Create spectacular stained glass pieces using fusing, slumping, and other non-traditional methods. Participants will be able to make several two or three dimensional works of art, including plates, bowls, picture frames, jewelry, garden lanterns, mobiles, and more. Class limited to 12. Additional class fee $40.
Come ready to play games, move to music, create simple crafts, and learn techniques for leading intergenerational events. God loves to watch the WHOLE church family (from the youngest to the oldest) play together. Experience the importance of fellowship in the church through community building and leave with a filled notebook of “tried and true” as well as “newly created”!
We are surrounded by it. It is speaking to us everyday. You are part of it. But should we embrace it completely? If you want to learn more about trends in Pop Culture and how you can be intentional and creative as you integrate its elements into your congregation and faith community, then come explore with us through iPod devotions, blues prayers, movie meditations, web witness, and digital discipleship.
Prepare to get dirty! This gardening class will give you the opportunity to explore various techniques as we do some landscape gardening around Montreat. We’ll learn about annuals, perennials, shrubs and grubs. As we explore gardening themes in the Scriptures, we will recognize how God tends the garden of our heart that we might bear fruit for the Kingdom. Join us as we tend the garden. Class limited to 20. Additional class fee $10.
This course will introduce you to a variety of games, dances, stories, and songs, as well as leadership tips on “how to lead” them in a variety of settings. You will get numerous resources, learn how to put together recreation events, and how to get your church interested (or more interested) in recreation. If you are new to recreation leadership, this course is for you!
Ceilidh is an informal gathering for music, song and story. In Eastern Canada, it is also known as a kitchen party. Do you play and instrument? Or sing? If you enjoy making music with others, then ARW’s Ceilidh might be the class for you. We’ll gather to learn and arrange some songs from the Celtic folk traditions (and maybe perform them later in the week!) Bring and instrument and some songs to share. No need to be able to ready music. This class will be informal, fun, and good for the soul. Class limited to 10.
Come spend a week with Howard and Dick to experience a variety of exciting, different woodworking projects like wooden pen and pencil making, kitchen and hunting knife making, and cute little wooden boxes. All equipment and supplies will be provided. Safe woodworking practices will be stressed. Class limited to 10.
Action games, Quiet Games, Large and Small group games with and without props are all categories we will cover in this course. There will be opportunity for you to share your “tried and true” games, so come with games to share and energy and enthusiasm to learn and play games of all kinds.
Participants will experience how to be hospitable to all in our community. This course will explore how scripture guides us to good practices like welcoming our neighbor. We’ll also see how some of the attitudes that are barriers to the full participation of God’s people come from the Bible. We will then learn to practically overcome those barriers by looking at our facilities, the scriptures, and our behavior with new lenses to better understand the challenges and be more welcoming with our hospitality. Ya’ll come!
Television, video games, and computers have all contributed to a tremendous decrease in our children’s ability to be creative! What can we do to counter-act this trend, capitalize on these technologies, and re-capture some of the wonder and creativity of the natural child? We will lighty explore the trend (without coming down hard on the technologies) and move quickly to some possible solutions. Come for a bit of study and exploring ideas, with lots of hands-on experiences in creative activities for children. Class limited to 16. Additional class fee $10.
This course will challenge participants to use daily scripture reflections as the basis for collage and visual journeling in an altered book. We will reflect on Scripture and then use everything but the kitchen sink to pull from as we try to visually interpret what we hear God saying. Possibilities for our visual journels include found objects, newspapers and magazines, special momentos and photographs, items from nature, fibers and fabric, doodling and quotations, and more. No art experience is necessary, but a desire to find a new and different way for listening and responding to God is. Class limited to 12. Additional class fee $20.
Discover new and engaging ways to transform your group through mission. Explore resources, models, and a whole new world of outreach connections including guidelines for planning mission and service experiences that change people’s lives. Class limited to 20.
The following courses will meet each afternoon.
Somehow or other, every culture PLAYS!...just like the old song: we will reach ‘hands across the water’ and will play games and activities from other countries and cultures. What a great way to connect with others: playing their games! The games we play may be high or low energy, for children or adults, as simple as another card game, or from as far away as Kenya or Pakistan. With Arms Wide Open and Haands Across the Water, we will embrace a little more of others as we play their games.
This lively, hands-on course will use scripture, movement, improvisation, mask, music, silence, and a box full of ideas to workshop what creative worship might be. Get ready to go places you’ve never gone! Participants will learn a variety of theater techniques that can be used in youth work and in worship planning.
A daily dose of nourishment for your creative soul! Satisfy the artist within you with a daily dose of creativity – crafting paper, paint and fabric. Walk away with at least one finished art project each day and many ideas to take home. Class limited to 12. Additional class fee $15.
Imagine the smell of freshly baked bread, warm from the oven and ready to share – the epitome of hospitality. Bread making is truly a labor of love! We will mix, knead, punch, shape, bake and eat breads form around the globe. Come share recipes, break bread for communion, learn traditional and modern bread-making techniques – as we discover how bread helps everyone feel welcome. Class limited to 10. Additional class fee $15.
Learn the same games , crafts, folk toys, dances, stories and music that the mountain folks have been enjoying for generations. You will leave with a bag full of ideas and samples to take home and use right away.
Or Do This
Select four of the courses listed below; you will be assigned a different course for each day.
Since All of God’s creatures are uniquely made, come join us for an afternoon of learning how to adapt activities to enable everyone to participate. The class will focus on inclusive recreation; you will leave this class feeling prepared to adjust and enhance your programs to meet the needs of all your participants, including those with disabilities.
Do you have trouble keeping the interest of youth during Bible studies…if they even show up? Do you struggle with how to make youth connect stories in the Bible to their own lives? Using all of the different learning styles, we will explore alternative ways to create a Bible study that gets folks excited about learning the stories of our faith.
Beginning woodcarving can be a challenge! Come join Howard to learn the necessary woodcarving skills to be able to safely start woodcarving. We will learn the basics of how to work with a knife and gouge to carve a spoon using Howard’s special “spooncarver”. All knives, wood and equipment will be provided. Safety with a knife will be stressed. Class limited to 10.
Put on your comfortable shoes and get ready to move! We’ll dance in circles, lines and squares. From beginners to more experienced dancers, we’ll dance a variety of old and new dances that will make you smile and have fun!
From developing the theme, purpose and programming plan to dealing with logistics such as travel, food and scheduling, we’ll use an interactive appraoch to planning retreats – an opportunity to move into a new environment to encounter God and community.
Spend 2 hours and 15 minutes with Dick Porter and friends experiencing the excitement of cooking in the wonderful Dutch oven. This three-legged cast iron pot is an amazing cooking devise. We will cook main dishes and of course, desserts. We will also eat what we cook. Yum! Yum!
“Flying things” such as paper boomerangs and paper rockets will be hands-on make it, fly it and take it projects. LYCRA bands are huge circles of Lycra/ Spandex material that are loads of fun. They are also quite active. We will also be playing with French hoops, FUNderbirds, and more.
This one-day class will provide participants with the basic skills needed to make beautiful earrings and beaded bracelets or necklaces. Skills taught will include basic jewelry design, stringing and attaching clasps/closures, crimping, basic tool use, and more. All materials and tools will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring any jewelry tools they may already have. Class limited to 12.
This course will include community-building activities useable with a variety of groups, including energizers, chants, and other movement pieces. Participants will learn a number of moves and steps as well as leadership techniques. In addition, there will be opportunity to play with some musical pieces to see what the group may be able to creatively develop. The class will discuss how to adapt pieces to be inclusive and how community building pieces may be included in the context of worship.