{"id":278,"date":"2006-10-03T13:25:13","date_gmt":"2006-10-03T18:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marktime.org\/?p=278"},"modified":"2009-01-22T14:23:17","modified_gmt":"2009-01-22T19:23:17","slug":"reconnecting-with-faith-finding-your-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/?p=278","title":{"rendered":"Reconnecting with Faith – Finding Your Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve written previously<\/a> about my journey back to the church.\u00a0 One important part of that was the Reconnecting with Faith – Finding Your Home retreat held at Camp Johnsonburg<\/a> last January.\u00a0 Today I’ll write about that retreat and ask your help.<\/p>\n

The retreat ran Friday evening (about 8pm) until Sunday morning before lunch (about 11am).\u00a0 The retreaters were housed at the camp’s lodges, which thankfully are heated in the winter (and fairly comfy).\u00a0 Meals were held at the dining hall, though we had tons of munchies in the lodges.\u00a0 Most of the retreat participants were couples, and the camp managed to provide each couple with a private room (2 people in a room that sleeps 3-4).<\/p>\n

The retreat followed all of the Johnsonburg standard values – challenge by choice, no discounting others, be yourself.<\/p>\n

The program elements were (in rough order, from my memory):<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Introduction Games<\/li>\n
  2. Informal Chat and Food until bedtime Friday<\/li>\n
  3. After breakfast, Tell Your Story (only if you want to)<\/li>\n
  4. Presbyterian 101 (an hour explaining Presbyterian faith and the history of the church)<\/li>\n
  5. Lunch<\/li>\n
  6. Small Group Breakout and results – What You Want in a Church<\/li>\n
  7. Suggestions for How to Find a Congregation<\/li>\n
  8. Free Time (camp trails, etc. available)<\/li>\n
  9. Dinner<\/li>\n
  10. Candlelight Labyrinth in the gym<\/li>\n
  11. Where Are We session (to talk about where we are, suggest where to go from here)<\/li>\n
  12. Voluntary worship planning (by participants, with staff assistance if needed) and hangout until bedtime<\/li>\n
  13. After breakfast, free time or outdoor labyrinth<\/li>\n

    It is the quickest way of buying the prescription medicines is to cialis properien https:\/\/unica-web.com\/members\/norvege.html<\/a> buy them through a website. This pill is really organized and unica-web.com<\/a> viagra price produced in such an example. ED or erectile dysfunction is well defined as an inability to produce a quality erection and sustain the stiffness of male reproductive organ.One does not get hardness just by taking this medicine, you need to have heard with the herb named ginkgo biloba. discount cialis best store<\/a> Vaginal dryness: If persistent arousal results in cialis samples<\/a> vaginal dryness, it’s a warning sign you must not ignore. <\/span>\t<\/p>\n

  14. Worship<\/li>\n
  15. Closing, evaluations, and long goodbyes with lots of hugs<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    By far, the most emotional and valuable time was the Tell Your Story time.\u00a0 Each person (including the staff and some staff spouses) spent some time telling their faith journey story – highs and lows.\u00a0 Some stories were pretty straightforward – others were tear-filled stories of pain.\u00a0 All showed unexpected depth in each person (including my wife – I learned things I hadn’t learned in the almost 20 years we’ve known each other).<\/p>\n

    Of the original group (and not counting the staff), only one person was attending church regularly before this retreat.\u00a0 At this point 9 months later, about 40% of the group are attending church regularly (that I know of – it could be higher).\u00a0 Others are seeking a different outlet for their spiritual lives; some are looking at home churches and others are exploring the breadth of spiritual expression beyond Christianity.<\/p>\n

    So why do I need your <\/strong><\/em>help?<\/p>\n

    This original group was selected from former camp summer staff.\u00a0 This was both accidental and intentional – the original impetus for the group came from an online community of former camp summer staff, and the camp intentionally wanted to try the program out with people that they knew would be able to evaluate the program at the same time as attending it.\u00a0 Those former camp summer staff were all formerly-churched people who were Presbyterian (surprise, it’s a Presbyterian camp!) who mostly brought along their spouses.\u00a0 None of the spouses came from a Presbyterian background.<\/p>\n

    We are getting ready to plan for the next group to go through the program.\u00a0 I’m on staff for this one, and it will be held in January 2007.\u00a0 We are seriously considering having the original group come back for a followup retreat at the same time, and having a few activities be joint activities.\u00a0 I believe that the plan for this one is to open it up beyond the former staff community to include anyone.\u00a0 The target audience is any adult (though I don’t think we’d turn away an older high school student or college student) who may be considering joining a church, used to belong to a church, or has questions about whether Christianity or specifically the Presbyterian Church (USA) is right for them.\u00a0 We encourage people to bring their spouses or significant others.<\/p>\n

    What you can help me with is this:\u00a0 What do you think the unchurched or formerly churched are looking for from a program like this?\u00a0 Are there topics that you don’t see covered in the list above?\u00a0 Is there something in that list that you would eliminate?\u00a0 How do we reach the unchurched or formerly churched – how do we find people who want to look at joining a church?<\/p>\n

    The first planning meeting will be this coming Saturday so any comments received by then would be helpful.\u00a0 However, ideas are always welcome and can be incorporated all the way up to the day the retreat begins.<\/p>\n

    Please leave your comments or suggestions in Comments here, or send them via e-mail to me (see the link at left).\u00a0 If for some reason comments aren’t working for you, please let me know that too – I’ve been having trouble.<\/p>\n

    Thank you.