By Ed Vasicek on
Forum category
Church & Ministry
Featured Poll

Someone or several people from your church want to attend the Great Banquet. Do you encourage them, discourage them, or stay aloof? Your thoughts and experiences appreciated.

This also applies to things like The Emmaus Walk or other such spiritual retreats within the Christian realm.

What do you think of the Great Banquet or other such retreats?

I enthusiastically support the Great Banquet and some of the like events.
0% (0 votes)
I think they can be helpful to help at least some believers get on (or back on) target.
17% (1 vote)
I think they are generally all smoke but little long term fire.
17% (1 vote)
I think they miss the point and merely promote religion but not Biblical commitment.
0% (0 votes)
I think they are bad and discourage fellow believers from attending, but good for lost people.
0% (0 votes)
I think they are bad, no reservations.
17% (1 vote)
Other
50% (3 votes)
Total votes: 6

Discussion

Sun, 09/01/24

I’ve never heard of the Great Banquet. It sounds a like something similar to the Keswick tradition, maybe?

I lean toward “little long term fire,” because retreats and conferences in general are like that, in my experience. I think that’s OK, though. We should adjust our expectations when it comes to “fire.” But if there is sound teaching and good fellowship, there can be plenty of long term benefit from things learned and from mutually edifying relationships.

If it has a lot of novel special vocabulary, formulaic fix-all recipes, and vague spookiness (I don’t know what else to call that aspect), it’s hard to see how there is anything edifying in that. Maybe a little, but also some damaging confusion?

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

Mon, 09/02/24

I also had not heard of the Great Banquet. Therefore, I do not even know what their theology is, their philosophy of ministry, or if they have certain hobby horses etc. Knowing some of that would help me to form an opinion.

Having said that, we attend a church planting missions conference every year and find great encouragement in it. Aaron also addressed a number of my thoughts.