Our Lynchburg District Superintendent, Larry Davies, taking care of last minute business before the retreat begins.
Registration and getting our room assignments.
The pastors greeting each other and catching up with folks you don't get to see often enough.
The whole group met together for our first meeting. Larry talked about the expectations for the retreat. He shared with us about "Weathering the Storm".
We had a time of worship, aptly led by our worship cheerleaders.
Yeah, they're really Methodist pastors. Don't get too scared, they're doing hands motions for the music. (mostly)
We celebrated Communion together.
The voice of Rev. Jerry Veimeister.
The second day we moved from Blackstone United Methodist Center to Crenshaw UMC in Blackstone, A beautiful facility with some incredible stained glass windows. Larry reviewed the wide variety of ministry opportunities in the Lynchburg district. Our guest speaker was Rev. Tom Joyce, the Assistant to the Bishop for the Virginia Conference. He spoke to us about the "Five practices of Fruitful Congregations".
We had a "Clown Communion". It was very moving and brought a different perspective.
The entire service was silent, everything expressed through gestures.
We broke off into our small groups for lunch and discussion.
The Lynchburg North small group.
This is the Altavista Area small group the I was part of. We have decided to continue to get together periodically for fellowship and support. We're working up a calendar for events of each church to promote the churches working together. 
We finished the retreat with each pastor writing on a 3x5 card what their church is in most need of and those individuals in their church that are potential leadership. We then, one by one, nailed our cards to a large wooden cross.
It was a good time of fellowship, finding support, and of focusing on the needs of our churches. Already looking forward to next year.
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