2026 Full-Time Staff Retreat Recap

For most of the year, the Pine Cove staff is spread across multiple regions, offices, and camp spaces, from Central and East Texas all the way to Georgia. But in the final waning days of August, you can find us all in one place: at the Pine Cove full-time staff retreat! 

This year we arrived at Crier Creek, our Central Texas family camp, on Tuesday afternoon, excited to kick off a seriously fun few days. On the heels of an incredible summer—one that saw Pine Cove minister to more than 40,000 people—all of the full-timers were ready to reunite, play games, celebrate the summer, and look ahead to 2027! 

Avery “Chicken Joe” Davis, Ridge Women’s Director, always looks forward to staff retreat. Her favorite part? “Getting to be back with everyone after summer!” she shared. “I love getting uninterrupted time with every other camp team to hear about how the Lord moved and worked through them at their camps.”

The Austin Stone worship team led us all in a sweet time of worship, interspersed with stories, letters, and quotes from our campers. Between stories of redemption, thank you notes from families, and heartfelt memories about unexpected moments of grace, the entire staff lifted their hands and voices to glorify the One who made it all possible. 

“I’ve been really encouraged by how genuine everyone is,” said new staff member Zach Sheets, attending his first-ever staff retreat. “And also by worshiping together with full voices and full hearts, and hearing the stories of how God is moving here. It’s so encouraging to be around people who have like minds, and like hearts. It’s just been awesome.”

We also got to spend time planning for our upcoming year of ministry, hearing from our executive leadership team, and getting excited about what’s coming next. The whole staff is fired up and feels ready to run forward into a new season, with eyes fixed on Summer 2027!

It wouldn’t be a complete staff retreat without some important Pine Cove elements, like the Name Game (say hi to “Pukies and Screams” the next time you call our registration department!), a Wheel of Opportunity (your odds of having to spin it rely heavily on your Oreo-eating and block-stacking abilities), lots of incredible food, and plenty of games, from pickleball to Mah Jong to miniature golf and back to pickleball again! Add in some appearances by iconic skit characters played by Trac “Fezzik” Cook and Craig “Dutch” Langemeier, and you have all the elements for an unforgettable Pine Cove event. 

Throughout that handful of warm August days at Crier Creek, we heard the constant sounds of pickleballs slapping the court. The splash of a belly flop into the pool. Laughter among old and new friends. But most importantly, the testimonies of the ways the Holy Spirit moved at camp during the summer of 2026. And the vision for how we’ll be working and praying for the Lord to do it all again in Summer 2027.