Shepherd's Canyon Retreat Ministry
Renew, Revive, Refresh
Shepherd's Canyon helps full-time Christian ministry workers going through stress, burnout, compassion fatigue, conflict, life changes, sabbatical preparations, and more to reclaim the joy of life & ministry through week-long intensive counseling retreats.
Each week is intentionally limited to 8 participants, whether singles or couples, so that the counseling experience can be personalized to fit your unique needs.
Each day includes morning group sessions and an afternoon private session, along with time to rest, reflect, and experience renewal for your mind, body, and soul.
We also care for you through delicious meals and comfortable bedrooms, each with its own private bathroom.
If you are married, we strongly encourage your spouse to attend with you, since healing and restoration are often most meaningful when experienced together.
To help you receive the full benefit of the week, we ask all participants to fully set aside ministry responsibilities during their time here, including sermon writing, lesson preparation, and other work demands.
Each retreat pursues three basic goals:
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Allow each participant to safely unburden the hurts and pressures of life and ministry in a safe, non-judgmental, and loving environment.
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Assist each person to understand herself/himself more completely.
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To encourage the participants to develop new levels of self-acceptance as well as more effective relational skills. This often includes evaluation of expectations, reordering of priorities, improving communication skills and bringing a new perspective concerning their life and ministry.
What is the cost?
The actual cost of providing a retreat is more than twice this amount, but our goal is to receive $5,000 per participant or $6,000 per couple to help offset the cost. However, we do not want finances to become another burden for someone who is already carrying so much.
We do not send participants a bill. Instead, we work to cover the cost through a combination of congregational support, grants, generous donors, in addition to what the church worker is able to give (if anything).
We are deeply grateful for any amount that given to us by participants, churches, ministries, donors, etc. Our commitment is that financial concerns should never prevent a ministry leader or spouse from receiving the help they need.
We also intentionally keep the additional amount for a spouse very low. We have found that, when possible, the retreat experience is often even more effective when a husband and wife participate together.
For those who are not able to contribute toward the cost right now, that is okay. We simply invite you to remember Shepherd’s Canyon in the future if you know of other individuals, yourself, churches, foundations, or donors who may want to support this ministry.
Please do not let the cost keep you from contacting us. We would be glad to talk with you about your situation and the resources that may be available.
Pain and suffering are unfortunate, yet critical components common to all who seek services at Shepherd’s Canyon. Suffering, of course, accompanies life and is especially true for those who serve in the Church.
People come to Shepherd’s Canyon with complaints of overwhelming personal, marital, and congregational conflicts, ministry burnout, depression, marital discord, infidelity, and struggles with addictive behavior. As is common for us all, when we are in physical or emotional pain, we attempt to remove ourselves from it as quickly as possible.
At Shepherd’s Canyon, while we strive to help people alleviate their suffering, we also strongly encourage them to both describe their agony and, even more importantly, to learn from it.
A useful scriptural passage regarding this difficult issue is Romans 5:3-5: “…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” This scripture makes it clear: suffering, while not to be sought after, is, nevertheless, purposeful and has the enormous potential to deepen our relationship with God and with each other. This is at the heart of what occurs at Shepherd’s Canyon retreats.