Experiencing God: Congregational Retreat

This past weekend we had our Congregational Retreat. This was planned as part of our congregational activites following my sabbatical. We had 77 adults & youth attending at Ladore Retreat & Conference Center in Waymart, PA.  We began Friday evening with a time of worship

and a short reflection from Pastor John from Mark 6:31 where Jesus invites his disciples to "Come with me by yourselves to a quite place to get some rest."  The "quiet place" is the Greek word "Eremos" which can also be translated desolate place, wilderness and even green pastures. After this we did a "mixer" finding others born our month of the year and had prayer in those groups together.  After that folks hung out or went swimming in the pool or soaking in the hot tub.

Saturday began with Pastor John leading an optional Prayer & Scripture Engagement time before breakfast. Everyone enjoyed all the food and meals served. After a brief worship time all the kids and young people broke out by themselves. 

 The adults has a "quiet time" practicing praying and listening to Scripture from I John 4: 7-21. This is a profound passage about God's love for us and ours for each other. We practiced Reading, Reflecting (meditating), Responding (praying) and Returning (acting) on the Scripture. We shared some of our insights and reflections together. Our Keynote Speaker was Dr. Janice Mclean Farrell. She and her husband Allen live in Harlem, NYC and are expecting a baby next month. She is on the Pastoral team of New Song Community Church and a facalty member of City Seminary. Here first message was "Experiencing God: Joyful in Creation".  We learned about "THE VOID" in  Genesis 1:1-2 but that the Spirit is hovering over the chaos before creation and in our lives.

We ended in groups discussing the message and concluded with a time of prayer.

 And yes, then we ate again. We ate alot and the food was great. The afternoon was time to "rest" , hang out, sleep, visit or do some of the activities available. Unfortunately the weather was not very cooperative and it was 55 degrees, cloudy and sometimes drizzling a bit.  However folks still enjoyed the pontoon boat ride around Lake Ladore and a few brace souls even took to the kayaks and the canoe.

 The pool or hot tub however were the most popular places to be on a cool September afternoon. Others played shuffleboard,  miniature golf, ping pong or other activities in the game room. Others enjoyed a quiet walk on the beautiful grounds or just sitting around the fireplace.

 After dinner Pastor Janice gave her second talk: Experiencing God: Steadfast in the Wilderness. She explored the place of wilderness in the Scriptures and in our lives. We again divided up into small groups to talk together about what this meant for out lives and prayer together.

 Following this we took a candlelight walk from the Lodge to the Bonfire. Everyone carried a small candle in a paper cup that created a beautiful chain of light flowing down the mountain. It was very beautiful. Minister Sham brought a message from I Corinthians 13 reminding us that all ministry of "word and deed" is empty if it is not done in LOVE!

 This was followed by a time around the bonfire where many enjoyed roasting marshmallows and making SMORES!

SMORE recipe: Graham Cracker, chocolate square, roasted marshmallow, graham cracker on top: YUM< YUM 

 Many enjoyed driving around the grounds on the little peddle go-carts. Your never to old for this. Some adults were even racing each other ( I won't say who) and cheating a bit to win. :)

 Ladore Lodge sits on top of a mountain below a ridge full of large windmills. You can't quite see them in this picture but they are all along the top of the ridge behind Joyce & Tracie.

 We concluded on Sunday morning with another time of worship where anyone would begin a song and we all joined in. Linzie would just pick up the tune and we would worship the Lord. We continue with a fountain of Scripture as we shared favorite Scripture verses.

 Pastor Janice gave her final message: Experiencing God: Flourishing in the City. Here Scriptures were from Psalm 46, Jeremiah 29 and Revelation 21. God calls us to seek the peace and prosperity of the city he has call us to - Paterson. But most important the Lord calls us to LOVE our city. We concluded this message with a spontaneous time of sentence prayers for our city and all that the Lord had put on our hearts.  Pastor Ken shared the details for our "Stand Against Human Trafficking" next Saturday and Sunday for 27 hours representing the 27 million people in sexual slavery.   We concluded with the Lord's Supper as we recognized the presence of our Lord Jesus in our lives and city. We prepared to come off the mountain and return to continue to live out His mission. We enjoyed a final meal together and drove home refreshed and blessed to have been in a "quiet place" to get some rest with Jesus and each other.