I thought the perfect way to end our 31 Days of Retreat Planning would be to give you a Retreat Planning Timeline.

We’ve worked through a pile of details and it can be helpful to organize the pieces all in one place.

I hope this series has been helpful to you and your team. If there’s something I haven’t addressed or need to make clearer, please comment or email me (Cyndee AT womensministrytoolbox DOT com). I don’t want to leave you with questions! Thanks!

Okay, so the best way I can think to do this is to work backwards.

You’ve got to start with the date you have to confirm your lodging numbers.

You’ll need to adjust the dates according to the contracts you have signed and direction from your Pastoral staff.

Retreat Planning Timeline

One week prior to retreat date

• Hold a “work meeting” to put together programs, name tags, goodie bags, pray, and anything else that needs to be done
• Send reminder letter or note including driving directions to your attendees

Two weeks prior to retreat date

• Train discussion group leaders
• Touch base with your speaker

Three weeks prior to retreat date

• Submit final numbers to hotel/retreat center
• Send out letter to retreat participants
• Set discussion group members

Four weeks prior to retreat date

• Registration deadline
• Collect any monies that have not been turned in
• Finalize menus
• Recruit discussion group leaders
• Distribute retreat prayer calendars
• Hold retreat planning team meeting
• Touch base with your speaker and share your registration numbers with her

2 months prior to the retreat

• Set up registration tables for 3 consecutive weeks at church
• Hold retreat planning team meeting
• Continue publicity

3 months prior to the retreat

• Online and paper registration begins
• Collect initial deposits
• Hold retreat planning team meeting
• Continue publicity
• Check in with your speaker

4 months prior to the retreat

• Launch initial publicity – announce location, date, cost, and when registration will begin
• Set the schedule for the retreat
• Hold retreat planning team meeting

5 months prior to the retreat

• Hold first retreat planning team meeting
• Pass along prayer requests from your speaker

6 months prior to the retreat

• Announce and advertise the date for your first retreat planning team meeting

8 months to 1 year prior to retreat

Keep in mind these decisions will likely take 1-2 months to determine, if not more. There will be a lot of research involved. Don’t go it alone! Enlist your women’s ministry team to help with the research and decision making. 

• Select and reserve retreat location and retreat date
• Prayerfully select retreat theme
• Prayerfully select speaker and/or format for the retreat

All that being said – God is bigger than any timeline I can put together. I have shared previously that we were not supposed to have a retreat this year. But God impressed upon the hearts of our women’s ministry co-leaders that we were going to go on retreat in spite of their plans. The entire planning process was condensed to 4 months from start to finish.

If God says “Go!” then go!

Sweet sisters: May God bless and direct your retreat plans. May He send all the help you need to carry out each part and piece. May He forever change the lives of your women that attend. Above all, may He be glorified.