What do toilet plungers, bacon soda, hissing lizards, and frozen mayonnaise have in common?
Preaching Rally games, of course!
Having silly games is crucial to the Preaching Rally. Without the chance to loosen up, have fun and laugh together, attendees would not return to the Preaching Rally.
Lest we think games are somehow non-spiritual, or playing games at a preaching event is diminishing the importance, consider the following thoughts on why we include games at our Preaching Rally:
They are simple. We do not do over-the-top crazy games. Instead, we keep them simple. No game lasts more than 20 minutes, and most are only a few minutes each. No games drag on. Before anyone realizes, the time is up and we are moving on to the next thing on the schedule.
They do not detract from the message. Because our games are simple, they do not hijack the event’s focus. The preaching is the focus of the day, and the content is what creates the impact.
They create fun memories. Part of the strategy of the Preaching Rally is to create memories together (hopefully good ones), so we have fun, shocking, and character-driven games (namely, the boldest volunteers from each youth group, and the youth directors).
They “loosen up” a crowd. Everyone knows that an “ice-breaker” can be used effectively to break down intangible barriers between strangers. Games serve the message by awakening people’s minds and getting them past the new-ness of the day.
They get people laughing. Something about laughing together is medicinal (sounds like a Bible verse, huh?). Even grouchy people can find humor in a 25-year-old man “rowing” a skateboard with a toilet plunger.
The Bible’s not against it. I have not found a Bible verse that condemns using games in a service. I have not found one that commands me to use games, either. If I understand Bible liberty right, I am okay in God’s eyes when I play “Rock-Paper-Scissors” at our Preaching Rally.
You might say that we should just show up, open in prayer, sing a song or two and have four hours of preaching. Games might be too childish for you. You might think Christians ought to be more mature than to have to “use” games as a ploy to make the preaching palatable.
A part of me agrees with that sentiment. I am not a games-ey kind of guy, usually. But I see the value of what games can be and do in a service, and I will continue to use them in their place.
After doing crowd games for several years, I have come to realize a few things:
Fun is easy in a crowd. I used to stress myself out over the games. I wanted everyone to enjoy themselves, and I felt like I had to do all the work to make that happen. I realized that teens have fun in a crowd, almost automatically. Up-front games are just as fun as crowd games (usually they are MORE fun for everyone), because the teens who do not want to be involved still enjoy watching others. And sending a race up and down the aisles helps involve the crowd, including those sitting in the back.
Characters reflect the crowd. I use volunteers for most of our games because volunteers are willing. A willing person is usually a character–not easily embarrassed, loves to be seen, will do silly things for a laugh. People rally around a character, rooting him on to his best. The character is like the spokesman for the crowd, and the crowd experiences the game through their character, particularly if he or she is from their youth group. The crowd tastes the nasty soda when they see the guy grimace. The crowd groans in agony when their favorite candidate loses to the other.
Youth pastors are the best characters. The crowd favorite is the “Youth Pastor Round” of whatever game is happening. Fruit-by-the-foot-eating relay race? The teen round is exciting; the youth pastor round is electric. Everyone–including the kids who hate their youth pastor–wants their representative to win. Better yet, everyone wants to see their own youth leaders in a different setting–like a no-hands ice cream eating contest (with a frozen mayo substitute for one particular youth pastor). [Note: do not embarrass the youth leader. I try not to choose games that might diminish the youth leader’s respect in the eyes of the teens.]
Below are a few of the games we have used in the past…
The crowd pairs up and plays the classic Rock-Paper-Scissors against each other. Ties are replayed until one person wins. The WINNER of Round 1 finds another winner to challenge, and the LOSER of Round 1 becomes his cheerleader in Round 2. Play continues with the losers cheering on the winners until the final rounds, when four pairs of contestants are brought onto the platform to compete to the end, each with hordes of raving fans cheering for victory.
Source. We saw a show on hulu.com called “Total Blackout” that sparked the idea. Contestants are placed into a fully dark room and told to do a variety of things: identify objects, race through a maze, guess the weight, etc. Sometimes, for example, they are feeling a camel or a crocodile and trying to guess the weight. Sometimes, they have a glass globe put around their head and they can only guess the item based on feeling it on their face. Disclaimer: while they *bleep out the curse words, this is not a clean show. We do not regularly watch the show.
Adaptation. We adapted the show with a blindfold, 4 contestants and 5 clear file boxes. In each file box was an item they had to identify while blindfolded.
We wanted it to be as scary and gross as possible.
PREP:
- Volunteers from each team.
- Guess items by feel. Some, use your HAND. Some, use only your FACE.
- Blindfold – spray-painted swimming goggles
- TIMED event – Complete as many as possible in 3 minutes OR the fastest time for all items.
NEED:
- Table
- Items in place
- Timer
- Score keeper
PERSON 1 (from each team)
- Goldfish (live) – hand
- Raisins – hand
- Grass – face
- Wig – face
PERSON 2 (from each team)
- Ramen – hand
- Mustard – hand
- pine cone – face
- Teddy bear – face
- Smelly work shoe – face
Other ideas:
2014 PREACHING RALLY:
ROUND 1
- Sponge/toothpicks
- Mustard
- Fuzzy hat
- Wig
- Spikey ball
ROUND 2 (blind taste test flavored soda)
- Coffee
- Peanut butter
- Ranch
- Sweet corn
- Bacon
- Buffalo sauce
ROUND 3
- Live goldfish
- Diaper (with browned bananas)
- Jello
- Pine cone
- Pool balls
ROUND 4
- Raisins
- 15 hissing lizard
- Tape donut
- Shoe
- Grass
OTHER IDEAS
- Mouse trap
- Ramen
- Popcorn
- Rope
The score-keep recorded the name of each person and how much time it took to identify the items. We printed several copies of the following form:
NAME: ____________________
Item #1 ______________
(time)
Item #2 ______________
(time)
Item #3 ______________
(time)
Item #4 ______________
(time)
Item #5 ______________
(time)
Item #6 ______________
(time)
Dismiss each church individually (to space out the lunch line, for example) using the following ideas:
Youth Pastor:
- oldest
- smallest shoe size
- least amount of hair
- Shortest time as youth director
- Drove the furthest today
- Had the most speeding tickets
- Weighs the most? No. 🙂
- Most kids (not teens, BIRTH kids)
Bring items to front:
- Largest shoe size
- Biggest Bible – most pages
- $2 bill
- $100 bill
- red shoe laces
- Church bulletin in my hand
- Student id
- Kindle
- iPhone
- Girl with the longest hair
- Guy with longest nose hair?
- Pen with a chewed cap
- Coin from the 1960s
- Paper clip
- Stamp
- Family picture
- Gum in the wrapper –
- Key chain with at least 8 keys
- Store receipt
- Driver’s license
- Black shoelace – has to be removed from the shoe
- 2 people with their shoelaces tied together
- Book mark
- 10 of those little weird bracelets (silly bands?) linked together
Run Forward trivia – answer in mic
- What planet is closest to the Earth (Venus)
- What woman was thrown out a window in the Bible? (Jezebel)
- What do you call a plant that grows and dies in one growing season? (annual)
- Dana needs 8 eggs to make 2 cakes. How many cakes could she make with 24 eggs? (6)
- Name TWO women in the Bible with books named after them. (Ruth and Esther)
- What is the capital of Portugal? (Lisbon)
- In what NY state mountain range did Rip Van Winkle fall asleep in? (The Catskills)
- How many justices are there in the United States Supreme Court? (9)
- Name three women mentioned in Ruth chapter 1. (Ruth, Orpah, Naomi)
- A2 + B2 = C2 is also known as who’s theorem? (Pythagoras)
- What instrument is used to measure radiation? (Geiger Counter)
- Who wrote Pride & Prejudice? (Jane Austen)
- Vertical lines divide a musical score into what? (Measures)
- In the famous poem, “Casey at the Bat”, what town was Casey playing in when he struck out? (Mudville)
- Name three MALES (I can’t call them MEN) mentioned in Ruth chapter 1. (Elimelech, Mahlon, Chileon.)
Choose three contestants to perform the world’s greatest dunk contest down the center aisle of the auditorium. One at a time, they can perform their routine with a small rubber ball and a kid-sized basketball hoop. The audience will judge by their cheers.
Everyone raises their Bibles, held by the spine. Pre-select various Bible verses. Quote the ADDRESS, but not the BOOK. Once you say the book, that means, “GO!” Teens race to put their finger on the verse you mention (i.e. Say, “3:16, 3:16… JOHN!”)
Choose teams of guys to do team push-ups. The big man is on the bottom in a push-up stance, with his feet under a chair. Above him, his teammate is in a push-up stance with his feet on top of the chair and his hands on the big man’s back. Count off push-ups that each team does simultaneously. Last team still doing push-ups wins. Repeat with a youth pastor/teen team round.
Choose four volunteers and a pitcher. One at a time, the pitcher pitches 8 marshmallows underhand. If it goes over everyone’s head, it is a home run. Most home runs wins.
Choose 8 volunteers from each team. Fewer people is okay as some can hold two cards. Give each person a sheet of card-stock paper with a letter printed on it. When you call a word, the first team to arrange themselves in order (spelling it correctly) wins a point.
Sample words:
(10) ENTMPASROG
- Rats
- Smart
- Gore
- Set
- master
- roast
- smear
- togas
- snore
- ten proms
- get spam
- great son
Later in the game, add these letters: (3) B I L
- Bails
- Boring
- Lent
- Lamps
- Lips
- Boils great
- Strong meal
- Blame pigs
- Boil gas
Two contestants face off, feet about shoulder-width apart and open hands facing each other, palm to palm. The contestants keep their hands together and try to push each other’s hands. The first person to take a step loses.
Choose four contestants, each with a skateboard and plunger. Send them on “GO” down an aisle, across the back, and up another aisle. Our church has three aisles (left, center, right), so we sent two down the center aisle, and they split left/right. The other two contestants started down the left/right aisles, and met in the middle aisle for the final return. Collisions are inevitable (and encouraged!). “Paddling” with the plunger was too difficult, so they just had to have it with them at all times.First person to return wins.
Give each contestant a Fruit-by-the-Foot, hanging down from their mouths. With no hands, contestants eat the snack. First person done wins. Do a youth pastor round where each youth pastor gets two.
EATING ONLY
Lay out pre-scooped bowls of vanilla ice cream in front of contestants. First one to eat their entire bowl wins. Use plastic trash bags, table cloths and drop cloths to protect the floor and clothing, and have clean-up items on hand for after the contest.
NOTE: Frozen mayonnaise looks identical to vanilla ice cream. For a practical joke (to get back at a buddy of mine who made me eat baby food at his youth rally), I gave my friend the mayo and played it up to the crowd.
CREATING AND EATING
For a twist, have contestants make their own ice cream sundae. Choose teams of 2 people each, one in the FRONT, one in BACK. The BACK person is blindfolded, taking direction from the FRONT person, who will eat the sundae. Each sundae item is laying in front of each contestant, and the team has to make AND eat (with a spoon) the entire sundae, which includes:
- Two scoops of ice cream
- Chocolate syrup
- Peanuts
- Whipped cream
Choose 16 volunteers to stand in a circle up front, linking hands and facing inward. Randomly choose two people to be “it,” and they step outside the circle and join hands. The “it” team goes around the circle, touching each union of hands saying, “Duck, duck, duck…” When the “it” team decides, they choose a pair of hands and say “GOOSE.” The “it” team and the “goose” team race around the sanctuary (or a section of pews) to return to the gap in the circle. The last team loses and sits. Another “it” team is chosen and play continues until only a few are left.
Related
Comments
comments
