Coast Men's Retreat 2011

The Joy of Fishing (September 16-18, 2011)

This is another reminder to prayerfully consider joining us for our men's retreat this year and to sign up this week, if possible. You can sign up on Sundays, by email, by phone or by commenting on this blog post.

After this weekend, the retreat will be open to other men outside of Coast (so feel free to invite others). So far, we have about 20 signed up to go. We have room for 43 (3 more than originally thought).

We also wanted to let you know what the format for the retreat is this year. It is different from recent retreats. We have added two sessions (6 instead of 4 sessions). The sessions will be shorter than some in the past as a result. We have also added a voluntary curfew for bedtime and lights out each night. And we have added a voluntary group "quiet time" each morning that will precede the voluntary group prayer time led by Mike Hodson.

The additional sessions are needed because of the Matthias Media DVD training series we are using. The purpose of the large group "quiet time" or "time alone with the Lord" or "Bible meditation and prayer time" is to encourage you and challenge you to do this daily and to give you a vision for what to do if you aren't sure. These changes and the desire to emphasize the purpose of a retreat - to seek the Lord personally and corporately - form the basis for implementing a curfew. It is difficult to pay attention during the sessions and to make the most of our time seeking the Lord together if we are half asleep. So the motivation for the curfew is not to restrict your fun but to encourage a focus on why we are "retreating."

All this being said, we do not plan to "enforce" your compliance with the curfew or your participation in the large group quiet times. Fathers can give vision for their sons as they see fit. Men, you can decide whether these things fit in with your vision for the weekend or not.

So this is what it will look like (aside from any changes that might be made before the retreat):

Schedule:

Friday

3:00 PM .............. Blackbear Lodge open for worship team setup
5:00 ..................... Registration Begins (cabins open for all)
7:00 ................ Dinner
8:00 ................ Session 1: Love
9:30 ..................... Break
12:00 Midnight .. Curfew (voluntary but encouraged)

Saturday

6:15 AM ............. Quiet time (optional)
7:00 ..................... Prayer time (optional)
8:00 ................ Breakfast
9:00 ................ Session 2: Understand
10:30 .................. Break
11:00 .............. Session 3: Pray
12:15 PM ............ Break
12:30 .............. Lunch
1:30 ..................... Free Time
4:00 ..................... Group Activity (possibly)
5:30 ................ Dinner
6:30 ................ Session 4: Connect
7:45 ..................... Break
8:00 ................ Session 5: Invite
9:15 ..................... Break
12:00 Midnight.. Curfew (voluntary but encouraged)

Sunday

6:15 AM ............. Quiet time (optional)
7:00 ..................... Prayer time (optional)
8:00 ................ Breakfast/Clean out cabins
9 AM ............... Session 6: Talk
10:30 .................. Load Up
11 AM ................. Head Out

If you have any questions about the retreat, please let us know. And if you need help financially, please let us know as well. We hope you all can come. Please pray for God to meet us there.