Today on the podcast, Sean speaks with Louie Schmitz about the idea of a spring retreat for your preteens.
Louie explains the idea of their 4th and 5th grade retreat. They take the preteens away for one night and bring in a guest speaker. They are going to a campground not too far from the church on the church bus and bringing in a speaker, the worship is provided by the middle/high school band. They have three breakout sessions with a driving theme and small groups following each one. This schedule creates intentional time for the leaders to connect with the preteens.
The idea of taking preteens away for a day or more allows a deeper connection with them than the 90 minutes you get with them on a Sunday. The retreat they did two years ago was beneficial to not only the preteens but their families as well. If you have additional questions about the retreat idea, setting up a sports summer camp program or even the bonus information Louie shares in the podcast about their March basketball bracket competition, you can email him at louie@mstar.church.
Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.