Spiritual Disciplines Retreat
For the past 3 years I’ve been working on my Masters Degree in Spiritual Formation from Johnson University. For my final project I’ve been tasked with implementing what I’ve learned into my own ministry context. For my final project I’ve decided to plan and lead a retreat based on the 12 classic spiritual disciplines as outlined by Richard Foster in “Celebration of Discipline.”
During the retreat students will learn about and practice all 12 of these spiritual disciplines. The goal will be for every student that attends to leave the retreat with a “rule of life.” A rule of life is defined as a “set of guidelines directing one’s life.” In the simplest of terms a rule of life is essentially a detailed outline of one’s own spiritual practices. The retreat will be over the course of MLK weekend, since students are out of school that Monday (1/16). The cost for the retreat is still tbd, but the only expense will be the cost of food. The plan is to stay (for free) at my parents home in Townsend.
In order to keep things manageable and to ensure that only students who will take this experience seriously attend, we will be limiting the retreat to only 8 students. There is also an application that interested students will need to fill out in order to gauge their level of interest in learning and practicing the disciplines of the Christian life. Simply put this is not for students only interested in a weekend away with their friends.
Students can click here to apply. Applications will be considered in order of completion.
To be completely honest, I have not been this excited about something ministry related in my 8 years of ministry. This retreat will not have the energy/excitement/hype of something like Winterfest or IMPACT, but I am completely confident that students who attend with open hearts will be forever changed and set on a lifelong trajectory of spiritual formation. As much as I enjoy all the “fun and games” associated with youth ministry, I can think of nothing I’d rather spend my time working towards than helping our students develop habits that will help them become more like Jesus.