Spirit Led: Core Team Retreat

With everything else that demands our attention as youth ministers, with all the time that the Core already gives to the ministry, with our priests overbooked and over committed – why do a Core retreat? It is a valid question, but the answer is even more vital. The reason to include a Core retreat as part of your ministry is that it is not YOUR ministry. A retreat helps re-energize, refocus and remind us why we do youth ministry (as well as whom we do it for). If a Core retreat isn’t part of your must-do list, please take some time to read and pray about the following reasons to include this crucial ministry for your Core team.

This retreat is called Spirit Led and is based on Matthew 4:1-11. Matthew 4:1 states that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert immediately after His baptism. The retreat uses the three temptations Jesus encountered in the desert as the basis for the three main sessions.

The overall goal of the retreat is to have Core understand and recognize the temptations that come with discipleship and ministry. In each temptation, we can choose ourselves or we can choose to love Christ more than our own wants, needs or agendas. The temptations give us the opportunity to draw close to Christ in our weakest moments and draw from his strength, example and mercy.