Guest Speakers (That’s Plural)

Have you ever had an event with more than one guest speaker?  How can it work?

We have…and, in fact, our most recent retreat had four different speakers.  Actually, it was a decision borne out of much prayer. There were four teaching sessions at the retreat, each a different aspect of our main theme.  Each was taught by a different pastor’s wife.  We asked three pastor’s wives, whose women have joined us at our past retreats, to assist our pastor’s wife with the speaking responsibilities.

Probably the biggest challenge in having more than one guest speaker was communicating with each one regarding the topic she would be speaking on.  How do we make sure that they are all on the same page as to the theme of the event and that the sessions flow together, while at the same time trying to keep them from stepping on one another’s toes in their teachings?

Our solution was to make up a very general outline of the four sessions of the retreat, being very specific about how the sessions were differentiated.  The outline included each topic, its title, a few short sentences about each topic and suggested scriptures.  This way, as they prayerfully considered their individual topic, they also had before them an outline of all topics and a short summary of the direction given to the other speakers. We did not tell them what to say; we just gave them a guide to make sure that they were aware of the parameters given to each speaker.  And, of course, we kept our speakers in prayer as they prepared for the retreat.

Ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit who brought unity and directed each teaching tocontribute to the overall theme of the retreat.