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.
What is the cost?
It is expensive for Shepherd’s Canyon Retreat to provide this week-long counseling experience, but we do not want finances to become another burden for those who are already carrying so much.
Participants are invited to contribute whatever they, their church, ministry, or denomination can reasonably afford. Some are able to give toward the full cost. Others are able to give only a portion. Some are not able to contribute at all. Regardless, our desire is to help ministry workers and their spouses receive the help, hope, and healing they need.
This ministry is made possible through the generosity of donors, churches, foundations, districts, grants, and others who believe in caring for those who serve in ministry. Their support allows us to say, “Come. Let us help.”
Many participants are so blessed by what God does during their retreat that they later look for ways to help make this same experience possible for others.
If you or your ministry are able to contribute toward the cost of your retreat now, or in the future, that gift is deeply appreciated. But please do not let financial concerns keep you from participating in a retreat.
Shepherd's Canyon Retreat Ministry
Renew, Revive, Refresh
Each retreat pursues three basic goals:
-
Allow each participant to safely unburden the hurts and pressures of life and ministry in a safe, non-judgmental, and loving environment.
-
Assist each person to understand herself/himself more completely.
-
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.
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.