Summer 101: Mystery Events!

Summer is coming fast!  I continue my Summer 101 series today in the hopes of inspiring youth pastors everywhere to make the most of the very best ministry season of the year- SUMMER!


You have seen me write on numerous occasions that I always felt that "sameness, tameness and lameness" were the enemies of effective student ministry.  This is especially true in the summer, when you are competing not against a busyness, but against Facebook, video games and reruns of Boy Meets World.  So each summer I attempted to have at one event on the calendar that was a mystery to my youth, an event that would get a big build up and keep them talking to each other about what it might be.  Sometimes the events were small and simple.  Other times, they were HUGE and elaborate.  Today I want to remember 2 of my favorite big mystery events.

The first is the classic Gorilla Kidnapping!  It is an event you can only use once in any given location, but it is so worth it.  The idea is simple, but to pull it off requires a great deal of coordination.  Here's how it works: You target a group of students you have not seen in a while (or you could do it with students just aging in to your ministry) and plan to "kidnap" them on a Saturday morning.  You contact their parents and make arrangements.  The hope is that the student will still be asleep when you arrive, so coordinating things like time and making sure the youth don't sleep nude (important safety note!) are very important.  You repeat this process until you have a group of 10 or so unwilling victims with willing parents.  The next step is advertising to the rest of your student ministry.  I would simply use the tag line, "Be afraid...be VERY afraid!"  Students would then be told to meet at the church at 7 AM and bring money for breakfast.  They were also told that if they didn't show up, bad things could happen to them.  And that was ALL they were told.

The final step is finding yourself a good Gorilla.  Actually, it's a final two steps.  First you have to find a big guy who is willing to wear a costume and be beaten on as he pulls screaming, sleepy teenagers out of bed.  Secondly, you have to rent them a costume.  The first time I did it at Springfield Friends Meeting back in 1987 we went with the classic gorilla costume (see picture at top, although Jamie is missing his head).  The second time was at FUMC- Kissimmee is 1994, and we put my intern, Jerry Hanbery, in a Chewbacca costume.  Also very effective, but for some reason I have no pictures of that.  And when we broke out the event at Wesley Memorial UMC in Tampa in 2004, we went with the awesome Pink Gorilla suit you see pictured.  The costume is up to you.  Then you just carry-out the kidnappings and have a great breakfast together.  If one of your regulars decides to sleep in, go get them too! It adds to the mystique of the event.  If one of your goals is to get your community talking about your youth group, this will meet that purpose nicely.

The second idea I will mention today is an old fashioned Mystery Trip. These can be simple day trips or elaborate weekends. I preferred the longer trips, because it made the mystery greater.  In general, they worked like this:  All the youth knew was that we were leaving on Friday night, coming back on Sunday night, how much it cost, and anything special they might need to pack.  We gave these events cryptic names like Live To Tell or Magical Mystery Tour to help build suspense.  We didn't tell the parents the destination until they dropped the kids at the church.  We did this to maintain the secrecy, and even at that the parents still managed to let the cat out of the bag on a couple of occasions.  The key to the Mystery Trip is to make your destination fun and a little outrageous, or to plan some unexpected twists along the way.  For instance, we once staged a van breakdown on the highway.  This led to us pretending to desperately search for a motel and acting like the trip was ruined, only to drag the youth out of bed early the next morning and carry on.  Another time we drove 9 hours to Myrtle Beach, arriving at 3 AM. We slept late that morning, spent the afternoon on the beach, the night on the town, had worship Sunday morning, and drove 9 hours home.  It was insane.  But the youth who took that trip (see picture) are STILL talking about it- and it happened 15 years ago!  Length and destination are up to you- but make sure you make it at least a little weird. And think of me when you do!  :)


So there ya go- a couple of more ways you can make this summer one your youth will never forget.  Until next week...


Because of Jesus,