2026 Retreat Details
General Retreat Schedule
Monday, November 2
Arriving Early?
6:15AM - Optional Prayer Walk on the Beach with Edie Melson
10:00AM-2:00PM - Optional Shopping Trip to Tangeir Outlets via Shuttle with Lisa Saruga
Official Retreat Registration 5:00PM: Dunes Ballroom, 16th Floor
Important: This is where you will sign up for late-night options, Tuesday Morning Collective Conversation Tables, and individual prayer times.
6:00-9:00PM: Session 1 - Plated Dinner, Worship and Keynote by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith
9:00-11:00PM: Late Night - Colors by the Sea at Beachcombers
Tuesday, November 3
6:15AM: Prayer Walk on the Beach
8:00-9:00AM: Casual Breakfast-Arrive anytime during the hour!
9:00AM-Noon: Session 2 - Worship and Collective Conversations Tables (see below for topics & leaders)
Noon-5:00PM: Interlude Offerings (including individual prayer time)
5:30PM: Ballroom Photo Booth with open seating for dinner
6:00-9:00PM: Session 3 with Plated Dinner - Worship and Industry Panel Discussion
9:00-11:00PM: Late Night - Selah Spa in Atlantic Room II
Wednesday, November 4
6:15AM: Prayer Walk on the Beach
9:30AM: Group Photo - meet at Beachcombers
9:45-10:30AM: Session 4 - Worship, Devotional & Communion
10:45AM-Noon: Reflect and Resolve with Plated Brunch
12:00-12:30PM: Closing and Dismissal
Collective Conversations
Tuesday Table Topics
Pick 2 Conversation Topics
Carol Kent - When the Path Isn’t Clear: Discernment for the Uncertain Next Step
Topic: When the path ahead is unclear, discernment requires more than simply choosing the safest or most comfortable option. This table discussion will explore how God’s leading has shaped uncertain decisions in writing, speaking, leadership, and everyday life; how to distinguish His peace from the relief of avoiding difficulty; and how fear, ambition, expectations, or personal desires can sometimes sound like wisdom. Like Esther, we will consider the courageous “for such a time as this” steps God may be placing before us and how to move forward faithfully, even when the outcome is not guaranteed.
Takeaway: Women will leave with a clearer understanding of how to recognize God’s leading in uncertain decisions, identify the difference between faithful discernment and fear-based avoidance, and consider one courageous step they may be invited to take in this season.
Ruthie Gray - Chasing Numbers or Cherishing People: Shepherding the Audience You Were Given
Topic: For those of us who write, speak, lead, or share a message online, it’s easy to get caught up in building an audience and watching the numbers grow. But there’s a difference between chasing numbers and allowing God to expand our influence for His purposes and ultimately point women to Jesus. Every woman who chooses to follow, listen, or engage with us represents a sacred trust. This conversation invites us to look honestly at our hearts: Am I showing up authentically? Am I caring for the people already here? And do I see an audience to grow, or women God has given me the privilege of loving and serving?
Takeaway: A fresh perspective on influence that helps us hold our platforms with open hands, cherish the people God has entrusted to us, and steward that trust faithfully.
Jenn Hand - When Ministry Doesn’t Look Like You Hoped
Topic: Ministry can be deeply meaningful—and deeply disappointing. People leave. Plans fall apart. Prayers seem unanswered. The thing God called you to doesn’t always grow, change, or turn out the way you imagined. Around this table, we’ll have an honest conversation about navigating ministry disappointment without allowing it to turn into discouragement, cynicism, or quitting. We’ll talk about grieving what didn’t happen, recognizing where God is still at work, and finding hope to keep showing up faithfully.
Takeaway: Disappointment doesn’t mean God isn’t working. We can grieve what we hoped would happen while still trusting God with what He is doing.
Maggie Rowe - Walking with Adult Children Through Spiritual Doubt
Topic: Many of us in ministry carry a private burden: watching an adult child wrestle with faith, church, or spiritual questions while we ourselves are serving in visible leadership roles. This round-table conversation will offer a confidential space to discuss the unique challenges, tensions, griefs, and hopes that arise when ministry and motherhood intersect in unexpected ways. Together we'll explore how to love wisely and well, pray faithfully, and remain anchored in hope without resorting to easy answers.
Takeaway: Participants will leave encouraged that they can hold both deep love and deep trust in God as they walk alongside an adult child's spiritual journey.
Katie Reid - Investing in the Next Generation of Communicators
Topic: What does it look like to make room for the younger generation and champion them with joy instead of judgment and equip them with intention instead of insecurity? Through the example of Jonathan and David's friendship, and David and Solomon's unique roles in building the Temple, we will take an honest look at our roles as seasoned women and how to navigate the conflicting feelings we may be having as we start to pass the baton to those coming after us.
Takeaway: To share life-giving ideas about how to invest in the next generation, while navigating our complex feelings of roles shifting and different styles and preferences emerging in ministry and in communication.
Tammy Gerhard - Returning to Jesus: Finding Our Safest Place
Topic: In a world that constantly pulls for our attention, many of us instinctively look for safety in productivity, control, certainty, or the approval of others. Together we'll pause to reflect on what it means to continually return to Jesus as our truest place of refuge and consider simple, practical ways to remain connected to Him through every season of life.
Takeaway: Women leave encouraged to recognize Jesus as their safest place and equipped with practical ways to return to Him throughout their everyday lives.
Natalie Lavelock - The Kingdom Identity Shift: Navigating New Assignments Without Losing Yourself
Topic: Every new assignment has a way of exposing old mindsets, hidden insecurities, and leadership patterns we thought we'd already outgrown. As our influence expands, the greatest challenge isn't learning what to do next, it's recognizing the places where our thinking has yet to fully align with who God says we are. Together, we'll wrestle with the leadership identities we've unknowingly adopted, discern what God may be inviting us to release, and discover how new assignments often reveal, not redefine, our Kingdom identity.
Takeaway: Women will leave with a clearer understanding of how new assignments can expose outdated mindsets and leadership identities, identify what God may be inviting them to release, and recognize practical ways to lead from their God-given identity rather than from insecurity, expectation, or performance. Every new assignment invites a deeper revelation of who you've been in Christ all along.
Cherie Nettles - Start Being and Stop Begging
Topic: We can feel overwhelmed—especially when we keep asking God for the same thing while peace feels out of reach. But the Kingdom of Heaven is not made up of beggars, but believers. Join this honest conversation about moving from begging for answers to trusting Jesus’ presence and simply being with Him. Together, we’ll explore how soul care begins by slowing down, releasing the pressure to have everything figured out, and allowing Jesus to meet us when we feel weary, anxious, or spiritually stuck.
Takeaway: You will leave with a renewed understanding of prayer and soul care that helps you release striving, rest in Jesus’ presence, and trust that you are secure in Him even when circumstances have not changed.
Tina Schuler - Truth that Gives You Confidence in Times of Doubt
Topic: You know what God has called you to do, but that doesn’t stop the doubts from creeping in: Who am I to do this? Am I really qualified? Does what I’m doing even matter? We can know God’s Word and still struggle with the lies that make us question ourselves and our calling. Come join an honest conversation about recognizing those lies and replacing them, not with feel-good answers we don’t really believe, but with truth we can actually stand on.
Takeaway: Learn to recognize the difference between a lie, an overcorrection, and genuine truth so you can keep moving forward with confidence when doubt comes.
Selah Interlude Options
Tuesday 1:00-5:00PM
Anytime throughout the retreat or to take home:
Ocean Refrain, Self-guided Beach Devo by Lisa Saruga
Art Station by Sue Schlesman
Spiritual Formation Handout by Tammy Gerhard
Tuesday, 1:00-3:00PM: Personal Prayer by Edie Melson & Team in Atlantic Room II (sign-up required)
Tuesday, 3:15-4:15PM: Reflective Breakout “Take HEART: Encouragement to Endure in Ministry” by Joanna Teigen and Ginny Davidson (sign-up required)
Late Night Options
Monday at 9:00PM at Beachcombers, Colors by the Sea
Tuesday at 9:00PM in Atlantic Room II, Selah Spa (sign-up required)