member of your group has a home that can accommodate everyone, ask her to host.
In or out of town, check out options on sites like Airbnb.com or VRBO.com where it’s easy to find accommodations pretty much anywhere for a group of any size.
What To Do
One of the best things about going on a retreat is simply having time to relax and enjoy each other’s company. And that’s great news because the pressure to plan, plan, plan is off! You will want a couple of activities to do, so here are some ideas to get you started:
- Plan ahead. Discuss and decide what your group will study next. Have everyone bring an idea or two to consider.
- Divide and conquer. Split into 3 groups: Fun, Faith, and Food. The Fun group plans fun stuff. They might pick out a great nearby hiking trail, plan get-to-know-you games, take the group on a scavenger hunt, or bring movies and boardgames. The Faith group is responsible for the spiritual aspect. They might plan devotionals for the weekend or organize a unique prayer time. The Food group takes care of all things edible. They plan the menu and buy the groceries. That way everyone has a small responsibility and no one gets overwhelmed with doing everything.
- Tell your stories. Encourage each woman to share details of her life and faith journey, complete with pictures. It’s amazing the new things you can learn about women you might have known quite a while!
- Take a quiz! Who doesn’t love a fun quiz? Take some time to discover spiritual gifts, individual strengths via StrengthsFinder, or more about your personalities through something like the Enneagram personality test. Activities like these spark amazing conversation and help you learn to relate.
- Do a Bible study. Some studies are designed specifically for a weekend retreat. Check out Breathe by Priscilla Shirer, or the War Room Bible Study, which would be fun to do after seeing the movie together.
- Attend an event from wherever you are. The Priscilla Shirer Simulcast makes planning a girls’ weekend super simple.