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Missions (local & otherwise)
- Boxes to Iraq- Develop a list of soldiers serving in Iraq, or elsewhere (can be congregational members, or their relatives). Relatives can give you a list of personal products & food that would be appreciated & allowed. Challenge youth/ families to bring these items & get the boxes necessary from the Post Office to use. It’s great to write notes, use scriptures & encouragement for the soldiers. They’ll love these boxes from “home”.
Service Projects
- Experience being a Good Samaritan- meet together & read the Good Samaritan story again. Prepare ahead of time (with kids’ ideas) things you can do around your community in a day or evening. Suggestions: sing Christmas carols in July for an elderly person, hand out bottles of water to strangers in town, take treat bags to the fire and police station, or to the Salvation Army bell ringers in Dec. (along with some coffee). In the summer, buy popsicles & write scriptures on the sticks & give them away in a park. Be creative!
- Nursing Home Giveaway- Go to a Dollar Store & pick up items like playing cards, puzzle books, tissue packs, jewelry, etc. Put everything in a basket & take off for a Nursing Home. Visit with the residents, allowing them to pick an item. This will make conversation open up. You could also use the objects as prizes for Bingo games you could play with the residents.
Fund Raisers
- Parking Lot Drive-In Movie Night- Great idea for the summer. Gather grills, food supplies, movie, & projector. You’ll need to encourage people to bring blankets, chairs, or they can stay in cars. Project the movie on an outside wall or huge sheet. Students can be “car hops”, taking orders of hotdogs, hamburgers, shakes, or whatever menu you choose. You can set a price per item, or do a “free will offering”.
- Singing Valentines-If you have students who are good singers, this might be for you. Advertise to your congregational or others you’ll spread cheer by singing for their valentine! Practice some appropriate songs, set a price, & go out in groups. You could follow this evening activity with a party or at least FOOD!
Web Sites
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Studies
Intergenerational Ideas
- Serve Parents a Thank-You Meal Plan a spaghetti dinner ( or something similar) for parents- prepared & served by youth. This is a great way to thank parents or other volunteers from the congregation. Let youth clean up everything while parents have a meeting to discuss a coming event or the new year’s schedule.
- Families of the Week-Simple idea, but one that has a great impact! Each week send a family in your youth ministry a letter stating that you (or ministry staff) will be praying for them. Ask for any specific prayer requests to be given to you. In addition to the power of prayer, there’s the power of being recognized. You’re seen as someone who cares about the entire family, not just the students.
Reading
- Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self-Mutiliation by Steven Levenkron
- What Matters Most by Doug Fields *
- Presence Centered Youth Ministry by Mike King *
- “REV” magazine *
- Louder Than Words- by Andy Stanley
(* recommended by Brent Dumler- pastor of youth in Ithaca)
Games or Ice Breakers
- “Giant T-Ball”- Substitute a beach ball & a tennis racket for the ball & bat usually used. You’ll also need bandanas & a 6 foot long 2x4- attached at the bottom to a stable base, with a plastic bowl for a “tee” screwed to the top. You need 2 teams. All rules are the same as baseball except the players play with partners. When the team is up to bat, one partner is on the other’s shoulders. When in the field, the partners’ legs are tied together. You can also blindfold one if you wish!
- Nerf Elimination- The game is launched when the “commander” throws the balls ( 3 or 4 Nerf balls) into the air. Balls are “shot” at each other. When “wounded”, you must either play on your knees or bottom. The 2nd. time you’re wounded you must play on your back or stomach- still “shooting”. With the 3rd. wound you’re “dead” & must sit out till the next battle!
- Human Scrabble- Using sheets of paper, duplicate the tiles in a regular Scrabble game- same tile letters with points written on them. Use the same rules, just play with teams putting out the “tiles” on a large floor. You can designate some rounds as worth double or triple points for real fun!
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ChOG Migration:
This got started because of an urgency to see God's whole church be affective in "the new world" that has started to emerge. Also to see the Church of God Reformation Movement re-emerge into that world. Most of us were waiting for something we could do to help the church move into the future...
Then we started to talk... ChOG Migration |
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