The Tale of Four Stones — The Boston Leadership Retreat

Instructive, challenging, encouraging, inspiring! All words that can describe our latest Boston Church of Christ Leadership Retreat, ‘From One Degree of Glory to Another’. It started with the first stone, Quartz, being given to all the participants (Each message was inspired by the qualities of each stone given out).

Leadership, clear and strong was the cry (the first stone, quartz, is just that). Doug started out the retreat with a call for us to be clear about what we are doing and to how we have to personally be strong in the Lord to lead. We then had an incredible time of fun and games as Micheal Lamb lead us in one of the most hilarious songs that we have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. People were rolling as each successive verse led to new positions and quirks for us to follow. We then had a game called, “The gift of Knowledge” and we broke up older and younger, men and women to answer questions and perform antics that delighted the crowd. Each team had names, but in the end the Ebergezzers, the older men’s group, won the day to many cheers of this older group!

(Click here to download and listen to the messages)

(Click here to go to a slide show of the event)

The next day started with a community breakfast that we all got to enjoy and fellowship with one another. One of the highlights of these retreats is the fellowship and this one was no exception. We then split up into men’s and women’s classes and Doug and Joyce (who gets the perseverance award for coming for her message in spite of being very ill!) who spoke to the title, “The (Wo)man who looks Intently” with the stone Hematite being given out. Hematite is shiny, almost like a mirror and purpose of this message was to get us to look into the “mirror” and have a sober judgment of ourselves as we reflect on our lives.

Another highlight of these retreats is the sharing of what is going on around the church in the various family groups. It is incredibly moving, especially when you hear stories of yet another brother donating part of his liver so another brother (Franklin Silvera, the twin brother of Frank who received a donated liver last year from another brother) could live, and brothers and sisters laying down their lives for a sister dying of cancer, Bible Talks on the common, at Harvard and the stories go on and on.

We ate again! Lunch this time and then gave Chip Mitchell the daunting task of preaching after lunch the message, “I’m coming up Lord”, with the stone Jasper being given out. Chip spoke to the great protection of the wall of Jasper in Heaven and how the church today is the protection of the world. He challenged us to be sharing our faith and helping those who are struggling so that they too can be in heaven with us. We then broke up into our regional groups to discuss what we had heard and to make plans.

On Sunday we had breakfast together and then listened to a devotional led by the Hislops and several who shared about how God had blessed their dreams. Doug then closed us out with a message entitled, “Say to this Mountain” and we were given the stone Tiger eye to remind us that we need to have our eyes on God and that through faith in him we can do amazing things to God’s glory.