Weekend Retreat
Leader Guide
Meeting notes & overview
The BNL Weekend Retreat includes a number of components, some of which require direct leadership. This guide addresses each of these, with a separate page or two devoted to each component.
For a complete description of this retreat and its rationale, see www.beginanewlife.info/wro on the Begin a New Life (BNL) website.
The retreat gives participants the opportunity to experience the BNL process in the comfort of a restful, shared weekend away. The goal of the sharing sessions is not perfection, but awareness—becoming more attentive to what has been happening in both their outward and inward lives.
As people share, some may speak easily, while others may be more reserved. Everyone is welcome. Creating a space of attentiveness, respect, and openness to all is central to this gathering.
Your role in this meeting is not to guide people to conclusions, but to help create a space where honest sharing can happen.
A calm, attentive presence—along with simple encouragement—is often more powerful than many words.
Saturday morning
Opening activity (approx. 15 minutes)
Welcome & Check-in
Begin at 9:00 AM.
Offer a brief welcome to the group.
Following the welcome, invite each person to say their name and share either a highlight from their day or week or a brief opening comment (one or the other, not both)—just a sentence or two—as a way of engaging with the group.
The rest of the group listens without comment or discussion during this time.
After each person shares, simply respond, “Thank you,” before moving on.
Anyone who prefers not to speak may simply “pass.”
If the group is larger than eight people, consider breaking into smaller groups of four to eight.
Opening Prayer/Devotional Time (approx. 15–30 minutes)
Invite a song (sung by the group) or music (played or performed).
Offer an opening prayer, or invite an attendee to do so.
Read a story from the Bible or a selection from another sacred text.
Following the reading ask the group:
“What part of the reading stood out to you?”
“What does that part teach you for your life?”
Allow time for people to respond.
Note: For groups larger than eight, break into smaller groups of four to answer the questions, then reconvene. Invite three people to share their insights with the whole group.
Lead the group in saying the Lord’s Prayer together.
Invite a closing song (sung by the group) or music (played or performed)
Main session: The BNL process (approx. 1 ¾ - 2 hr.)
Invite participants into a more personal and reflective time:
Ask everyone to find a private place—either within the facility or outdoors—where they can work without interruption.
Each person uses a full set of BNL worksheets to walk through the entire process, focusing on one specific issue in their life.
For those who are new:
Invite them to remain behind for a brief overview of the process.
Afterward, they can also move to a private space to begin.
Group sharing (approx. 35 minutes)
Transition by saying something like:
“Let’s take some time to share about your experience of the BNL process.”
“What was your experience of it?”Allow sharing to unfold naturally, giving space for each person to respond as they feel led.
Closure (approx. 10 minutes)
Closing comments
Invite each person to share a brief closing comment.
This is not a time for further sharing—just a simple word or brief reflection.
It’s a time to listen, without comment or discussion.
After each person shares, respond, “Thank you,” before moving on.
If the group is larger than eight, consider breaking into smaller groups of four to eight.
Closing prayer
Invite the group to say the Lord’s Prayer together.
Saturday afternoon
Check-in & group sharing (approx. 60 minutes)
At 5:00 PM, attendees gather for Hors d’Oeuvres and Social Time, which transitions into Check-in and Group Sharing.
Allow 15–20 minutes for informal social time.
After social time, bring the group together and transition into check-in.
Invite each person to briefly share a highlight of their day or week, or a simple opening comment.
Following check-in, transition to group sharing.
Invite the group to discern and choose a focus for sharing. This may be:
A theme that emerged during the morning session
A step in the BNL process
Another topic the group feels drawn to
Each person shares their personal experience or reflections related to the topic.
After everyone has shared, open the floor for whole-group discussion.
Sharing ends by 5:50 PM, followed by Closing Comments.
Closing comments
Invite each person to share a brief closing comment.
This is not a time for further sharing—just a simple word or brief reflection.
It’s a time to listen, without comment or discussion.
After each person shares, respond, “Thank you,” before moving on.
If the group is larger than eight, consider breaking into smaller groups of four to eight.
End time
The entire session concludes by 6:00 PM (groups may extend time if desired).
Saturday evening
Vesper service
Saturday concludes with a Vesper Service beginning at 9:00 PM, followed by Communion with God.
The vesper service follows a similar format to Saturday morning devotional time:
Invite a song (sung by the group) or music (played or performed).
Offer a spontaneous prayer, or invite an attendee to do so.
Read a story from the Bible or a selection from another sacred text.
Following the reading ask the group:
“What part of the reading stood out to you?”
“What does that part teach you for your life?”
Allow time for people to respond.
Note: For groups larger than eight, break into smaller groups of four to answer the questions, then reconvene. Invite three people to share their insights with the whole group.
Communion with God (approx. 15 minutes)
This is a quiet, reverent time of shared spiritual focus.
You will participate in the service alongside everyone else.
Opening readings
Read the following aloud, or invite one or two group members to do so.
“Holy Communion” is a unique, symbolic ritual of life change and spiritual transformation. It invites you to come before the Lord as the author of life and source of love, and to present yourself for entrance into a divinely strengthened state of heart, mind, and life. It’s a time for humbly submitting yourself to the Lord—putting your heart in his hands, committing your way to his purposes, and opening up your life as a temple in which he may dwell.
The bread and wine are elements from nature that symbolize genuine goodness and truth from the Lord. Eating the bread and drinking the wine are therefore symbolic gestures for receiving these spiritual gifts and realities from him, taking them in, and making them your own—all of which happens as you actively abstain from your sin, begin a new life, and live it. When all of these things come together in the communion, they invite a complete connection and togetherness with the Lord. This connection and union seal and strengthen the spiritual realities of love and faith within you as you go forward and continue living these steps of life change. You are not alone in this process. The Lord is with you, the Lord will be in you, and the Lord will continue working through you for the good of all.
Read the following aloud, or invite another participant to do so (an account of the first Communion):
Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?” And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a person will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. And wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.” So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. In the evening He came with the twelve. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.” (Mark 14:12-17, 22-24)
Invite participants to kneel or remain seated for the duration of the communion.
Communion is shared:
Hand out the bread and guide participants to pass it from person to person.
Follow with wine (or an alternative), again passing it from person to person.
Each person partakes as they feel comfortable.
Lead the group in saying the Lord’s Prayer together.
Offer the following blessing over the group:
“The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face shine upon us and be gracious to us. The Lord lift up His countenance upon us, and give us peace.”
Invite those who have been kneeling to take their seats.
Invite a closing song (sung by the group) or music (played or performed).
(A simple recipe for unleavened bread is included at the end of this page.)
Sunday morning
Prayer & devotional time
Prayer/Devotional Time begins at 9:00 AM and follows the same format as Saturday morning.
Invite a song (sung by the group) or music (played or performed).
Offer an opening prayer, or invite an attendee to do so.
Read a story from the Bible or a selection from another sacred text.
Following the reading ask the group:
“What part of the reading stood out to you?”
“What does that part teach you for your life?”
Allow time for people to respond.
Note: For groups larger than eight, break into smaller groups of four to answer the questions, then reconvene. Invite three people to share their insights with the whole group.
Invite a closing song (sung by the group) or music (played or performed)
Weekend closure
Closing comments
Invite each person to share a brief closing comment.
This is not a time for further sharing—just a simple word or brief reflection.
It’s a time to listen, without comment or discussion.
After each person shares, respond, “Thank you,” before moving on.
If the group is larger than eight, consider breaking into smaller groups of four to eight.
Closing prayer
Invite the group to say the Lord’s Prayer together.
Printable Version of Unleavened Bread Recipe (PDF)
Unleavened Bread Recipe
1 cup unbleached, sifted flour
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons water
Mix thoroughly to form non-sticky dough for rolling. (Note: If the dough is too dry and doesn’t hold together, add tiny amounts of water until it does. Too much water will make the final product dense and hard.)
Roll between wax paper (to 3/16-inch thickness) and cut in circles using a water or wine glass like a cookie cutter.
Bake at 350° F for 18 to 20 minutes until golden.