I changed my mind.

lgbtq

This week, the UMC denomination that I serve in voted to strengthen its stance on “self-avowed homosexuals.” And I was disappointed. Broken.

But I haven’t always been this way.

I grew up in a Southern Baptist church, and although it was conservative, the message that rang was “Jesus loves you!” I grew up hearing it constantly, which is what drew me to the church: hearing that Jesus loved me was needed in my life.

It wasn’t until my last few years of high school I heard “Jesus loves you, except…” We had a new pastor, and although my previous pastors probably had the same beliefs, this pastor was more vocal about who Jesus had beef with. And the people who Jesus has the most beef with, according to many Christians, are those living in sexual sin, especially the homosexuals.

When I went to college, I signed a contract that, among other things, said I couldn’t partake in, and I quote: “pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, and homosexual relations.” I always thought that was an odd way to say it — like, implying that gay people can’t have sex, or even if you like, kiss another person of the same gender, you’re out.

There were a few people from my college who hid their sexuality, one of my childhood friends included. And I remember praying the gay away because I was worried about their salvation.

My college was protested against by an organization called SoulForce. They went on an “equality ride” around the country to different colleges that had anti-LGBTQ doctrine, like mine. At the time, I still agreed with the “traditional” stance on marriage, but I also knew that these people deserved a friend. Being the only girl who wanted to be a pastor and not marry a pastor at a Southern Baptist college meant I had some enemies of my own. I knew what it was like to be told “Jesus loves you, except…” So, I signed up to be a student ambassador for the university.

The Equality Ride changed my life, but it didn’t change my mind. I did become curious, though, especially about a trans woman named “Mia TuMutch.” She gave herself that last name/stage name because she’d always been told that she’s “too much.” And I have too (literally a trigger of mine). I attached myself to her, and listened. We became friends on Facebook, and I’ve watched her journey unfold into now working in politics and with trans youth. She always inspired me, even before I agreed with her.

After college, I found myself in a pickle. I had been fortunate enough to find work in a Southern Baptist church for my first Youth Director job, but it became clear that I wasn’t going to find another opportunity like that as a woman. So, I began looking outside of my denomination.

When I was hired at St. Luke’s UMC, one of the questions they asked me from the very first interview was how I would deal with LGBTQ youth. I was honest: I wasn’t sure how I felt theologically about homosexuality. But what I knew was this: teenagers are always shifting, always changing, on the never-ending hunt to find themselves. And I promised the hiring team that no matter who that teen was, I would love them and welcome them. That’s all I had — not theological answers, just love.

And I was hired.

Three months in, I heard my first pro-LGBTQ sermon. Also, let’s pause: I was also meeting my first woman pastors. So, like, I was in quite the whirlwind.

After I heard our senior pastor preach a sermon on how biblical interpretation leads us to believe that being gay is not a sin, I was shook. I went to my boss’s office the next day and wept. I confessed that I wasn’t as progressive as I thought I was, and I was worried I’d be fired because I didn’t have the same Biblical interpretation on this subject as the church. But my boss asked me: how are you going to treat our kids? And I said — with love and acceptance. And my boss told me that was all that mattered. I was worried I’d be fired, and he told me that I technically was in line with the Book of Discipline, and couldn’t get fired for that.

This was five years ago.

A few months later, we hired our first “out” gay employee. She was loud, she was proud.

And she was kind.

She was an ordained pastor in another denomination, but took a break to serve our church in a non-pastoral role.

Until one day, in Staff Chapel, our Senior Pastor asked her to assist with Communion.

Growing up, ~~Communion~~ Lord’s Supper was a time between you and the Lord. You took this time to repent and to check your heart. We were taught that if you had unrepentant sin, that you should go correct it before taking Lord’s Supper. It was a big deal — a time to pray and get real with the Lord.

As she was going around the circle, serving each staff member by name, I began to panic.

How could I take Communion from a sinner?

And that is when I changed my mind. I looked at this woman’s actions and words and recognized that she worked harder at her relationship with Christ than I did. I realized the fruit in her life was evident. And that’s when I decided that it must be okay to be gay and a Christian.

So I drank the kool-aid. Well, holy grape juice.

This was just four years ago.

In the last four years since, God has just gifted me with members of the LGBTQ community who have helped me grow my understanding and my heart. I “came out” as LGBTQ-inclusive just three years ago when writing an article for a prominent youth ministry site — the first positive article on the topic they’d ever had.

And to be honest, I’ve remained fairly silent since. But I won’t be silent any more.

To be silent would be to deny my trans cousin of the truth I’ve known since we were little. To be silent would be unfair to my friends who braved Baptist College, despite signing a contract that said they were unnatural. To be silent would be to disrespect the promise of unconditional love I’ve given so many students. And to be silent would crush one of my dearest friends, who came out to me on her couch two years ago, who I helped build her dating profile and personally swiped right on her girlfriend, and who is now in seminary.

I’m really heart-broken by what happened in General Conference last week. Like, shaking-sleepless-sick-shocked broken. I am dreading church tomorrow for the first time in 5 years. I am especially dreading telling our 8th graders that the letters they wrote to our delegates asking for more progressive doctrine failed. I don’t want to admit that we failed them.

But I have hope: 9 years ago, I thought everyone who wasn’t a Southern Baptist was going to hell. Today, I study the fruit from everyone I meet and judge them based on that, not their labels. 5 years ago, I sought refuge to lead in a church. Today, I admire the faith of gay Christians who fight to do the same. 4 years ago, I changed my mind. Today, I choose to speak my mind.

7 Quick Christmas Games

christmas, games

REINDEER GAMES
MATERIALS:Panty hose, balloons.
INSTRUCTIONS: Divide group into teams. Each team gets one pair of pantyhose, and a set number of balloons. Give 2-3 minutes for each team to blow up their balloons, put in the pantyhose, and get the pantyhose on someone’s head (like reindeer antlers). Judge to see who has the best-looking reindeer antlers!

WRAP BATTLES
MATERIALS: Rolls of wrapping paper, tape, and bows for each team
INSTRUCTIONS: Each team must wrap one of their members up like a gift. The best wrap job in a 5-minute period wins!

SANTA BEARD
MATERIALS: Cotton balls, vaseline
INSTRUCTIONS: Play up-front or in groups. One willing participant will put vaseline on their chin, and their partners will place cotton balls on their face to make a “beard”. There are SO MANY variations to this — make it relay-style, throw the cotton balls, or whatever makes it fun for your group!

STOCK EXCHANGE
MATERIALS: Stockings, bells or gift bows
INSTRUCTIONS: This is another game that you can use variants to make it relay style or an up-front game. One person holds a stocking, and the other tries to throw jingle bells or gift bows into it. Most in a minute wins!

SNOWBALL FIGHT
MATERIALS: Balled-up pieces of paper
INSTRUCTIONS: Dodgeball-style, divide the team into two, and have them use paper instead of dodgeballs, getting each other out!

CHRISTMAS ME
MATERIALS: Items to decorate a Christmas tree — garland, bows, ornaments, ribbon, etc.
INSTRUCTIONS: You can play this relay-style, in groups, or up-front. One person gets decorated by a friend or a group into the best Christmas tree!

TREE TOSS
MATERIALS: A Christmas tree, a tape circle around the tree, two colors of ornaments
INSTRUCTIONS: Divide groups into teams, and put them against one another to see who can throw the most ornaments on the tree in a one-minute period. They must stay outside of the circle surrounding the tree. Ornaments that bounce off the tree and outside the circle are fair game.

Some Fall Games I’ve been playing!

games, Ministry, youth ministry

I haven’t posted in a while; I got married last month! I’ll post some pictures soon (and I’m excited to tell you our love story).

I just wanted to pop in to share a few of the games that we have been playing in our middle school ministry this fall. They’re a little random, but a total blast. Feel free to use any of this material, including the graphics, which I created quickly in Canva.

The “Gobble Hobble” is the name I gave this game in a frenzy this last Sunday morning, when everything was going wrong and I needed to come up with a quick game. I remembered playing a version of this a few years ago and wanted to give it a quick funny name. Best part: It takes 3 minutes to prep.

Choose one person (we chose 4 — one from each grade) to go out into the hall and be blindfolded by a leader. Tell the group to, together, hid a “turkey.” The “turkey” can be anything, as long as you can decipher it with a blindfold on. In a pinch, we used a basketball. Invite the blindfolded person in, and lead them to the “turkey” only using “gobbles.” The same way you’d play hot-or-cold, the closer they get to the “turkey,” the more the crowd gobbles. First person to get to the “turkey” wins. It was complicated playing with four people, because no one knew if they were correct when we were gobbling. It worked out for us, though, and we were able to play two rounds (with instructions) in less than 7 minutes. Not a bad way to start off a Sunday morning!

Dice Wars is another great game — otherwise known as “1 to 100.” Since we are in a multi-purpose space, sometimes we find out last-minute that we have to switch to round tables for an event right after our youth group. That’s how I came up with this game. Here are a few games — that I, truthfully, copied and pasted from the internet. There are tons more games, too!

What you need: Each player needs a piece of paper to write on. You also need one die and one pen.

How to play: Everyone sits in a circle, either around a table or on the floor. One person starts out with the pen, and the person to their left starts out with the die.

Let’s say Paul has the pen, Tasha is to his left with the die, and Adam is sitting to Tasha’s left. When the game starts, Paul starts writing legible numbers, starting with 1 and going up to 100, as fast as he can on his paper, while Tasha starts rolling the die as fast as she can, trying to roll a six. As soon as she does roll a six, she gets to grab the pen from Paul and start writing numbers on her paper, while Adam grabs the die and tries to roll a six. As soon as he does, he grabs the pen, and the person to his left starts rolling. Play proceeds around the circle like this. The next time Paul gets the pen, he starts writing where he left off. The first person to write to 100 on their paper wins.

I love puns, and I was inspired by a Buzzfeed post to create this game. I used some from Buzzfeed, some from elsewhere.

Click here to access my link from Canva, and edit or download for yourself!

This was a game I used at the beginning of the school year, in order for students to make some new connections. It was a blast, and a traditional youth ministry favorite!

Click here to download and edit from Canva.

Mission Impossible Night

games

One of the timeless games that is played in youth ministry is a variation of what we call “Mission Impossible.” I remember playing this game each year at camp, running around in the dark trying to find a secret “chip” and avoiding flour bombs.

In four years of camp, I don’t think I EVER found that secret chip.

Here’s the way we are playing the game THIS Friday night!

Supplies: glow sticks, flashlights, super-soakers

Set-up:

1 Volunteer at the Lodge with glow sticks (enough for each student, plus extras)
Heather: Horn/Whistle/Megaphone. Located in the general area outside.
4 color of bandanas and face paint for each team. We also got fake mustaches for “secret spy disguises”
4 hidden buckets throughout the campus with labels on them for each color.
Volunteers scattered throughout campus with flashlight lasers (4 people) or super-soakers (4 people)
1 Volunteer at each bucket (to make sure that no one steals those glow sticks). They are given a noodle that they can hit students with.
PJ is hidden with his secret costume — if a student finds him, they get a SPECIAL item in a secret envelope (immunity for one capture, ten extra points, etc.)

Object of game:

This is MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE. Students are faced with the impossible mission of getting their Glow Sticks to their team’s bucket, which is hidden around the dark parking lot. The team with the most Glow Sticks wins.
But it’s not that easy: Throughout the parking lot are leaders with flashlights and water guns. If a student gets “tagged” by either, they must stop, drop their glow stick, and go back to home base (The Lodge) and begin again.
There are four leaders by the buckets with pool noodles to “watch” the buckets and make sure no one steals from another’s bucket. They may tag students with noodles.
There are more leaders scattered with flashlights/laser pointers and water guns to tag students.
A student may grab a fallen glowstick and attempt to make it to their bucket with it.
Leaders MAY choose to instead torture/humiliate the student by making them do a challenge: Sing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or do 10 pushups or propose to the next person who gets caught. Then students can go on and do the challenge.
Once students have dropped their Glow Sticks in the bucket, they will run back to Home Base and begin the challenge all over again.
The challenge will end at 8:30 sharp (so, about an hour and a half to carry out the mission). Buckets will be collected, and the winning team gets a prize!

If you play the game, research the SEVERAL ways to play it! Last year we played with Skittles, and if caught the students would eat their Skittle. The issue was that everyone’s hands were covered with dye!!!

“The Awesome Game”

games, youth ministry

A few years ago on our mission trip, we played a game one evening called “The Awesome Game” when a different outing was cancelled. We had THE MOST HILARIOUS time, and now it has become a staple for our youth ministry on Kickoff Sunday.

Here’s what you do:

Type up a list of different challenges — I’ll share mine below. You want these challenges to be a mix of things. You want to do some things that cause them to get to know one another, some that give good photo or video opportunities, or some that are just OBNOXIOUS.
Cut up those pieces of papers, and put one copy in a gallon-sized plastic bag.
Split your students up into groups (we did small groups). Give each group a bag and a time limit (anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes).
Give some way for them to count what they’ve done — give them another bag, tell them to ball up the ones they’re done with, or put the ones they’ve done in your pocket.
At the end of the time, the team that has done the most wins!

Here are some examples of challenges you can place in the bag:

Make a two-minute video talking about your love for cheese
Interrupt another Small Group completing their challenge.
Run around for 60 seconds yelling “We won! We won!”
Come up with a team chant
Join in another Small Group completing their challenge
SOMETHING STINKS! Walk around the room for 60 seconds and act like you’re trying to find the smell. Get obnoxious!
TIME TO PROPOSE! Have two people give a two-minute proposal, with everyone else encouraging them to break up.
Create your own “challenge” like Ice Bucket Challenge or KeKe Challenge. Make a one-minute video inviting people to take part in your challenge.
Spell out MSM (for Middle School Ministry) on the floor by laying down!
FORM A BAND: Sing a nursery rhyme at the top of your lungs using full air-band motions and sounds
Go to the Ga-Ga pits outside and play one round of Ga-Ga Ball (basically–hitting the ball and not getting hit in the feet–if you get hit, you’re out!)
Play Duck-Duck-Goose for 2 minutes
Challenge another group to a dance battle. Battle it out for two minutes, even if they don’t participate back.
Run up behind other players and make farting noises for an entire minute.
I’m not crazy–you’re crazy. Create a straight jacket that one person must wear for the remainder of the game.
Choose one person to stand on one foot for the remainder of the game
GET ON ALL FOURS! Each person choose a different farm animal and act it out for one minute.
MAKE A PROMO VIDEO: Choose an accent and talk about why Middle School Ministry is awesome for an entire minute.
Each person must do 10 jumping jacks.
Do a runway walk from one end of the Great Hall to another
Have one person pretend like they’re underwater until the next challenge is completed
Try to get another group to dance like robots with you.
Each person talk to another person on your team like they’re your celebrity crush
Pretend like your clothes itch. Scratch, roll on the floor…JUST GET IT OFF!
Run up to another group. Narrate their challenge like a Sports Announcer
Have everyone spin around 5 times, then walk ten steps in a straight line
Run up to another group and tell them “YOU MADE ME CRY” and drag it out until they ask why!
Choose one player to talk like a cat the rest of the morning.
Run up to another group and ask them if they believe in fairies until someone says yes!
VROOM VROOM. It’s the Indy 500! We’ll let you off with just one lap, though: run one lap around the gym.
1,2,3,4, I declare a thumb war! Have a thumb wars tournament. The winner gets cheered by the rest of the group!
Go around the circle and say your FULL NAME–INCLUDING MIDDLE!
Create a new Yoga pose and give it a name! Everyone must do the yoga pose.
RAP TIME. One person raps while everyone else beatboxes.
Choose a fitness instructor–lead the group in a workout routine for an entire minute!
TIME FOR THE GREAT DEBATE: Debate for two minutes on whether you are pro-pickle or anti-pickle.
TIME TO RAGE: Run up to another group, and start a mosh pit! (for those of you youngins…that means to jump up and down, bumping into other people)
Pick a random object in the room and make a one-minute commercial for it.
Start a back-rub train: Each person must rub the shoulders of the person in front of them. Once you’ve rubbed for 30 seconds, turn around and rub the other person’s shoulders.
Start a conga line–take one lap together around the gym.

Here are some videos from our adventures:

Grass Eating Challenge for @ywmissions . We tag THE WORLD.

A post shared by St Luke’s Middle School Min (@stlukesmsm) on Jul 10, 2017 at 7:48pm PDT

We love Playdoh. @ywmissions

A post shared by St Luke’s Middle School Min (@stlukesmsm) on Jul 10, 2017 at 7:48pm PDT

Let me know if you try it!

Best moments from Summer 2018!

junior high ministry, youth ministry

This has been THE BEST summer of ministry I’ve ever experienced. I wanted to write a blog about one or two of my favorite moments, but found myself lost for words. So, here, in no less than 1600 words, are my favorite moments from this summer:

Last summer we started a tradition that I call “Huddles with Heather.” Each Wednesday students can meet me at a local Frozen Yogurt place called Huddles, and we eat ice cream and chat. Last year we had, at the most, a dozen people. This year, we had no fewer than a dozen each week, sometimes hitting 20-25 people PLUS all the parents and students who came to hang out!
Huddles was so awesome, that my summer intern and I made “Huddles with Heather” tank tops. We only printed 12, and they became the most coveted item of the summer.
At Vacation Bible School, I led games for preschoolers (don’t laugh!). There was an awesome snack area for leaders to take a break in. There was a gaggle of 5th graders who were volunteering that week, and I got to know them–they were very interested in pictures of my cat. Since the fifth graders had only been in my middle school ministry two weeks, I didn’t know them super well. They came to Huddles that week, and brought friends with them. All of their friends ended up signing up for Mayhem!
Each summer we do Middle School Mayhem. The following memories are from it. Watch this video to see more.
There was a 5th grade girl who was crying and could not be calmed down by her fantastic student leader. I asked her what was wrong, and she said that her friend died last year, and today was his birthday. I gave her a hug as she cried, and I asked how he died. She said he committed suicide. From there, I took her into our office, and sat on the couch with her as she bawled her eyes out. She shared that he was bullied heavily, and the people who bullied him began bullying her for being sad he’s gone. She shared about the birthday party he had planned for that day, his 11th birthday. From there, I decided we’d have a birthday party. One of our leaders grabbed a piece of cake from a local place, and that student, her leader, and I had a “birthday party” in my office, huddled around a piece of chocolate cake, sharing stories and asking questions about her friend. It was one of the most holy things I’ve ever experienced. Because kids shouldn’t die that early. And we should give space for kids to grieve that stuff.
There were a few 6th grade boys who LOVED our devotion times this year at Mayhem (a struggle in previous years to get kids to settle down). They wanted more than 20 minutes of quiet time so they could “meditate” after finishing their journals.
I’ve been investing some time into a 6th grade girl, and she made me an entire “Photo Gallery” of different sketches of things–her Bible, our Mayhem logo, a picture of me, some words that describe me, and things like that. Then, later that week, she wrote me two notes: one that described how thankful she was for our relationship, and another expressing a really heavy prayer request because she “just wanted another person to know.” How fantastic that students can come to the church with that stuff.
The Pink Team was KILLER this year. I had an entire Tribe of 7th grade girls, and gave them the color pink. They created an entire Pink cave complete with so much pink, I literally had to sit down to absorb it all. Although the girls were a little points-hungry at times, their leader kept them humble and with a positive attitude.
A student leader expressed to me the week before, during set up, that she was interested in youth ministry…even middle school ministry. Somehow, through the holy spirit, we decided that she should teach during Mayhem…to over 100 people! For her first sermon! And she CRUSHED IT. Her tribe even created a poster for her, signed by everyone on the tribe, to cheer her on.
Another student leader baked an entire sheet cake with his father, and brought it to Mayhem on the last day to share with his tribe. It was such a huge cake, that he was able to share it with the group. Nobody could believe that he actually made it, it was so impressive.
ALL of my student leaders impressed me LEAPS AND BOUNDS THIS WEEK. Holy cow. Each one of them served at the level of an adult, with such poise an maturity.
We had 3 busses try to break down on us, but not once did it ruin or plans or make us late. Praise God!
This year we added “Yay Gods” and “shoutout” to our daily routine, something we do on our YouthWorks Mission Trips. The kids loved it and anticipated it each day.
Each year I get rained out of the local swim park. This year we were able to book a fantastic side plan, going to a local place for bowling and laser tag. The students had a blast.
With each student who “got in trouble,” we were able to preserve the relationship and adjust their experience so that they felt successful that week. Such a success and God thing.
OUR ORBEEZ POOL WORKED. We had a dream of filling a swimming pool full of water beads. It definitely failed during our test period (the pool popped) but the students LOVED IT. Oh yeah, and no one threw up in the foam pit this year.
Last year I had a 7th grade girl who drew me as Willy Wonka (our theme was Chocolate Factory). This year she made me a new drawing, and everyone was so excited to see her next installment. Before you know it, my office will be her official art gallery and I LOVE IT.
We had two new adult leaders this year, who totally dug and understood the middle school age. One of them had a particularly tough group, but never complained, even though he was going home to two babies each night.
MISSION TRIP memories to follow from here — which this year, we brought 41 students and leaders on! My first year here, I definitely brought seven. Ha!
One night during small groups, I overheard a small group leader saying to a girl “own it!” I heard the girl say, “I could maybe be a pastor.” The small group leader said “don’t say maybe!” and the girl responded “i could be a pastor!” That girl then told me that she was considering ministry. On the last night of the trip, she stood in front of our entire church group and told them that she might be a pastor when she grows up!
The boy who needed space to think, and stepped out of small groups time. Talking to him, I learned he’d had a rough year, and had some doubts. He was thankful that our church didn’t teach black-and-white theology. He still seemed unsettled. During the last night of the trip, he stood up and told the group that through death and heartbreak in his family, he knew he could always come back to St. Luke’s and find a home here.
The siblings who never separated from each other before, but found their separate identities at the trip.
The group of girls who embraced another girl, even though she kept pushing them away and attempting to be a loner.
After the mission trip, I asked students to send me on Instagram stories of how their Small Group Leaders have impacted their lives. One girl messaged me, saying that her SGL influences her to consider how ministry could be a part of her vocation–making this the fourth girl of the summer, and the sixth in eight months to tell me that she’s exploring ministry vocationally!
This year, I didn’t have to argue with a single kid about showering. God works in all things, big and ~~small~~ stinky!
On the mission trip this year was an 9th grader who, in 7th grade, had to “quit” Confirmation because some things came up. I really didn’t want her to quit, because I knew she’d be separated from her friends if she repeated the year, with the kids a year younger than her. This last year she was a great Student Leader for the 7th graders, and was very nervous about going on the mission trip this summer. She reconnected easily with her 9th grade friends, and on the last night, stood them in front of the entire room and told of their loyalty and kindness.
Two of our pastors are leaving the church, and taking their incoming 7th grade daughter with them. She came on the mission trip, bringing her entire entourage with them. I was concerned it might be tough, spending a “last week” with them… but the group celebrated her and her family, and as an entire group we sent this girl off with an emotional prayer. She’s going to be a cornerstone at her new church, and we’ll miss her. But it was awesome.
There was another young lady, who came on this trip, but had never come to St. Luke’s before. She said to me, “Are all Methodists like this? You guys are so kind, and emotional. Lutherans aren’t like this.” I joked with her that mission trips get emotional for everyone, but she was able to pinpoint something special about our group. And I mean… they are special.

I know that as soon as I hit “publish,” there are going to be several more things that pop up in my brain. This summer has been SPECTACULAR, and if you read every word, I want to thank you for celebrating this summer with me. :)

DIY Trophies

Resources, youth ministry

This year for our annual “Confirmation Awards” (the awards I give to students who have actually completed all of their requirements), I decided to do something different and make trophies for each of the students who won!

This was such an easy DIY, and I learned some things, so here we go:

The first thing to do is collect your supplies. I went to the local Dollar Tree, where dreams are made.

I hot-glued plastic plates onto plastic cups. I decided to double up the plastic plates, because I thought it made it sturdier and matched the texture of the cups more.

Then I hot-glued the various figures on top. For some of them, I added plastic cups that I found. For the football one, I hot-glued a “gold medal” to it. For the princess one, I broke the wand in half and hot glued it to the plate.

I spray-painted them after this. I noticed it was tough getting into some of the crevices, but if I spray-painted it from the bottom first, it made it easier. ALSO: DO NOT OVER-SPRAY PAINT. It gets tacky.

Here they are! I wish I took better pictures, but this is how they ended up looking. My one regret, besides over-spray-painting, was not picking the hot glue off before I spray painted.

Seriously easy! My favorite trophies were the dinosaur ones, and the corn one.

How I Plan Curriculum

curriculum, lessons, youth ministry

One of my biggest strengths is that I am a Master Curriculum Planner. In my setting, I kind of have to be. We have a Sunday School-style program in that because we have one main hour of programming each week, and we have Confirmation smack dab in the middle of our middle school years. So, we split off into three groups: 5th & 6th grade, 7th Grade Confirmation, and 8th grade. We still have large-group teaching and small groups, but each group has their own curriculum and discussion questions… which equals a lot of work! Fortunately, I’ve had the ability to work on it one or two years at a time, and refine the previous year’s as I work on a new year.

You might be saying, “Heather, why don’t you just purchase curriculum? That’s what it’s for!” My answer: I love most purchased curriculum out there. I’m a huge fan of Orange, Sparkhouse, LIVE, Credo Confirmation, The Thread by y360, and other comprehensive curriculums.

But for us, I assessed the needs of our context and decided to do a four-year comprehensive curriculum. 5th & 6th grade rotates Old & New Testaments, 7th grade does Confirmation, and 8th grade addresses their identity through Spiritual Gifts. You can read more about how I develop a long-term curriculum by reading my article published in YouthWorker Journal.

Here is a look at the way I format curriculum over the course of 4 years:

56 Year 1 – Old Testament
56 Year 2 – New Testament
7th Grade / Confirmation
8th Grade – Spiritual Gifts

On top of Sunday mornings, we also have lots of retreats–it’s one of the hallmarks of our ministry! I typically plan the curriculum for our retreats, as well as for Middle School Mayhem, our weeklong Day Camp. Again–I could buy curriculum for these events, and I do for some retreats. But for Middle School Mayhem, I like to mimic what is happening in Vacation Bible School since it happens the same week. This year we’re branching off from VBS week, so I may have more freedom in the future.

But again…I enjoy writing curriculum and am good at it.

Today I want to share my favorite way to plan curriculum over a series.

Basically, I fold a piece of paper into the number of lessons that I need.
I write the things that I need to plan: Date, Title, Bottom Line, Scripture, Notes, etc.
Then, I fill in the blanks. My big secret for finding scriptures that match themes is the Topical Bible.

Easy, right? Here are some examples:

This is how I planned our 8th grade year on Spiritual Gifts. I divided up the 15 gifts (from LeaderTreks) into 5 categories: Leaders, Teachers, Movers, Judgers, and & Helpers. Then I planned out some scriptures.

This is how I’m planning Mayhem for this upcoming summer! I’m drafting this on paper, then I’ll form it into a document (like the next two)

This was our first year of creating Mayhem, a day camp, so this was my first way of formatting what I drafted on paper into a document, with additional details: like, notes and games. This year’s camp was MOUNTAIN themed!

This year’s Mayhem was CAVE-themed. As you can see, I added “Snack” and some other categories to plan all aspects of the camp.

Hope this helps someone out there plan their pwn curriculum! For me, I always find looking at the week as one comprehensive piece and viewing its parts as part of a whole helpful. It’s allowed me to be really imaginative and thorough, whether the series has been exegetical or topical.

Cheers!

DIY: Giant Lite Brite

games, Resources, youth ministry

I’ve had dreams, okay?

Dreams of building a GIANT LITE BRITE for our Middle School Ministry’s NEON NIGHT.

I looked online, and I didn’t see much:

This really hard DIY that I don’t have the energy for
This really cool one used at a middle school ministry event, that would take a lot of drilling and water bottles (and we’re a green church, so that’s a no-go)
This Lite Brite Table that seemed cool
And this Lite Brite used for a stage decoration, but not for interactive play

SO. I had to do this from scratch! And it wasn’t easy. Thus begins my journey:

Step One – procure Lite Brite pegs

I found Lite Brite pegs on eBay, no where else. Not on Amazon, not on Facebook Marketplace, not on Craiglist. I figured initially that I would need 1500, but after I purchased the pegboard, I realized I needed more like 2500. It cost about $80 for all of the pegs…not a cheap venture. I also had to wait for some of the pegs to arrive (but that was no big deal – I was working in advance!)

Step Two – procure pegboard

I went to Lowes, and decided to make two 4×4 Lite Brites. I tested the pegs in the board to make sure they would fit. I realized it could work with just one peg board, but might be best with two. I thought “let’s just get this in my car first.”

It wouldn’t fit in my car. So I karate-chopped it.

Then I knew I’d need two more pieces– and I just knew they’d fit in my friend’s vehicle, since they have a crossover. I waited a week, we went to Manards and found the same 4×4 pegboard.

And it didn’t fit. So I karate-chopped it.

Step Three: Adhere pegboard with wood glue

I thought I could make it work: So I overlapped the pieces to make them strong. I used almost an entire bottle of Elmer’s Wood Glue.

But the pegs didn’t line up. I had two options:

Drill each hole individually in order to get the holes to line up better
Start over from scratch (yikes)

I called some buddies – a group of men at our church that love doing construction projects. They took it off my hands, purchased four new pieces of pegboard, put them in their truck, told me next time to just call them, glued it together, and put studs in to keep the holes all lines up while it was drying. Bravo, men.

PS, I definitely called these men on International Women’s Day. I didn’t take it personally: The best thing a woman can do is ask for help when she’s overwhelmed. Did I mention I was fighting off a flu-like plague during all of this?

Step 4: Paint Black

It took me under two bottles of matte black spray paint to paint the peg board. I only painted one side, because… remember how I was initially ahead of the game? By this point it was the day before the event. I made sure to paint inside of the holes too to make the pegs vibrant.

Step 5: Light up

This was tricky, too: We were using the Lite Brite at our “Neon Night,” which was great, considering the pegs shined better with a blacklight. However, it still needed some bright light from the back in order to make the pegs shine bright. We were fortunate that our staff’s videographer came by, and he hooked us up with 3 lights that he uses for filming.

And…Voilá.

Thoughts for improvement:

I have a few ideas that might make it better:

glue a piece of black butcher paper or tissue paper between the two pegboards. This would allow it to be REALLY black in the spaces that are unused.
Block out the sides with blackout curtains or tablecloths. That way the light is super-contained behind the lite brite.
More blacklight! That would really make it special. We experimented with putting the light in front or in back.
Spray a clear paint over it, so that the black spray paint doesn’t transfer on our hands/clothes as we transported it. It’s too awkward to move without getting dirty.

PS – We spent about $130 total on this project. $10 per sheet of pegboard, around $15 per 500 pegs (2500 total). Affordable, but definitely an adventure! I will be thinking of ways to reuse it, for sure.

All in all, this truly was an easy project; someone just had to be the first one to do it. You are welcome, world.

More about “Neon Night”

Neon Night consisted of many more components, including:

A dance floor with UV bubbles and balloons
A volunteer deejayed, and we had strobe lights and disco lights on the floor
We rented laser tags guns (PS – don’t recommend renting bunkers when you’re indoors)
We covered the space with Neon Gaffer’s Tape (it took us 4 packages…which is expensive. But next time I’ll order even more!)
Face painting
We rented three Wildfire Blacklights from a local place

Last, we had a glow bar with:

A variety of glowsticks
these amazing bracelets that don’t need ends
Finger Lights (to be honest, this brand totally failed me)
22″ glow necklaces
Neon hats (last time I ordered these I could have sworn they glow, but they didn’t this time…)

Neon night is always a favorite of mine…but it is absolutely the most expensive evening of the year, and takes hours to put up. I was very fortunate to have some great volunteers, to help with all of it. Can’t wait for next year!

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Heather Lea Campbell

Youth Pastor for Youth Pastors

Author: Heather Lea Campbell