June 6-12, 2021
A week at Fish and Cross Ranch in Yampa, CO
Flights will be depart Sunday afternoon/evening June 6 from Nashville (we’ll go over in afternoon) and return Saturday June 12 into Nashville.
Brief Description: Taking dads and one daughter/son to Colorado for a week-long ranch trip.
Goal: To give dads an intentional, deep opportunity to reconnect and bond with early/mid adolescent kids, focus on the good news, and bless them in and for this phase of life.
Why this: an outdoors experience with a Christ-centered ministry does a wonderful job of creating opportunities for mutual bonding and growth.
Why now: there’s a ground swell among a core group of dads and we want to capitalize on it. We are continuing to make this investment as a church as a way to build a “rite-of-passage” moment for kids and dads. We’re inviting you to be part of our second team to go though it with us, learn with us, and help us shape this for future years.
What’s the “win” for this? To give dads an intentional, deep opportunity to bond with early/mid adolescent kids and publicly bless them in and for this phase of life. This is a key phase of life for teenagers, and a father’s presence and influence is inestimable. This trip also increases rich, deep fellowship among dads in friendship, discipleship, and mutual encouragement in the tough work of being dads.
- Core group of 10-15 dads (10 dads is our minimal group)
- Wise budgeting: plan trip cost at 3 levels of “pay what you can:” 1) Minimum investment + scholarship | 2) Actual price per person – $1000 (includes airfare and travel) | 3) Cost + gift: a willingness to pay more to help sponsor others. Some personal giving and church budget behind scenes may help to lower overall cost and make possible scholarships.
FAQ you need to think about in going:
- Do I have the margin on the calendar? This is a real chance to prioritize one of the relationships that means to most (to dad), and perhaps the relationships that means most to kids – with their father.
- What’s the setting? Outdoor Colorado wilderness ranch at the foot of the Flattop Mountain range, with all kinds of outdoor activities we’ll do together. Fish and Cross ranch provides all gear – this is camping, but rather luxe and all things are provided for and set up for our use and comfort. (See photos below).
- What will we do? The ranch and leader team teaches the “Cowboy way” – a fun set of 10 principles that shape life through an identity in Christ. It pairs biblical truth with key experiences to create a memorable impact.
- What about Covid? Great question. We have a hard commit date of March 1 – we will commit to go if we get 10 dads or more. We will also handle deposits and airfare in such a way that they are refundable if we cannot complete the trip.
Questions: feel free to reach out Andy Cornett, Marc Funk, Bruce Zeiser, Ben Fischer, or Drew Fowler for more. You can get contact any for each through emailing Sydney in the family ministry office.