By Kirk Potter

CHURCH retreats are a tradition that goes back to the origins of camping itself, and the ‘Brush Arbor’ movement early in the previous century.

But why exactly are church retreats so effective?

Primarily, it is the lack of distractions. Retreats are so productive because they provide a concentrated time focused on spiritual objectives and relationships, in a setting removed from the distractions of everyday life.

Not long ago, I was involved in a protracted process to lease some camp buildings. The process took almost nine months, mostly because of the delays in passing each message and proposal between two principals and their attorneys.

A message sent to the other principal could wait for hours or days to be dealt with, depending on his workload. He eventually passed a message to his attorney, who had to find time to deal with it along with his other responsibilities.

After he had considered it, he would pass the message on to our attorney, who would pass it on to us. Our response would eventually filter back, through the same process.

By comparison, a friend of mine’s father was a partner in a major development and construction company.

When negotiations commenced for a project, all the parties and lawyers met in a neutral setting for several days of face- to-face negotiations. In a matter of days, they processed complexities light years more advanced than my lease project.

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The difference: no distractions, no interruptions, no other clients and no competing priorities. As well, the trust built up in this atmosphere yielded a level of productivity that could not be achieved by emails, phone calls and meetings.

Retreats are similar. A weekend retreat is worth months of Sundays and mid-week meetings, because of the lack of gaps and distractions. Add to this the relationships built as you share the retreat experience with others, and the effectiveness of the retreat is even more pronounced.

A retreat is not unlike a vacation. You set aside all the distractions of everyday life for a time away, dedicated to a particular purpose, which often includes deepening relationships with family and others. And someone else is doing the cooking, serving, table clearing, dishwashing and, in some cases, child care. It is like going out to eat five times in one weekend with a group of friends. There is ample opportunity to sit around the tables and have a nice chat.

Retreats work for all ages, and for many purposes. Adult retreats are great for focusing on relationships and spiritual needs. That is why they are so effective for groups like Alpha.

Youth groups benefit because of the opportunities for leaders to build relationships with students over the course of a whole weekend, in a way which is simply not possible two hours at a time with a week between meetings.

Church retreats are a great way to accomplish many of the objectives of church ministries – without the daily distractions of our busy lives.

 Kirk Potter is director of conference and community ministries at The Firs in Bellingham, Washington.

June 2010