For those who noticed, I apologise for the delayed post. If you didn’t notice, don’t worry, I won’t take it personally!
Last week got away from me for all the best reasons, but I didn’t get a chance to publish my usual Shock Absorber podcast plug. I’ve included it below (spoiler alert: it has some ludicrous suggestions for youth games), along with a few other updates on where I’ve been and where I’m going in 2027.
Square One Kids Camp - New Creation
The main reason for being AWOL last week was that I was preparing to take our Soul Revival Kids away to Square One, a multi-church kids’ camp run by my old team at Youthworks. I’m incredibly biased, since I used to be involved in running this camp, but it is seriously the best way to run a children’s ministry weekend away.
One of Youthworks’ driving principles as a parachurch organisation is that they are not the local church; therefore, they ought not to take on the role of the local church, but to facilitate local churches to do what only local churches should be doing. In this case, it is the local church’s responsibility to disciple the children in their community. What Youthworks has the capacity to do is run a complex, multi-day, mountain-top experience for children that complements the important week-in and week-out ministry that churches have with their own children. Leaders come away with kids from their church and altogether join in the large group sessions, medium group activities, and small group discussions with other local church groups.
For small churches that do not have the resources to run a weekend away for their kids, it is a particular blessing to have the large group experience. The child who may be the only 8-year-old in her church arrives at Square One and realises that there are hundreds of other 8-year-olds who also love Jesus. What a profound blessing!
If you’re a children’s ministry leader close to Sydney, and you’re not yet involved in Square One, let me give my ringing endorsement to join in. And if you’re further away, but want to learn how to run something similar for yourself, reach out to the Youthworks Team and have a chat.
The Shock Absorber Podcast - Bait and Switch
If you grew up in the church, you probably have memories of playing a variety of youth group games. I can remember tug-of-war through jelly (Jell-O for my USA readers), wide games through the bush in the dark, “wound night”, which involved putting putty and makeup on various body parts to mimic mild to catastrophic injuries, and—the 90s youth group staple—the band night. 🎸🎶
What I don’t remember are any games or activities that could be considered cringe, or worse, humiliating. Enter Way-Out Ideas For Youth Groups by Mike Yaconelli and Wayne Rice.
Caveat #1: Yaconelli and Rice are Youth Ministry gurus, co-founded Youth Specialties and are generally respected in the history of youth ministry, especially in the United States. Caveat #2: Way-Out Ideas was first published in 1968 and is a product of its time. Caveat #3: There are some ideas in the book that still translate to today and sound similar to games that I can recall both playing and running in youth ministry.
HOWEVER, there are also some genuinely terrible ideas. Laughter and frivolity (which, from the introductory chapter, appears to be the strategy for including these activities in your youth group) often come at the expense of a young person in the group. We laugh at the youth who “falls flat on his face”, walks around all night with wet pants, or does a blind sit-up into a cream pie. Then there are the awkward attempts at boy-girl relationships, which come close—but not too close—to being sexual (rubbing lipstick between noses, passing potato chips using only your mouth, face-to-face conga lines, or giving back rubs).
In last week’s episode of The Shock Absorber, Joel McMaster and I discuss these “games” and what they are communicating about the purpose of youth ministry. Is there a difference between having fun in an attempt to attract people to Christianity vs. having fun because you are a Christian? Is the bait-and-switch effective? And even if it is, ought youth ministries use such a strategy? Is there something inherently dishonest about the approach that undermines the truth and beauty of the gospel?
These leading questions probably give you an indication of what we conclude. But I encourage you to listen to the full conversation at the links below.
Michigan Adventures - June 2027
Finally, I will be traveling to the USA in June 2027 to attend both the Children’s Spirituality Summit and Intergenerate; two conferences I have contributed to and benefited greatly from in previous years. Both conferences are being held at Calvin University in Grand Rapids (MI) but three weeks apart.
That gives me two weeks in the middle to explore the Great Lakes area. If you’ve got any suggestions of places to visit, things to see, or adventures to be had, please let me know in the comments below. And if you have the capacity, please consider coming and joining the community at one or either of these conferences next year.