“Our church staff team of 32 people stayed at the Blue Spruce Lodge and Woodlands Lodge in late August of 2023 for 2 nights. After our retreat concluded, I submitted a staff evaluation to my team about the retreat and it was overwhelmingly positive about our stay there. EVERYONE wants to go back!  Of all the years that we have been doing annual staff retreats, all 32 of our staff members said it was the best one yet!  The Gathering-Game Room fit all of us. We moved the couches to face the large screen projector and on both nights we had our own worship team lead us in worship right in that room. We had moments where we gathered in a huge circle and just prayed over each other. It was powerful!   A lot of tears, prayers, and praise were lifted up in that room!  

Then during the day our team kicked back and enjoyed taking the kayaks out on the lake; some even kayaked all the way to the ice cream shop across the lake, while the other members boarded the pontoon boats.  A group of about 25 total got ice cream together. It was such a simple and fun team-connecting activity that required very little planning or energy.  We also enjoyed the lawn space where we played cornhole and volleyball. We brought our own equipment. The team voiced that it actually felt like a 'retreat' where many times we have felt too crowded, too loud, or in other people's space. We have already booked our retreat with them for next year!  And the team could not be happier!”

Holly Knduson, Community Church, Mount Pleasant, Michigan