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Don’t Overbook Your Guest Speaker

Posted by Debby on November 11, 2010

It is understandable that those planning the retreat would want fill the schedule with teaching sessions, to insure that we are “filling the cup” of all of our women. However, you do not want to “overbook” your guest speaker. Plan your schedule so that your guest speaker has down time between sessions to regroup, review her notes, pray and ready herself for the next session. Do not expect your speaker to participate in other retreat events; if they choose to participate, it is a blessing. However, make sure your guest speaker knows that she has the option to stay with the group and fellowship or retreat to her room.

Our retreats go from Friday night to Sunday noon, and we normally schedule the guest speaker three or four times. In addition to the main sessions, we sometimes ask the guest speaker to share informally on Friday night (the first evening of the retreat). If she is willing, we ask her to share her testimony, so that the ladies can get to know her. Women respond to a speaker that has been open and shared glimpses of her life and background.

Posted in: Your Guest Speaker

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Paying Your Guest Speaker

Posted by Debby on November 10, 2010

I Timothy 5:18 says “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages.'” No one should expect a guest speaker to speak at an event without paying them. As you begin to plan for your event, immediate budget items should include your speaker’s honorarium and travel expenses. If you are on a tight budget, it is best to find a speaker who is closer to home.

When you contact your potential guest speaker, one of the first questions you need to have answered is: Does she charge for her services? Don’t assume that all speakers are fine with a love gift or whatever you can afford. Many speakers have a set charge because this is how they earn their living.

If the speaker does not have a set charge, we normally set the honorarium according to the number of times that she will be speaking. It is hard to give a hard and fast rule for determining the honorarium, because so many factors come into play, including your location. You may want to get a ball park honorarium amount from a nearby church. Currently, our rule of thumb is between $100 and $125 per teaching. For a retreat with three main sessions, that is about $400. This is probably low compared to what larger churches pay.

Prepare the honorarium in advance. Enclose it within a thank-you note and give it to your guest speaker at the end of your event.

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Check, Check, and Recheck!

Posted by Debby on November 9, 2010

The week of the retreat is here. After registration closed, there was a flurry of activity that we described as “shenanigans.” This last minute juggling of who is attending and who is in what room increases the chance for errors and confusion as women arrive and check in at the retreat.

So, to avoid this confusion as much as possible, this week we were doing a lot of checking. Do we have a name tag for everyone who is now committed to attending? Did we spell the names on the name tags correctly? Is the final rooming list correct? Does everyone on our final registration list match up with those on our rooming list? Is the hotel’s printout of the rooming list correct?

The checking is time consuming, but it pays off as registration at the retreat runs smoothly.

Posted in: Retreat and Event Planning

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Resource Guide for Women’s Ministry – A Book Review

Posted by Debby on November 1, 2010

Resource Guide for Women’s Ministry is a book which offers “practical and creative ideas for leading prayer groups, using your home in a hospitality ministry, beginning outreach programs, forming fellowship support groups, and much more. The author, Linda McGinn Waterman, desires that every woman find God’s ministry for her life. God equips us for ministry through the unique experiences, circumstances and events of our lives. He gives us the Holy Spirit to direct and empower us to to His work.

The book is geared more toward the individual and her ministry within the community or neighborhood rather than toward a women’s ministry within the church, although some of the her ideas may work in a women’s ministry group setting. She encourages women discover God’s ministry for their lives. She encourages us to look at the needs around us (the poor and needy, senior adults, caregivers, married couples, homeschool families, single parents, widows, etc.) and to find practical and creative ways to minister to them. Some of her suggestions include: prayer groups, one-to-one and small group discipleship, hospitality, planning a women’s conference and starting evangelistic outreaches such as Bible studies and luncheons. For the woman who doesn’t know what her ministry is, the book includes a “personal inventory” for the reader to complete in order to help her identify her ministry “niche”.

The value I see in this book is that it gives an overview of the many needs that are all around in our community, and encourages women to not only be aware of those needs, but to find a creative way to minister to those needs. Each chapter is filled with creative ministry ideas and real-life experiences of women who have found a unique way that they can be used as His instruments in a hurting world.

Posted in: Book Reviews

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Shenanigans

Posted by Debby on October 30, 2010

Registration for our 2010 retreat ended on Oct. 24, and women had a few more days to make their final payment on their balance due for the retreat. Our goal is now to have the rooming list done by oct. 31, ready to turn in to the hotel next week. This is a critical time to keep close communication with the hotel to make sure you have enough rooms or to release the unused rooms, based on the attrition rate on your contract.

Things always speed up at the end of registration, and there is a flurry of activity. Laura, who works with registration and rooming, has a word for this: “Shenanigans”. It is not a surprise, because it happens every year at this time.

You have those last-minute women who have had over a month to register, and somehow they miss the last day of registration. They are begging for you to make a place for them.
You have the women who have paid their deposit, but have trouble coming up with the remainder of the balance. If there is scholarship money available, we can possibly help them; otherwise, they may have to cancel their plans to attend the retreat, losing their non-refundable deposit.
You have those who cancel because a conflict has suddenly come up.
You have those who keep us busy trying to make last-minute rooming changes. As you will note on our registration form, we have a place for ladies to designate their roommate. If those who register fill in their desired roommate, it simplifies the rooming process immensely. However, as registration closes, for some reason people want to make changes–adding person to a room, changing roommates for one reason or another…and on and on…
We have those who have been on the waiting list, or who hurriedly add their names to the waiting list at the last minute. When something opens up, these ladies need to be called individually to find out if they can still come to the retreat.

Shenanigans. They are going to happen. Accept them, work through the problems, and know that “this too shall pass.”

Posted in: Retreat and Event Planning, Rooming Issues

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