Retreat in Review

We had a great time at Camp Orchard Hill the other weekend. After some time to recoup and think back on the weekend, this is how I boil it down from a Middle School/Junior High perspective:

Worship Band: C While they did a great job, they were at a level that was much deeper than where the Middle School students were at. Songs were too slow/repetitive, without the elements of simply exciting and getting kids pumped to be at camp.

Speaker: B Did a great job illustrating stories from the Bible and bringing them to life. However, his messages were always long, and lacked any kind of visual element such as PowerPoint or videos. Towards the last session, a lot of the Middle School students would start to disengage as soon as he started, simply because they knew he was going to only talk for 40 minutes. 

Meals: A- I always love the food there. 

Free Time: A Good mix of free time and organized fun time. There's enough options of things to do during free time that no Middle Schoolers were bored, and they didn't have enough time to get into any serious trouble.

Curfews: B+ Set at good times, but could have been better enforced...mainly in my cabin. They did not sleep the first night (which led to peace and quiet the second night).

Organized Group Activities: A The COH Staff has their fingers on the pulse of "how kids have fun" and did an excellent job of providing a variety of games (from mental to physical) that every student could plug into.

Conclusion: A fantastic weekend for many, a fun weekend for all. This was a mixed (Jr. and Sr. High) retreat, and might be one of our last. While the Sr. high students were pushed harder than usual, this left some of the Middle Schoolers behind. 

Awesome idea from NYMC in action

Tim Schmoyer gave us an idea in one of NYMC Brown Bag Lunch Seminars. We're using twitpic and 12seconds to post updates from camp for parents! Check it out on our Student Ministry Website.

Retreat time!

I came into the office to do all the last minute things before our weekend retreat, and found that there is really nothing for me to do right now. That's a good feeling: I get an A for ministry preparedness.

Unfortunately, I still have to pack, but can't until all my socks and underwear get done in the dryer. Not such a good feeling. I get about a C- for personal preparedness. Better luck next time.

Short Week Summary

After the NYMC and before our Student Ministry Winter Retreat...this is a short week, and this is how we managed:

• TO DO LISTS: we spend so much time making to do lists, but it's the only way to make sure that we don't miss anything or anyone.
• DON'T DO THE SMALL THINGS: I know not everyone has this option, but we've made it a point to delegate things like insurance forms and what not to volunteers.
• DON'T DO SOME OF THE BIG THINGS: we've allowed our intern and other volunteers to take a couple of the big items off our plate as well. Cabin lists, check-in, and our After Party.
• THINK AHEAD: Our goal was to get almost everything done for Winter Blast before we went out to the NYMC, and we accomplished that.

Can't wait for the retreat, and maybe even some down time afterwards!