Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Why Rec Ministry Matters?
All of those who have grown spiritually through youth ministry all have experienced some sort of recreational ministry in one way or another. This is significant because of our experiences that we can look back and reflect at great times in our lives where God has touched us at a specific moment. There was a specific time where my youth group played a game that involved random food that was put in a brown paper bag. We were supposed to eat whatever we grabbed in the bag, no matter what it was. Sometimes we lucked out and got something tolerable, other times you didn't get so lucky. The end goal was to be the first team to finish everything in the bag and the winning team got a prize. This game matters because to this day I can look back at a silly time like that and more memories come to mind that are far more important. I reflect and see that now I have grown tremendously in my faith since that time we played that game, which is awesome to see my improvement. Through recreational ministry many relationships can be built and this is important in order to have a successful ministry.
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I 100% agree with what you are saying here. I feel as though my greatest experience or better yet the one that formed me the most and really confirmed my call was when I was working as a leader. I was volunteering at a church camp for a week and was super excited to see how God would work in these young kids and I ended up having one of the most transformative weeks of my life. I have another instance where at our guys only overnighter we would play a game called hantis which involves 4 tables and a tennis ball. I remember running around the room and working up a sweat as well as occasionally going through a table. These experience have ultimately helped me decide my major as well as allowing me to end up here at Mount Vernon.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more with both of you Dalton, and Matt. For me recreational activities has played a major part in my up bringing, and who I am today. Anything from extracurricular school events, to attending church camp as a young teen. I have two experiences which I can clearly recall that have shaped me, and helped me realize the call God has for my life. The first was when I was a sophomore in high school. I attended camp for the first time, and it opened me up to see the heart I have for others. There was a family with two brothers 5 and 7 years old. These brothers made it apparent to me that I wanted to be involved with children and youth. My next experience came the summer after my senior year of high school. I played baseball with a traveling team and was looking to play baseball in college. The entire team was Christian, we took time to pray before and after each game. We spent time in fellowship together. A teammate I played with played here. Which ultimately lead me to MVNU, working towards a major/minor that incorporates sports, youth and God.
ReplyDeleteIn my own experience recreational ministry whether it is VBS, retreats, lock-ins or just hanging out together I see everyday not only my maturity in faith and relational but also all the kids after me and the fun memories that we can look back on like a camping trip we had as a youth group and One of the guys came running in and stepped in our pot of food. That memory is tied with all of the fun we had that night playing capture the flag, singing and eating smores. A memory that I believe started me towards my major was my mom being in charge of our Sunday school class and teaching us sign language as a form of worship and fun.
ReplyDeleteI unfortunately did not have the same opportunities as most growing up to experience these spiritual growing rec activities. Since coming to Christ though I have had the pleasure of working on a Youth Ministry team. I can see first hand now how these kids are transformed through simple silliness. This makes me want to be able to provide this kind of rec ministry I never had the opportunity to experience.
ReplyDeleteI also agree, it can sometimes be difficult to capture a child or teen's attention if they might see church as "Boring", so recreational ministry is a cool bridge to connect them from the fun games to the gospel. I have also found that the relationships built through recreational ministry/at camp/in the church, are ones that go deeper and last longer than friends people might have at school. I am excited to learn more about different ways to develop a recreational ministry like the ones that we remember and were impacted by!
ReplyDeleteYou all bring up great points! I know for me, rec ministry has been important in my life. Growing up, I was involved in my youth group and they had an event called, "BLAST" (Building Leaders and Sharing Talents). It was through this event that I wanted to become more involved with my church because I had a great time, but I was also able to learn more about God in the process. Over the summer, I was able to work at a summer camp and I saw the impact that camp had on children as well as teens. Without these events, I do not think that there can be a tight bond between people. As James and Jen mentioned in class last Monday, it is at these events where you see not only the good side of people, but also the cranky, tired side of them as well.
ReplyDeleteThe youth group that I grew up in had many games at least one a week. We had many recreational opportunities as well. On the one hand, I can see the argument that games and recreation are simply entertainment or a way to market Jesus and his church to the lost of this world. However, I would say that games and recreation helped me to understand that God is interested in all of me and my life. Being Christian is not a pursuit of the mind only or the heart or soul only but it is about the entire person. By playing games and doing recreational activities we can think about our faith and those in the church in new and different ways. It also helps those of us with short attention spans to focus on God and what He has for us.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing from your post (as well as the comments) which struck a chord with me was that the emphasis is on the relationships built, not necessarily which game it is. So often the Church focuses on individual faith, where we have our personal relationship with Jesus over on one side and our relationships on the other. However, games are one of those opportunities we have to force teenagers to see the value of community - of working together to achieve an end. The way of Jesus Christ has to be practical, or else it's worth very little. Recreational ministry can be a means of grace which allows us to find meaning and see tangible implications of lessons together, instead of in individual pews.
ReplyDeleteReading through these posts I started to feel like the odd one out. I believe recreational ministry has its place, but in my experience, we tend to place it above the things that matter in a Church atmosphere. I love the memory that Dalton provided. At the same time, anyone outside of this conversation would be hard pressed to know that it happened in a church. I believe a balance needs to take place between recreation and ministry. They can be one and the same if done the right way. But on the whole recreation tends to lean on the side of attractional rather than incarnational ministry. I want to see church move away from the youth club vibe and more into a transformative nature. I have trouble with seeing how recreation, as it is done now, can do that.
ReplyDeleteRec ministry is important, but I do think that sometimes it becomes too important to a church service. Newcomers to a church might see the games we play as more important than the Scripture or message being presented when they can take up so much time. I think they are a good way to break the ice and get people introduced and open to the lesson. If they are going to be most beneficial to leaders, they should probably tie into the lesson, but still as fun. Sometimes I am hesitant to games because the focus can get off center. I want to learn a balance of fun but constructive for the students that take part in the games.
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