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Help Start a Retreat for incoming Freshmen on your campus!
Here are the Basics
A 3 day, 2 night retreat a few weeks before classes start to help incoming freshmen start college rooted in Christ, strengthened through Christ-centered community and ready to live for Christ on campus. Main sessions led by local ministers, worship led by current students from different churches and ministries, small groups led by current students, and lots of time to have fun and build community. Click here to watch a video to get a better idea of what a retreat is like.
What’s the Goal
Starting college can be intimidating and hard! There's a lot of new and a lot of unknown…
These retreats exist to help freshmen and transfer students start college strong and on a solid foundation. They create space to help incoming students find their people, find their place, and find their purpose - and all of this before classes even start!
Each retreat is designed to connect incoming students to each other, and to upperclassmen who have been in their shoes and who want to help them walk vibrantly with Christ in college. Through main sessions and small groups we seek to equip incoming students with knowledge to help them navigate college well, but more than that, a deeper understanding and love of the Lord that will be their true foundation.
Our hope is that incoming students leave with confidence in where the Lord has placed them, connected to Christ-centered community, and equipped to make an impact during their college career and beyond.
Interested in starting a retreat at your campus?
Email Anne at anne@oakscolab.com to learn more!
So what’s the process for starting
a retreat at my school?
Initial Interest
Our expansion model is dependent on interest at new schools. We wait for someone (student, minister, etc.) to reach out to us and then we work with them to proceed with the rest of the process. Email us to get started! anne@oakscolab.com
Minister's Meeting
We will reach out to local ministers, either over the phone or making an in person trip, to share the vision and details with them and see what they think about such a retreat coming to their campus.
Majority Minister Approval
If the majority of local college pastors and campus ministers believe such a retreat would bless their ministry and help them reach more of their campus then we will proceed with starting a retreat.
Begin Forming a Student Leadership Team
The Oaks Collaborative provides the framework and logistical support to start a retreat but the retreat is shaped and powered by student leaders from a variety of local church and ministries.
We have a variety of student leadership opportunities - click here to read leadership role descriptions.
Email Anne at anne@oakscolab.com to get the leadership application for your school.
Start Shaping the Retreat for Your Campus
Each of our retreats are unique and shaped by that campus’ culture. We get input from local ministers and shepherd student leaders to decide the details of their retreat. It starts with the name of the retreat, each name has a campus connection and biblical vision to it. It also means that the venue location and dates of the retreat need to be whatever is best for your school’s culture and calendar.
Train Staff for the Retreat
We want a student’s involvement in their retreat to grow them as leaders and ambassadors for Christ. So our staff training focuses on helping students better know how to give gospel centered responses to all situations (gospel fluency), grow in their prayer life, and share the gospel clearly through their testimony.
Recruit & Interview Student Staff
Beyond the student leadership team the retreat needs other current students to staff the retreat. That means counselors who will lead a small group of freshmen, Crew who will serve the freshmen through prayer, setup and activities, and praise team members who will lead us in worship in the main sessions. The time commitment for these roles during the school year is very low as we want to prioritize students vibrantly serving in their churches and ministries.
Open Registration & Promote the Retreat
to Freshmen
Incoming students need someone they know to encourage them to sign up for a retreat like this - so we will begin promoting it and talking it up to everyone!
Host the Retreat!
Incoming freshmen will be placed in family groups where they will connect with other students, they’ll attend main sessions to hear from a variety of local ministers, they’ll meet ministry partners at the ministry fair and have a starting place to connect and form lifelong friendships!
Counselors Follow Up with Their Freshmen Throughout the Fall Semester
These retreats were never meant to be a one time event but rather a catalyst for ongoing, Christ-centered relationships. So every student staff person is expected to keep up with their freshmen and help them find their place at your school.
(Prayerfully!) Freshmen Vibrantly Connect to Churches & Campus Ministries
Our ultimate goal is for all of our ministry partners to be blessed by having more incoming freshmen plug into their ministries quickly with a missional mindset of contributing and not just consuming.
Evaluate, Improve & Plan for Next Year's Retreat
We don’t expect a retreat to have a huge start the first year. So each year we will get input from ministry leaders and feedback from students to refine the retreat to make it better for future years so that it grows and increasingly blesses your campus.
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How much does it cost?All retreat attendees (freshmen and retreat leaders and staff) pay the same amount to attend the retreat. Their registration fee covers only the base costs of venue, food and a t-shirt. All other retreat costs (insurance, website, etc.) are covered by fundraising through The Oaks Collaborative. No churches or ministries will be expected to contribute financially.
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What are the expectations for church and ministry involvement in a retreat?Having been in college ministry for many years ourselves, we know the work load and time constraints on pastors and ministry staff. As a result, we are desire at all times to - be a blessing, not ask for blessing. This means that we will not ask ministers for anything beyond input to help us make the retreat a fit for your campus, and potentially promoting the opportunity to serve at the retreat (counselor, crew, or praise team) to students in your ministry. And our hope is that your students serving at the retreat will be a blessing back to your ministry as they grow and bring their freshmen to your ministry with them after the retreat.
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When and where do these retreats happen?Retreat locations vary from school to school. Some retreats happen at camps or conference centers within an 1.5 hour radius of campus. Some retreats happen in town with students staying in a hotel and using churches or other venues for meetings. And some retreats happen on campus using dorms for housing and university spaces or campus ministry buildings for meetings. We will work with ministers and students to decide what would be the best fit for your campus culture. When the retreat happens is also decided based on your university’s calendars and in conjunction with ministry calendars. We work with students and ministers to pick a date that will be most likely to work for most students. This may involve hosting the retreat well before sorority rush or other university related events.
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What is the time commitment for students involved?Our goal is to get students vibrantly involved in churches and campus ministries as quickly as possible. With that in mind, we don’t want to do anything that would make students so busy that they decrease their involvement in their churches or campus ministries. As a result, we have leadership meetings once a month starting in October or November, and the rest of the retreat staff will be selective in February/March and have a maximum of 3 training meetings in the spring.
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What ministries are invited to be involved?Churches and ministries are primarily involved at the retreat by attending the ministry fair on the second day of the retreat. To attend the ministry fair or a speaker to be able to lead a main session they must sign of on our ministry partner agreement each year. You can view our standard agreement here We want the retreat to be a great representation of the Body of Christ in each university city. This means that we want a variety of churches and ministries to be involved.
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How do freshmen find out about it?Word of mouth is the most effective form of promotion. So we get all the retreat staff spreading word about the retreat to incoming freshmen they know, as well as to people like youth ministers, guidance counselors, and others. Beyond that we will help each retreat with social media, promotional graphics, denominational network communication, and collaborative promotion.
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What’s the role of The Oaks Collaborative with each local retreat?We operate as the support system to make these retreats possible without them being a burden on students or local ministries. We are a 501c3 to provide fundraising avenues and financial support for all retreats. We provide a tried and true skeleton structure for each retreat that is clearly shared with and agreed upon by local ministers. Then we work with students to make the retreat what it needs to be without being an overwhelming task for them. This means that we do the heavy lifting on the systems and logistics of the retreat so that students can focus son the fun details and simply spreading word about it. We like to say that it’s like a train and train tracks. We lay the tracks as straight and smooth as possible so that students can come and run as fast and as powerfully as possible while maintaining the right direction of always being gospel centered, local church strengthening, and mission-minded.
Hear from Ministers & Students
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