The No Agenda Retreat

One teenager said it.

One year we had this very successful ministry event in which there was very high energy worship, small groups in homes, laser tag/bowling/bumper cars/movie/Sega Gameworks...the whole deal. Lots of kids came. Lots of Biblical teaching affected kids lives. The evaluations the teens filled out raved about how much fun they had and what good teaching they got.

The next year only 5 kids signed up. That's about a 90% drop...for a first-time event that I thought built a foundation for a great weekend that would last for a decade or so.

Curiously, I asked the kids who gave positive evaluations why they didn't sign up again. Basically it came down to this: "Why would I pay the money for a weekend to go warp speed like that? I go warp speed all the time and I can do that stuff on my own?"

Hence, we did the opposite.

We scheduled nothing.

Really.

Our staff got a bus, rented a camp a couple of hours away that has no TV's, provides beds and prepares meals and some gym space. Other than that, there's an optional bonfire. No staff-led organized Bible studies. No speakers. Just relaxation and fellowship. Hanging out.

Here's a few reasons why I really like this particular weekend as a staple of our high school ministry:

...A teen who hasn't shown too much interest in spiritual things in the three years in our ministry or the one year in my Bible study decided to tell me what he believes God built him to do and his vision for how to make that a ministry. He was passionate about it, too. He needed help refining it and making it a reality so he asked me a few things. I doubt it would've happened on a "high energy" weekend.
...It's cool watching the artist-types in our group do their artist things and then discuss it with those that aren't artist-types, who listen and learn.
...It's cool watching a kid who isn't athletic by nature score a goal or touchdown or basket, and have the team who was scored against high-five the kid, too.
...Watching teens lead their own Bible study is pretty impressive. In fact, you don't even worry about bad theology or anything like that because the effort outweighs the risk.
...Watching adults get into the teen world, and watching the teens let them in, never ceases to amaze me.
...In Texas, you can be outside and this year, for the first time in four years, it didn't rain. Highs in the low 50's and cold enough to have a fire at night.
...When a student suggests that the bonfire "reflection" time on Saturday night never turned into a "reflection" time for a myriad of reasons, maybe instead of watching a movie on the bus we could let everybody share what God taught them this weekend--because "I know what me and my friends learned but I love hearing stories of God at work in people I don't know as well. It helps me get to know them better as brothers and sisters in Christ."--well, you gotta love that.
...Watching teens walk up a huge hill to get a better view of the lake, think for a while, and then come back and tell you what they were praying about and all that never get old.
...Neither does War Ball, or gym hockey. Sarah gets body checked every year. This year after it happened she announced in her Minnie Mouse voice that she was now "completely enraged" so everybody better "watch out," the game had to stop down while the players composed themselves.
...We're spoiled because the staff of Pine Cove Christian Camps is so good at what they do all we have to do is show up. Their camp is a "how-to" of Christian camping for seminaries, and that's as it should be.
...I actually get more sleep there than I do at home.
...When you schedule nothing, you actually get more out of the time than you would have if you scheduled something.

I think we've found our decade-long ministry idea for January every year. There'll come a time when we go back to the high-energy long weekend, but for now, I can't imagine a more effective ministry tool.