How to Find Great Places for Christian Retreats

The struggle is real! It can be down-right frustrating to find great places for your Christian retreats.

Today I’m thrilled to have Andy McClung, creator of Christian Camp Pro, sharing his best tips and advice for finding the perfect location for your next retreat!

Has your church group been on a Christian retreat offsite lately?  Have you tried planning a Christian event only to discover that no one wants to sign up due to a bad experience they may have had in the past at someone else’s “camp”?  Maybe you’ve been praying and searching for the perfect place for your women’s ministry to visit only to hit a dead end.

Not anymore!  Today, we’re going to show you exactly how to find great places for Christian retreats and why choosing the right place is so important.

Blindly choosing a Christian retreat facility for your next event may lead to major problems.  This is simply because not all Christian event venues are specifically targeted for every style event.  For example, many locations strictly cater to youth camps and planning an adult women’s retreat at one of these venues may not meet the same standards some of your guests would be expecting.

That being said, you wouldn’t want youth being bored at a venue designed for Christian senior citizen events.  You may luck out, and reserve a great venue without much effort, but with all the planning going into your event, finding a great place deserves a little time and effort.

Things to keep in mind when choosing the right Christian venue:

1. Distance:  Driving long narrow country roads during the night could deter many guests from attending.  Finding a location that feels just far enough away to feel like you are getting away and close enough for anyone to drive to can be a difficult task.  Take the time to drive to possible event locations before reserving them to be more equipped in describing the drive to possible attendees.
2. Cleanliness:  Is the place clean?  Does it have mold, dirt, dust, etc.?  If so, find another place.  A dirty place ruins any event.  It’s hard to focus on what God has planned for you when you’re distracted by unclean lodging or worse!  Some locations require you to clean before and/or after the event.  This may save money, but also comes with the added headache of having a cleaning crew.
3. Staff:  Does the location have staff that will assist you during your event?  Some venues like this one in Kentucky provide a staff member to assist and run sound equipment so you don’t have to have one of your guests do it.  After all, the point of a retreat is to hear from God, be with friends and relax.  Finding locations with friendly staff can take a ton of work off you.
4. Tour:  Always, always, ALWAYS schedule a tour with any new Christian retreat location.  Seeing a facility in person helps answer all the tips above as well as gives you a direct chance to ask questions as you tour the place.

How to find great places for Christian retreats

Referrals

It’s often said that the best form of advertising is word of mouth.  I couldn’t agree with this more and highly recommend that you start by asking your ministry friends where they have retreated in the past.  A friend will tell you like it is!  If they loved a place or hated, all you have to do is ask and they will tell you.

Be sure to not only ask your ministry friends where they have retreated but take this opportunity to follow up with questions as well.  Tell them about the style of event and overall goal you wish to accomplish and see if they think their recommended Christian venue would be a good fit or not.  Ask them what they would do differently if going back again.  The more questions you ask about a venue the better prepared you will be for your ministry’s event.

A Christian Retreat Directory

Another way to find excellent Christian venues is by using an online Christian retreat directory.  Christian Camp Pro has the largest Christian retreat directory out there!  Our directory has over 1100 Christian locations across the USA and has new places added all the time.  The locations listed in our directory range from focusing on youth camps, adult retreats, marriage venues, adventure or relaxing places and more.

Using a Christian retreat directory like ours is perfect because it has all the information for popular Christian venues centralized in one place.  You can simply click on the state (or states) you are comfortable traveling to and start calling.  You will find an address, phone number and website link to each location.  Our aim is to connect you to the perfect place.  It’s also free to browse and free to list your location!

About Christian Camp Pro

Christian Camp Pro started in January 2013 out of a passion to help other retreat coordinators and event planners find the materials needed to host great Christian events.  Christian Camp Pro aims to be the number one resource for all your retreat and camp planning needs.

We provide completely FREE content focused on the best themes, games, and ideas for both youth camps and adult retreats as well as a Christian retreat directory to help you find your perfect retreat venue.  We also provide festive holiday resources such as this list of fun  Christmas games.

Christan Camp Pro was created by Andy McClung who lives in Franklin, Kentucky with his wonderful wife and two small boys.  He serves in the hospitality ministry by hosting different church groups every weekend at Oasis Christian Center and Retreat which he manages with his family.

You may also want to read:
Where should you go for your women’s ministry retreat?
EVERYTHING You Need to Know About Planning A Retreat

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Three years ago: Name Tag Tips for Your Retreat
Four years ago: Choosing Worship Music
Five years ago: Icebreaker: 4 C’s