Monthly Archives: February 2010

Attendance

Average.

Talk

Still recovering from camp, I decided to do an abbrevated talk on worship with Tyler.  We extended the worship set by two songs and did our teaching inbetween the sets.  I started with WHY we worship and Tyler shared HOW we worship.  He showed this video that we also used for our High School ministry awhile back.  I think its pretty funny but definitely makes it alot easier to talk about the elements of worship.

Volunteer Involvement

With it being a “worship night” our small group time was definitely alittle more crazy than normal.  Like seriously in the middle of the group time I heard the loudest outburst from a student I have ever heard…the kind that every single head in the room turned simulteously their direction.  Our small group leaders did their best to keep the animals from getting to rowdy…some nights Im sure they feel like zoo keepers.

Music/Program

I knew we were taking a risk when we decided to do a “worship night”…pushing the limits of what middle schoolers can handle developmentally doing a 6 song set.  However I would say it was successful and the key was breaking up those 6 songs into three two song sets and also allowing some experiental worship to happen during the final set. We had tables set up throughtout the room, two for confessing their sins and two for writing a note to God.  Also key to our success was having a great worship leader who picked a perfect set. Seriously the flow of songs and the way they related to what each of us shared was awesome. For the game this week Luke brought back a crowd favorite; Take a Bite or Take a Seat.  Students get the chance to eat gross combinations of things they wouldnt normally eat at home.  For our WiFi video we showed this video of an amazingly smart dog.

Final Thought

The importance of having a consistent program especially when working with students cannot be overstated. That being said it’s alright to take some risks occasionally and break the “mold” from what you normally do in your program. By taking risks you learn what an audience is capable of and allow for God to move in different ways, reaching different students.

Attendance

Above average.

Talk

Since we just got back from camp two days prior I decided to do a brief recap of the theme at camp and then open it up for sharing.  Students shared various things that stood out from camp, from funny to some meaningful moments. 

Volunteer Involvement

 We only had three leaders out and being that it was so close to camp I think that was very good.

Music/Program

It was also our once a month game night…so no worship. Instead Luke put together another chaotic game involving balloons and hand signals.  I was bummed to see a third of our students opt out of the game before it even started and sat on the stage watching instead. Still need to find some games that work for 190 students on a gym floor (are there such games?). For the WiFi we showed a skate video made and featuring some of our students

Final Thought

For our leaders/staff I would have liked to cancel this week to give everyone a much deserved break. However coming off of a camp weekend the students who went to camp are very eager to come to Wildfire and about half of our audience didnt go to camp and would be bummed that we canceled.  So in the end I think it was worth it to meet however little preparation put into it, for the sake of our students.

Attendance

Above average.

Talk

I was back on this week after a couple of weeks of other speakers taking the stage.  I answered three questions from the audience that we got back in December; Who created God? Who created Satan? and Does God have any faults? I have to be honest that I didn’t put alot into this one…as camp is now just a week away and I will be giving 5 talks there.  The audience seemed to have a decent response…although we continue to have a rowdy group that seems to be growing.  Our attendance was the highest it has been in a couple of months, just under 200 at 199.

Volunteer Involvement

A unique night in that we had not one but two first time high school volunteers checking us out.  Both of them are solid Christians who I’ve known for years and am super excited about them potentially joining our team.  One thing I think our team still needs work on is being bold in dealing with behavior issues. I think alot of them assume someone else will deal with it if they ignore it, and after enough time passes they are totally right.  The irony is that the leader closest to the bad behavior should be dealing with it….not someone across the room.  I have been criticized in the past for not addressing behavior issues more from the stage, but in my view no matter how soft I attempt to make it, it always comes across too strong from the platform and is better coming from a leader in the audience.

Music/Program

 Good night from the worship/tech team.  Our new lighting guy is doing a sick job setting up our stage lights.  You might think this sort of thing doesnt matter at all…and compared with pastoring students it doesnt…but when it definitely adds something to the atmosphere.  The band lead You’ll Come and Shout Unto God which are personal favorites.  For the game this week it was CoCo Puff Chaos.  We had a record for the most coco puffs sticking to a kids face I hear.  Good times.  For the WiFi video I struggled to find one, so I just showed them this one of a BMW Concept car that I want;

Final Thought

Going into the night we were 15 students below our minimum number that we planned on coming to this years Winter Camp…and by the end of the night we were 13 above!  That is definitely a record for us of students signing up on the last day of registration.  In this down economy I know it’s hard for any parent to come up with $169 for a camp, much less if one of the parents are out of work.  On Tuesday I was pleased to learn of a donor paying for 6 students to come on scholarships to camp…allowing us to take all 9 of the students requesting scholarships!  I pray I have that sort of money one day…