Vineyard USA Southwest Region

I want to ask you a question. When is the last time you had a really nice vacation? And when is the last time you were able to have great fellowship on that vacation coupled with some wonderful "God moments?" If it has been a long time, I have great news for you!

For the Southwest Regional Pastors and Leaders Conference next year, we are going to have the Conference on a cruise ship!!! We have found that doing the conference on a cruise ship won't cost couples who attend much more money than doing the Conference at someone's church!! And, you will receive the added benefit of a great vacation at the same time!

The dates for this Conference are June 9-14, 2008. The cruise ship (Carnival Cruises) will sail out of Galveston, Texas on Monday, June 9th at 4PM. It will return to Galveston on Saturday, June 14th at 8AM. (Itinerary)

We are still working with the travel agent to finalize details, and we will be sending you a lot of information about this when everything is finalized. But, I wanted you to at least have the dates for the Conference so you can block them out on your 2008 calendars.

This Conference will be open to any and all leaders in your church. I hope some of your leaders will come as it will be a very fun experience for them --- going on a cruise and also being part of a Vineyard Leadership Conference!

Children of any age are welcome, as are youth. There will not be any Regional planned activities for the children, but Carnival has a great children's program for kids of all ages (Youth Experience). When you pay for your kids to come, the children's program is included in that price. It operates daily from 9AM-9PM. You may put your kids in the program for as long or short as you want during that timeframe.

There is a similar program for teens, operating during the same timeframe (9AM-9PM).

These will not be "Christian" experiences, but they will be a lot of fun for your kids or teens and many of the other children will be those from our Region. We hope to see many friendships formed.

I'm sure you are wanting to know how much this will cost. First of all, let me say that I believe every church should budget for their pastor and spouse to attend the Pastors Conference every year (the National or Regional one). I hope your church is doing that. It is vital for you to be a part of these gatherings, and your church needs to budget for you and your spouse to attend. Your church should pay for that, not you.

For a pastoral or leadership couple to attend a "normal" 5 day conference, there are a lot of costs involved in that ---- hotel for 5 or 6 nights, all of your meals during that time, renting a car for the week, etc.

On a cruise, your hotel and all meals are included, and you obviously do not need a car!

With that being said, the cost varies on a cruise depending on what type of "cabin" you choose to stay in (inside cabin, outside cabin, suite, etc.). The least expensive cabin on this cruise (an inside cabin) will cost somewhere around $629 per person for the first two people. For the 3rd, 4th, and 5th person, it is somewhere around $529 per person. (Cabin Details)

So, for a couple to attend without children, the cost will be around $1250-$1300, plus airfare if you’re not in Texas. That is not much more than what it would cost a couple to attend a "normal" Regional Conference and pay for their hotel, meals, car rental, etc.

Bringing children and/or youth to this Conference obviously adds expense.

As soon as we get all of the details about this, with exact prices, we will send it to you. You will be responsible to disperse that information to any staff you have that you may want to come, and any leaders you have in your church.

If you would like a letter from the “SW Regional Office” encouraging your Board to prioritize this for you, please let me know.

We will ask all of our Pastors / Leaders - - anyone wanting to attend this Conference - - to simply go to our Southwest Region website (which should be operational in September 2007) (www.vineyardsw.org), print out the “Passenger Information” form, fill it out, and fax it to our Travel Agent, Laura Johnston, “The Travel Shoppe” at 281-351-1574. She will take care of all of the reservations. She will keep us “updated” on who will be attending, for registration purposes. (The “Passenger Information” form will also be available at Vineyard Church North Phoenix’s website (www.vineyardnorthphoenix.com).)

The above information, regarding how to register, will also be included on a “Flyer” that we are creating, which we will be mailing to all of our SW Region Churches, hopefully by the first week of October.

I think this Conference will definitely be one that none of us ever forget! I sure hope you prioritize attending and bringing as many of your leaders as you can.

Again, you will be receiving much more detailed information about this ASAP.

Keep up the good work!!

Love, Brian

Downloads for all forms for this conference:

“Passenger Information Form Word Version”
“Passenger Information Form PDF Version”

“Travel Guard Essential Expanded Application Information Document”

“Travel Guard Essential Expanded Application Form Word Version”
“Travel Guard Essential Expanded Application Form PDF Version”