Our goal is to give an opportunity to fellowship and build relationships, a few times a year. Local meetups will happen in various locations, and we'll announce them if we know about them.
May 24th-26th, 2013 East Coast Retreat, Scranton, Pennsylvania area
Our East Coast retreat this year is moved earlier, to Memorial Day weekend, and further north than we have ever gone, and we are looking forward to the new folks we well meet as a result. But we don't want any of you 'southerners' to stay away! They've promised not to setup any road blocks for us on the Mason-Dixon line, so change your oil, and 'head up the road a-piece' for this time of family fellowship and worship and sharing - our format will be relaxed, and we believe you will be blessed by the new friendships you, and your children, form. We will be staying and meeting in a hotel (breakfast included), and it's possible that our blocked rooms will fill up, so let us know today that you are interested and want all the info - drop an email toretreats@biblicalfamilies.org. We've started a thread for you to chat with others who may be attending here.
June 27th-30th, 2013 West Coast Retreat, north of Boise, Idaho
Just a month after our East Coast retreat will come our big blowout retreat out West. This will be a very special family time in a beautiful part of the country. You will have both campground and hotel options near our meeting site. We will have great Bible teaching, led by John Cook, who along with his family will be our hosts at this retreat. We will also have plenty of outdoor activities, and for those who can stay longer and are up for a physical challenge, we will have a very special activity in the 3 days following the retreat - river rafting! If you've ever wanted to attend a West Coast Retreat - this is the one you want to make the effort for. Let us know if you want the details now - drop us an email at retreats@biblicalfamilies.org. You can discuss plans with others who are interested, in the forums here.
October, Ladies Retreat (Atlanta?) The ladies insist that this will be an annual event. Write femina@biblicalfamilies.org to stay informed.
Fall/Winter, SouthEast Asia This is in the prayer and consideration stage, but we do feel it is soon time for our first International retreat. If you might be interested in this, please drop us a note. Under consideration are eastern Australia and the Philippines.
You can request details for these events as they are available, by dropping an email to retreats@biblicalfamilies.org.
Further regional retreats may happen any time, watch the newsletter for details.
The Internet is a great tool for finding like-minded, plural friendly, Christian believers, and sharing thoughts and information. But when it comes to building real relationships, and receiving encouragement, and learning what those people are like, it is severely limited. There is no substitute for looking into someone's eyes while you talk to them, and greeting each other with a hug. We believe that face-to-face get-togethers (retreats) are vital to building the bonds that will enable the Christian plural marriage movement to grow, and grow strong. Fear has caused too many of us to be 'loners' it's time to set aside fear, and reach out!
These retreats are a great way to meet like-minded Christians, and receive support for you or your family. Don't miss the chance to attend at least one retreat this year! Our retreats are very interactive; there won't be classroom-style 'teaching', just sharing from those who have lived in, or spent time studying the Word about, plural families, and the Biblical foundations for such families. Everyone who comes will have something to offer, and certainly something to gain.
There is NO cost for attending a retreat; an offering will be taken to help cover any meeting-room or other expenses. If it's a financial stretch to travel to a retreat, you are not expected to participate any further then your travel expenses. We want you to come and be blessed!
YOU are why we have these retreats - so let us know what works for you. We can't accommodate everybody of course, but if we hear the same thing from multiple people, that's important. We wish we could come to your house, but that won't happen yet. So if meeting other "normal" plural-minded families and Christians is important to you, you'll have to make an effort too. Just ask any of the over 100 persons who attended retreats in 2011 if it was worth it. I think the retreats are even more important for the ladies, than the men - guys, do it for them.
Our year-end reterat happened Dec 28th-30th in a campground (with hotel rooms) setting in rural North Florida. It was colder then last New Years, but we still had a great time in a beautiful setting.
Our second annual Ladies Retreat, was helpOctober 12-14th 2012, in Louisville, KY. The ladies had a great time encouraging each other. Write femina@biblicalfamilies.org to stay informed on future ladies events.
Our West Coast retreat in Las Vegas, November 9-11th, was chilly outside, but warm in our meeting room. We had a wonderful time of praying for each other, and meeting some new folks.
August 10-12th, Tennessee Wow, what an incredible time this was - 5 speakers, 58 adults, and 30+ children, and a wedding! You really don't know what you are missing until you attend a summer retreat. Check out what others are saying.
Jan 1st-3rd, North Florida 34 adults had a great time in fantastic weather - we even rode go-karts! Read about it here.
North Carolina, July 1st-4th We had an amazing extended time in the mountains, listening to our speakers and fellowshiping and growing together, at our first National Biblical Families Teaching Conference and Fellowship Retreat. We have posted some powerpoints here, and some video of Dr Luck speaking here.
Sacramento, CA, March 11-13th We enjoyed a small West-coast retreat (16 adults) with great teaching: someday the West coast may rival the East coast Biblical Families contingent – but not this year! You may listen to 3 messages from this retreat here (scroll down to “Retreat Session Audio”)
Southern GA, Dec 31st, 2010 - Jan 2nd, 2011: We had a wonderful time of fellowship over New Years, with some great teaching. 33 adults were present (plus children of course!), and we were blessed to hear from theologian William Luck, pretty much all day Saturday. And we are very pleased to be able to share videos of much of those sessions with you here: http://www.vimeo.com/user5658589 Start with session #1, and just see if you can stop there! PowerPoint slides from these sessions, and some other resources from Mr Luck are available on our Resources page. Let us know what you think, we hope it won’t be the last time we get to hear from him. If you have questions or comments for Mr Luck, we’re happy to forward them on, just send them to staff@biblicalfamilies.org. Here's a picture of most of the adults present.
Phoenix, AZ, Nov 5th-7th, 2010: 20 adults made this our largest West Coast retreat so far - the West coast may be a few years behind the East coast in growth, but with all the Arizona adults in attendance, we're confident this can be changed in the future. It was great to meet so many new folks that we'd been talking to.
North Carolina mountains: July 2nd-4th, 2010: We had an awesome time, in a great location, with great weather, and many of us got to stay an extra day to fellowship. Doing meals together was a great treat, and we had 55 people from all over the East Coast.
March 26th-28th, 2010: Mid-west Primary retreat, Springfield, MO We had many Mid-west members attend, and had a good time of fellowship.
GA/SC border: Jan 1-3rd, 2010: 37 adults and 38 children gathered over the holiday weekend to set yet another record for our retreats. It was cold outside, but the fellowship could not have been warmer. It was a great time of fellowshipping, including sharing meals together, in a beautiful location. We prayed for many individuals and families, and shared a common experience many have had of being given the 'left foot of fellowship' by local church bodies, many just for their belief in plural marriage. See just a few pictures here.
NC mountains: March 27th-29th, 2009
We had a great time in the NC mountains! Author Tom Shipley of
Man and Woman in Biblical Law joined us, and we challenged each other, and friendships were formed that will continue on. It rained half the time, but we met and ate together in the same room (a great thing for continuing the fellowship), and our spirits were not dampened. Enjoy a few pictures from the retreat
here.
Orlando, FL: May 22nd-25th, 2009 (Memorial Day)
28 adults and almost as many children participated in the largest yet Biblical Families retreat. We had awesome time of fellowship, learning, sharing, building each other up, praying, and playing. The retreat officially ended Sunday afternoon, but Monday came and very few people had gone home!, and we kept on eating together and sharing until late Monday. At least 8 different states were represented. See a few retreat pictures
here.
West Coast Retreat, Las Vegas, NV, October 9-11th, 2009
16 adults survived crisis, and sickness, and "The Strip" to grow together and share, and encourage each other.
2008 saw Biblical Families get off the ground with 4 retreats: 2 in Orlando, one each in Oregon and Dallas. Over 100 persons attended a retreat (including children) in 2008, and we expect that that number will grow significantly in 2009.
East Coast, Orlando, FL area retreat, May 23rd-25th
The first "official" Biblical Families retreat is in the history books! We had 44 in attendance, representing 9 different households, and 6 states. Everyone was blessed and made new friends. Pastor Randy brought some timely and on-target messages on family unity and vision. Kids had a blast, and some people threatened to never go home! See some
Orlando retreat pictures here.Read about or post
retreat experiences here.
West Coast, Salem, OR area retreat, June 20th-22nd
This retreat was smaller, about 19 in attendence, total, but it was an important time of meeting new friends and forming relationships.
Central US, Dallas, TX area retreat, October 10th-12th
A great time of fellowship and meeting new friends, and encouraging each other. Pastor Randy shared on "Polygyny is not for babies" and "What is the Biblical Way". Read some
post-retreat comments here.
Here are some pictures from the October 2007 Charlotte "foundational" retreat: 2007 Retreat Pictures
Sign up for the Biblical Families newsletter here, or for the discussion forums, to be sure you get all future retreat updates.
Please send confirmation of attendance, and any questions or suggestions to: nathan@BiblicalFamilies.org.
