Does your faith community have a travel program?
Does your faith community or religious organization have a travel program ? If not, why not? Travel is one of the best ways to experience faith, fun and fellowship.
If you were to develop a travel program for your faith community or organization, think of all the benefits you could bring your members. Think of the deepening of faith, fun and fellowship. Think of the new tight-knit community you would experience upon the group's return home. And, think of the new spirit, enthusiasm and enriched bonds that would develop between members after such memorable and life-changing experiences.
It’s for reasons and benefits such as these that hosting a travel program really should no longer be viewed as an option for many faith communities but rather as a virtual "must."
Imagine what your faith community would look like if the majority of your members took advantage of your travel program. Imagine the lives that could be changed through exploring holy sites, embarking on missionary trips, studying one’s faith on cruises, participating in religious conferences, participating in retreats and sharing fellowship on leisure vacations. Few activities can have such immediate, powerful and long-lasting effects on members than these types of travel experiences. It all begins with one person (YOU!) taking the initiative to launch or expand a travel program at your faith community or religious organization.
How can I build a thriving travel program?
Where to begin? First, talk to your faith community or religious leader. Ask for their support, approval and blessing of the new travel program. Once they are on board, it's relatively smooth sailing. Second, find someone (it may be you) who can serve as the official travel program leader (or leaders). You might ask your religious community leader to make an announcement about the new program and ask for volunteers to step forward.
Next, develop a full calendar year of events. Activities can range from trips to hosting a conference to inviting guest speakers for a travel night (inviting a travel agent to speak about faith-based vacation opportunities) to sharing travel experiences in a group setting while enjoying an international potluck dinner. In short, you might consider offering monthly events with one big trip per year.
Speaking of trips, be sure to find a good travel provider that can service your group’s needs. You can find a list of travel providers in this Religious Travel Buyer’s Guide, as well as via the online WRTA Trip Planning Directory.
You should also consider conducting a survey with your members about their travel preferences. Poll your faith community and find out where and what types of trips they most often embark upon each year. Do many of them travel overseas? Take cruises? Visit attractions? Go skiing or hiking? Be sure to offer at least one or more annual, community vacations that reflect their interests.
Once you've designed the list of travel activities and events for the year including the big trip (or trips), it's then time to publicize them. How can you most effectively promote your travel program, trips and events? That's our next topic.