SUCCESSFUL RETREAT RECRUITING
Recruiting is influencing, motivating, and persuading someone to do something that promises a benefit for the person in return. As a Parish Leader you are inviting parishioners to become better acquainted with our Lord, Jesus Christ; to communicate with God more readily; to love God more ardently, and so become more outgoing and generous in their service of all humankind. What greater achievement can there be than that?
ENTHUSIASM, THE KEY
Every coin has two sides. So does “recruiting.” On the one side is satisfaction and the other is persistent work. That fact can not be glossed over, but how rewarding is that work? The most challenging part of being a Parish Leader is your prior preparation. To recruit, you have to know. Knowledge of the retreat experience is the basic requirement for successful recruiting. Such knowledge generates ENTHUSIASM, the key to success in recruiting. Webster defines enthusiasm as eager interest, intense fervor, leading to zealous endeavor, and persistent effort.
RETREAT BENEFITS
Persuasive recruiting promises benefits. Happily for the Parish Leader the weekend retreat does offer unique and outstanding benefits. You enjoy days of rewarding change in a resort offering calm and quiet. You get away from our daily work, your daily responsibilities, your home problems as well as your business problems. You find yourself in a totally new environment offering an atmosphere of repose that immediately relaxes your tensions and stresses. In peace and quiet, you have the rare opportunity for important thinking about decisions confronting you at home or in your business. It is also an emotionally healthy custom to give some thought to where you are in your spirituality, Christianity and your life’s situation at regular intervals. In retreat you have the inducement for heartfelt prayer that brings the grace of God, which we all need to adjust to the realities of your life situation, and the strength to endure personal difficulties. You find yourself in the presence of your God, bringing into focus God’s plan for your life, and especially God’s particular mission for you. A special benefit greatly appreciated during the retreat is the opportunity to clear your conscious with a priest in Confession. Another benefit is the material presented in the conferences: various topics that deal with the Spiritual Life. Such reflection on the yearly topic dramatically changes the lives of each retreatant and this then is a benefit for the local parish as they return home filled with joy and zeal.
PERSONAL CALLS
Once the Parish Leader has fully acquainted themselves with the benefits of the retreat, their next task is preparing to make personal calls. There is no substitute for the PERSONAL CALL in persuading a parishioner. Letters may serve as door openers, but only personal contact will bring the commitment to the weekend retreat.
In preparing for the personal call the first order of business is to make up a list of promising prospects. Include names, addresses, telephone numbers for both home and business. Give some thought to the personal situation of each prospect and the most opportune time to make the all important personal call.
THE REWARDS OF RETREAT RECRUITING
The rewards of successful retreat recruiting are many and impressive. From a purely human point of view a rich reward is that of wider personal contacts and an enlarged circle of genuine friends. Friends who share a constructive common interest bring warmth and glow to our daily living. That is true doubly for spiritual interest.
PRICELESS SATISFACTION
Finally there is the priceless satisfaction that comes from knowing that you have served as an instrument in the hands of God on behalf of the salvation of souls, in the reshaping of lives for their best eternal interest, especially lives otherwise indifferent or misspent. In this you become conscious of the influence of the Holy Spirit. Under God’s direction you find yourself developing a more responsive love of our Lord and Savior who proved God’s love for us by his agonizing death on the cross. Love is defined as a special attachment that evokes generous service and sacrifice of self personal comfort. It is to be remembered that God will not be outdone in generosity, as God’s special graces and blessings will abundantly prove.
Parish Leaders are, in truth, modern day Apostles. A special reward is reserved for those who undertake the task of winning souls for Christ. What greater incentive can there be than that? Yes the work of recruiting for retreats is demanding, but also how rewarding.