Retreat planning software for churches
The retreat spreadsheet, retired. A retreat is an event with a lot more moving parts. Retreat Builder adds them to any event: who sleeps in which room, who is driving whom, which small group each person is in, and what the whole weekend costs, with the planning team, tasks and checklists in the same place. It works alongside Events, which handles registration and payment.
What does Retreat Builder do?
- Rooms and cabins: assign people to rooms at your venue, then tell everyone where they are in one step
- Rides: people offer seats or ask for one, and suggested cars group riders by area
- Small groups with facilitators for the weekend’s discussion times
- The money: a budget, expenses with receipts, and a price calculator for what each kind of room should cost
- A venue shortlist with each venue’s rooms, kept from year to year
- The planning team: committees, tasks, day-of and what-to-bring checklists, milestones with reminders, and an internal run sheet
- Copy last year’s retreat or import your planning spreadsheet, so you never start from a blank page
Retreat Builder at a glance
| What it is | Retreat Builder: Rooms, rides, small groups and the budget for retreats and camps. |
|---|---|
| Price | $99/year (save $201 on paying monthly) or $25/month, or included in Churchory One |
| Free trial | 45 days, no credit card |
| What’s included | Same price as any product. Retreat Builder works with Events, so a church adds both, or gets both in Churchory One. |
| Runs on | Core (free), in the Churchory web app and Churchory Mobile (iOS and Android) |
| Needs | Events |
| Contract | None. Cancel any month. |
What the AI prepares with Retreat Builder
Retreat Builder prepares the messages in your comms plan as drafts, dated from your milestones. Nothing is sent until someone on the team sends it.
Drafts only. Nothing sends until a person does. How AI drafts work in Churchory
Churchory Retreat Builder plans retreats and camps on top of an event: rooms and cabins, rides, small discussion groups with facilitators, and the money (budget, expenses and balances), plus a planning workspace for the team. It's $99 a year (or $25 a month) alongside Events, and included in Churchory One.
What problem does Retreat Builder solve?
A weekend away is a different animal from a Sunday potluck. People have to sleep somewhere and get there somehow, the committee's tasks live in a group text, rooming and carpools live in two spreadsheets, and somebody has to account for the money afterwards from photographs of receipts.
How does it work?
Start from an event
Every retreat is one of your events, so registration, RSVPs, payments and the agenda work exactly as they do in Events. Copy the planning shell (team, tasks, checklists, agenda, comms plan, milestones, venue and price plan) from a past retreat, re-dated to this one.
Plan with a team
Add committees with a lead, assign tasks, keep day-of and what-to-bring checklists, and set four milestone dates; the team is reminded as each one comes up.
Pick the venue and the price
Keep a venue shortlist with its rooms, and work out a registration price with the price calculator.
Assign rooms and rides
Set up cabins or rooms with a capacity and a room leader, and assign people. Drivers offer seats and riders ask for a ride; suggested cars group people by area, as a hint rather than a decision.
Sort discussion groups
Name facilitators and sort everyone else into small groups around them.
Handle the money
Track the budget and log expenses; with deposits on the event, balances due and overdue balances show up on the retreat overview. Then tell people where they are (their room, their car, their group) from the retreat workspace.
Common situations
Forty people need rooms by Friday
Assign people to cabins with capacities and room leaders; each person can see their own room, and the organizer sees all of them.
Half the church needs a ride
Riders ask for a ride and drivers offer seats; suggested cars group people from the same area, and you confirm them.
The treasurer asks where the money went
Expenses are logged against the retreat's budget instead of collected as receipt photos after the weekend.
Last year's retreat went well
Copy its plan (tasks, checklists, agenda, comms plan) into this year's retreat; nothing about who came or who paid is copied.
What should you expect during setup?
Retreat Builder needs Events, because a retreat is an event. Create the event, switch on the retreat plan, and copy from a past retreat if you have one. Most teams set up their first retreat plan in an afternoon and fill in rooms and rides as registrations arrive.
Who uses it?
Which products work well with Retreat Builder?
Retreat Builder runs on Core, which is free forever. Products you add share the same directory, so you never enter your people twice, or get all of them with Churchory One.
Free forever: your people, roles and apps.
Retreat Builder needs Events: registration, RSVPs, paid tickets and the event page stay there.
Add Groups so weekend small groups can start from the groups people are already in.
Add Care to look after anyone who needs a hand getting there.
Questions about Retreat Builder
Do we need Events to use Retreat Builder?
Yes. Every retreat is one of your events, so Retreat Builder works alongside Events.
What does Retreat Builder cost?
$99 a year (saving $201 over paying monthly) or $25 a month, and it's included in Churchory One.
Can people see their own room and ride?
Yes. Each person sees their own room, and from the retreat workspace you can tell everyone where they are: room, car and group.
Can we take deposits for a retreat?
Yes. Deposits and payments run through Events on your church's own Stripe account, and the retreat overview shows balances that are due or overdue.
Can we reuse last year's plan?
Yes. Copy the team, tasks, checklists, agenda, comms plan, milestones and venue plan from another retreat, re-dated to this one.
Can Churchory plan a church retreat or camp?
Yes. Retreat Builder, its own product that works with Events, plans retreats and camps: rooms and cabins with capacities and room leaders, rides where drivers offer seats and riders ask, small discussion groups around facilitators, and the budget and expenses. It's $99 a year or $25 a month, and included in Churchory One.
Can our retreat committee plan together in Churchory?
Yes. Retreat Builder gives the team committees with leads, tasks, day-of and what-to-bring checklists, an agenda with team-only notes, a comms plan of drafted messages, and four milestone dates with reminders, and you can copy all of it from last year's retreat.