retreat and vows
Our suggestion is that after the initial six sessions, mini-orders have a retreat day together and then make vows before an appropriate church leader. then the retreat can be repeated every year, and the vows renewed..
A retreat day
The idea of a day (or half day) of retreat is to give the mini-order a chance to reflect on the year that has just passed and seek God for His way forward for the coming year. The rule of life devised should have about three or four simple principles, and a group commitment for each of these principles. These group commitments may stay consistent year on year, unless everyone in the group agrees that there is a need for minor changes. However each year individual group members have an opportunity at the retreat day to prayerfully consider their own individual response and personal goal for each principle included in the rule of life. In Southwest Chelmsford, 'Onwards’ is a mini-order that has been in operation since 2012. They hold an annual retreat day to help guide each group member’s reflections. The group commitments remain the same; the retreat day allows group members to reflect on their individual targets or commitments. Four examples are given below to illustrate this idea of individual targets or commitments:
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