More than 360 singles from New England, Canada, and even Colorado and Virginia journeyed to Stowe, Vermont where, despite it being the last week of April, they were met with surprising snow flurries and freezing temperatures that were powerless to lessen the energy and spirit dominating the weekend. The fellowship was warm and vibrant, the classes were hot, and the sermons were on fire!
Thursday kicked off with the Leadership Workshop, geared not only towards current family group leaders but also to anyone who aspired to lead or desired training in leadership. Douglas Arthur and Larry Reed preached on being inspired to lead and what it takes to be a witness for God. Friday morning consisted of the choice between two classes aimed towards illustrating practical examples of leadership: "Leading Effective Small Groups" and "Raising Up New Leaders."
Following the class session, the group came back together to participate in an immensely productive facilitated group discussion, "Rise Up and Fish for Men"! This was a brainstorming session where brothers and sisters put their heads together and came up with ideas on how to better evangelize to non-Christian men and how to leverage the talents, gifts, skills, hobbies of the brothers in their ministries to evangelize the men around them. Amazingly, although this was the first time that a Leadership Workshop had been offered at our singles retreat, nearly 100 disciples were in attendance!
We welcomed more disciples on Friday night when Adam Smith, evangelist from the Dallas/Fort Worth Church of Christ, preached an incredible sermon on getting up and going to serve God wherever you are. The worship team had the whole place rocking, and the retreat had its very own theme song, “Rise Up!” written and performed by Angela Perry, Elle Currier, Gracie Aho, Oby Ukadike, and Yaa Acheampong. All of the Saturday classes were fantastic (listen here); many of the speakers were singles, not ministry staff, who spoke on a variety of topics: evangelism ("Rise Up and Claim the City"), godly relationships and dating ("Rise Up and Build Up"), deepening personal relationships with God ("Rise Up and Connect"), maximizing your impact using your singlehood ("Rise Up and Take the Lead"), and overcoming challenges to be used by God ("Rise Up and Dream Again").
After an afternoon of enjoying the town of Stowe, there was a summer-themed dance that had everyone groovin’ late into the night. The retreat ended with a powerful Sunday morning sermon from Douglas Arthur, challenging everyone to shine their lights in bold ways, and to use their singlehood to its fullest to serve God, the church, and the needs of others. To the glory of God, the NE Singles Retreat was an undeniable success!