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Bob Honeycutt was serving as a deacon and treasurer when his Ohio church split. He said it was difficult to lose relationships with people he considered family. And it was difficult to work through the pain of a ministry conflict.

"It was a really tough time," Honeycutt said. "I was just spiritually at the end of my rope."

Then he received a gift that changed his life. His wife gave him an all-expenses-paid trip to the Spiritual Renewal Retreat for Church Leaders for Christmas that year. Even though he knew nothing about the retreat, Honeycutt said he was hoping it was just what the Good Doctor ordered. He thanked his wife and he and another leader in his church packed their bags for the February 2003 retreat.

This story and all the great free content on Church Central is supported by: Spiritual Renewal Retreat for Church Leaders This is a unique, three-day experience designed just for church leaders from congregations outside Southeast.

"All we knew was we were loaded up and ready to go," Honeycutt said. "We knew it was a spiritual retreat, but we didn't know much about it."

Michael Chase of Ord, Neb., had read about similar retreats. He expected quiet and meditation. He was ready for a break from the conflict going on in his small-town congregation. So he signed up for the Spiritual Renewal Retreat in October of 2003. But he got something other than what he had anticipated. Chase said he was very pleased with the retreat but when asked if it met his expectations he responded with a resounding, "no."

"We'd gone through a couple years of squabbling," Chase said of some of the concerns he had for his own church, a relatively large congregation of 120 in a town of 2,400. Chase has ministered there for 14 years. Disagreements led to people leaving the church, Chase said, and that was also an emotional drain for him as minister. So he was looking for a way to recoup his zeal.

"I thought it'd be valuable for me to get away and recharge my batteries," he said of the Spiritual Renewal Retreat.

But rather than just plugging in and relaxing, Chase said the recharge was surprisingly intense. The Spiritual Renewal Retreat for Church Leaders is not about quiet walks and silent prayer. It isn't a solution for the problems of the church. Instead it is a radical program intended on permanent change within the spiritual life of participants.

The retreat is based on another, similar retreat the spiritual life ministry of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., offers its members Ã¢â‚¬â€ Faces of Christ. That program is similar to The Emmaus Walk, an ecumenical program of spiritual renewal sponsored by The Upper Room, a ministry unit of the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church.

The Faces of Christ retreat encompasses three days and is designed to give participants a personal encounter with Jesus through worship, personal quiet time, teaching, and Bible study. The structure of the retreat forces participants to deal with emotional and spiritual issues in order to grow in their faith.

But the retreat for church leaders is specifically geared to ministers, elders, deacons and pastors. The content remains basically the same, but the groups participants interact with are filled with people who share their same concerns in ministry.

"To me, church leaders who are always giving out have a real tendency to end up empty, pretending and stretching and worn out more," said Ross Brodfuehrer, spiritual life director for Southeast. "Then we're surprised when [church leaders] burn out or get out of ministry."

Ross Brodfuehrer, director of spiritual life for Southeast Christian Church

Brodfuehrer oversees the Faces of Christ and Spiritual Renewal Retreats. He began offering the retreat for church leaders in 2002 and the ministry has offered two each year since. More than 100 leaders have been on the retreat since it began.

"You can get disconnected from God," Brodfuehrer said of church leaders. "When do church leaders ever go someplace and receive? It's not very often and it's usually at a conference, which is not about reflection, but more about rah-rah."

The Spiritual Renewal Retreat for Church Leaders provides essential time away from ministry, according to Brodfuehrer. It is time during which leaders don't have to make decisions or organize programs, but instead devote themselves to knowing God again.

"If I have a leader in my congregation do I want them to be just running on empty or filled with the Spirit?" Brodfuehrer asked. "So many times, myself included, I'm just a manufacturer of programs instead of a spiritual leader. This helps people reground, find their first love again."

"We all need a shot," Honeycutt said. "Deacons and elders who are out there ministering to people, who ministers to them? They need a shot in the arm."

The retreat is appealing to church leaders for that very reason, according to Brodfuehrer. It is also appealing as a place for leaders to get away and to air their concerns among their peers.

"They're talking with people who have the same problems," Brodfuehrer said.

I know God put those people around me at that time. -- Bob Honeycutt, Ohio church leader

Chase said he found it valuable to parse out his problems with people who dealt with similar issues. "We all carry around the same kinds of things," Chase said.

Honeycutt agreed, saying he was grateful to find others at the retreat who had also experienced difficult times in ministry. "We got to open up," said Honeycutt. "I know God put those people around me at that time. I was devastated."

But he said the retreat was also personal. "They set the retreat up to look into yourself and see what issues you've got."

That reflection came through a schedule of activities that blended speaking, group interaction and quiet time, Chase said. The group activities stretched him, he said. "[The retreat] really forces you to do some participation, some role playing, being involved in things you normally take for granted. It gave me a real opportunity to shed some emotional baggage I didn't even know I was really aware of."

Chase said something else he was not aware of were any problems with the planning or facilities. "That makes a big difference, too," he said. Chase said he appreciated that those sorts of details were well attended to, since they could have become distracting for church leaders accustomed to making the decisions and fixing the problems.

"When you walk in it really hits you it's well-planned and well-done," he said. For church leaders intent on transcending their earthly view with a renewed spiritual perspective, the last thing they want to worry about is food or plumbing or Xeroxes.

The next Spiritual Renewal Retreat for Church Leaders will be held Oct. 4-7, at Country Lake Christian Retreat Center in Henryville, Ind., 30 minutes north of Louisville, Ky.