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[pic]BOARD PLANNING RETREAT

After most board positions are filled, a great way to begin the planning and encouragement process is to have a board retreat. A board retreat is designed to help a new board develop relationships, learn leadership and personality styles of each board member, pray for vision for the upcoming PWOC year, and brainstorm ideas to fulfill that vision. This can be accomplished in many ways. You can go away for a weekend, spend the night at someone’s home, or you can simply get away for the day. The newly elected president can plan and facilitate the retreat, or you may choose to use your Titus 2 advisor in that role. However you choose to do it, it can be a fun way to get to know one another, to assess the needs of your PWOC, and to make plans for the upcoming year.

Most importantly, a board retreat will provide time for prayer -- time for approaching the Lord and seeking His guidance. Do not underestimate the amount of time that this might take. Allow enough time to accomplish that which you desire. As a group, take this opportunity to get to know one another at this retreat. Notice the sweet bonds of sisterhood that will begin to develop. As President, it is up to you to set the tone for the year, according to the wisdom of 1 Peter 4:10-11:

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Board retreats are usually held after the installation of a new board in the spring or summer of each year. A board retreat is not only for the Executive Board, but includes all Ministry Team Leaders, as well. Begin the PWOC year with the concept that both Executive Board members and ministry team leaders are part of “the Board.” By not differentiating between the two, your board will become unified more quickly.

Typically, a board retreat schedule will include the following:

• fellowship

• devotion

• skit, ice breaker or mixer

• short introduction and testimony from each board member

• personality/leadership assessment

• prayer and vision development

• brainstorming ideas

• review of board positions and responsibilities

Send out personal invitations to each board member inviting her to the board retreat. You might also want to use a skit to get your new board excited about attending the retreat. (A sample skit may be found at the end of this document.)

At mid-year, schedule another board retreat to evaluate the first semester, and reassess activities planned for the second semester. Discuss what has worked and what has not worked, and refocus the vision for your board. This mid-year board retreat is essential to help your board stay focused and motivated. (Sample schedules may be found near the end of this document.)

Developing Vision

Developing a vision for your PWOC year is an essential part of a board retreat, but is often the most difficult to accomplish. Developing a vision takes time and prayerful concentration to hear the Lord’s direction. It would be easier to skip this step and move on to the brainstorming session.

Too often [in ministry] we are eager to plan solutions to problems and rush off to execute our plans, barely pausing in prayer long enough to ask God’s blessing on what we have decided needs to be done! That is simply bringing the world’s ways into the work of Christ’s kingdom. Such plans will never fully accomplish God’s will. He is jealous for His glory, and will not share it with presumptuous men and women, even when they believe they are acting in the name of Jesus Christ. Let’s acknowledge that God has provided us a better way – His way – for us to know specifically what tasks He wants us to undertake and how to get the job done. His way is for us to set aside our agendas, plans, and desires, and to come into His presence with clean hands and pure hearts, asking Him to give us wisdom and discernment. Once we have truly met with the living God, He’ll reveal to us the next step He wants us to take. (Pray and Obey, Officer’s Christian Fellowship.)

Henry Blackaby and Claude King, in the Bible study, Experiencing God, make the following statements:

God is at work in the world.

God takes the initiative to involve me in His work.

God must take the initiative to open my spiritual eyes, so I can see what He is doing.

When I see the Father at work around me, that is my invitation to adjust my life to Him and join Him in that work.

God’s revelation is my invitation to join Him.

Why would we want to rush to make plans for the PWOC year without God’s direction? He has a plan for your PWOC. As leaders of your PWOC, your responsibility is to stop, pray, and listen to what He has to say. His plans are perfect! Join Him in His work for your PWOC.

Below is a step-by-step approach to developing a vision for your PWOC.

Step 1: Pray (ACTS)

Facilitator leads group through the ACTS model of personal prayer (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication). The intent of this time in prayer is help the group as a whole draw closer to God.

Step 2: Pray for Ministry

Facilitator leads group in prayer for the ministry of the local PWOC for the upcoming year. Women are to pray asking God about the needs of their PWOC and chapel community. They should also ask for discernment for God’s direction for ministry. As thoughts come to them, they should write them down on a piece of paper.

Step 3: Share

Women in the group share what they felt the Lord was telling them about the needs of their group and their perceptions about where they see the Lord working. Facilitator uses butcher paper to record these responses.

Step 4: Pray for Clarification

Facilitator leads group in prayer to ask God’s guidance to prioritize the needs and ministry opportunities mentioned in step 3.

Step 5: Prioritize List

Facilitator writes down on butcher paper the results of step 4.

Step 6: Brainstorm

Facilitator helps group to develop a broad picture of ways to implement the perceived needs and ministry opportunities. This is a time of brainstorming. Facilitator writes down all ideas on butcher paper.

Step 7: Develop Plan

Facilitator helps group to develop a plan (minus details) developed from brainstorming ideas to accomplish meeting the needs and ministry opportunities identified. Plan should include mission statement, objectives, concept for achieving objectives, resources needed (both people and things, generally), and a time line for achieving the plan.

Step 8: Responsibilities

Facilitator helps group to determine who will take responsibility (with the help of a committee) to implement the plans developed in step 7. Follow up these ideas and plans at next board meeting.

Step 9: Commit in Prayer

Facilitator closes in prayer again committing PWOC ministry to the Lord.

The planning and executing of a board retreat is worth the time and effort. Your board will be better prepared to work together in unity knowing God has directed plans and provided a vision for the year. God will give your board assignments and equip you to do them. When you are obedient to Him, He will accomplish through you all that He has purposed to do (Blackaby and King 156, 174). As a board, you have the awesome privilege of hearing God’s voice and leading the women in your PWOC into a deeper relationship with Him. Below are sample schedules for a one-day retreat, overnight retreat, and a mid-year retreat.

Sample Schedule for One-Day Board Retreat

9:00 Arrive/Fellowship - coffee and muffins

9:30 Devotion

9:45 Ice breaker

10:00 Short introduction and testimony from each board member

11:00 Gary Smalley Personality Inventory

Video/Discussion

12:30 Potluck salad lunch

1:00 Pray and seek God’s Vision for the year

2:30 Brainstorm and plan for the year

4:00 Close in prayer/depart

Sample Schedule for Overnight Board Retreat

Friday night

5:00 Arrive at Hotel/Bed & Breakfast/Retreat Center

6:00 Dinner out/icebreaker during dinner

8:00 Introduction and testimony from each board member

9:30 Pajama Party!

Saturday

8:30 Breakfast

9:15 Devotion

9:30 Gary Smalley Personality Inventory

Video/Discussion

11:00 Pray for wisdom/Seek God’s vision for the year

12:30 Lunch - delivered in pizza or Chinese food

1:30 Brainstorm and plan for the year

3:00 Review board positions and responsibilities

4:00 Close in prayer/depart

Schedule for January mid-year Board Retreat

9:00 Arrive/Fellowship - coffee and muffins

9:30 Ice breaker

9:45 Devotion

10:00 Pray for wisdom and focus

10:15 President gives “state of PWOC” report

Board members report

Discussion…what is working?/what is not working?/what is confused or can be done better?

12:30 Potluck salad lunch

1:30 Brainstorm and plan for the remainder of the year

3:00 Close in prayer/depart

Skit

Characters: Two board members

Two board members enter from the right talking excitedly among themselves.

1st Board Member: Wasn’t last weekend the greatest? I had so much fun getting to know the other board members at the board retreat.

2nd Board Member: You know the personality and leadership inventory was really revealing. I didn’t know that I was a Lion; can you believe that I can be over bearing sometimes?

1st Board Member: And when Mary, the other Lion, said “Beavers in this corner, Lions in that corner, Golden Retrievers over here, and Otters in the other corner” it was fun to visualize the leadership style of each of us. Knowing how each of us operates will really help us to work with each other in an understanding way.

2nd Board Member: I know who to ask to do the skit at the next General Meeting…Linda is such an Otter!

1st Board Member: The pizza party and sleep over on Friday night was a wonderful way to start the weekend. It was so nice to have the time to share testimonies of how we each came to know Christ.

2nd Board Member: Praying for each other was such a privilege too!

1st Board Member: The time we spent on Saturday praying for vision from the Lord for our PWOC still gives me the chills. It was such an awesome time before the Lord on our knees.

2nd Board Member: I know! Asking the Lord for direction and how to implement our new theme, “Come to the Living Water” was revealing. And He showed us the needs in our PWOC. Brainstorming on how to meet those needs was really helpful in developing our plan for the year.

1st Board Member: Wasn’t it awesome how those ideas fell right into place and now we have some wonderful ways use the program and retreat ideas that we got at traveling training, along with some new ideas from the board retreat?

2nd Board Member: Reviewing each of our board position responsibilities was really helpful too. The notebook that Susan gave us with a copy of the Women’s Ministry Manual was a nice treat. It will help keep each of us organized, and we’ll be able keep track of board meeting minutes.

1st Board Member: I can’t wait until the next board meeting! God is really going to do some wonderful things this year in PWOC!

Two board members exit left.

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