The second annual RPCC Women’s Retreat was held April 10-11, and was a joy to all who were able to attend.
Attendees enjoyed two excellent talks from Mrs. Catherine Metzger on the topic of discipleship, times of fellowship together, corporate prayer, delicious meals, and their choice of breakout sessions, which included topics like “hospitality”, “adoption”, “gardening”, and several others. During free time, we enjoyed walking around the Camp Iawah grounds, and taking in God’s beautiful creation.
The first talk was the evening of April 10th. Mrs. Metzger focused on the “inward” aspect of discipleship, specifically on practical and helpful ways to approach our Bible reading. We were able to practice some of her suggestions in groups that evening, as well as in personal devotional times later that evening, or the following morning. Personally, I found her tools very useful in my own devotional time. It helped me to slow down and really digest what I was reading, and I was richly blessed in doing so.
The second talk was the following morning, and Mrs. Metzger spoke about the “upward” and “outward” aspects of discipleship, those being our prayer lives and our discipling one another. One thing she emphasized regarding prayer was the blessing of being able to pray through particular Scripture passages. Some time was set aside for us to practice this, which was helpful and refreshing. She also suggested taking some time later to pair off, and pray for one another more personally using some of the Scripture passages we had begun to work through. In this way we were able to practice skills for prayer as well as skills for discipling other believers. I personally found this time together especially encouraging and blessed.
We were all urged to continue to walk with faith, aim, and love for another, and ultimately for Christ. “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14) We are thankful for the time of rest and growth that this weekend provided for us all, and for all the hard work put into making it happen.
Thanks to Tia Van Hoffen, member of Ottawa RPC, along with her husband Ethan and daughter Evangeline, for taking the time to recap for us the time at the Women’s Retreat in 2026.
