Olympics
Young people like to compete - we youth leaders know this. The challenge is for us to create a competitive program that meets the threefold test of a successful youth program, a program that:
The Olympics program does all three of these more effectively than any other program I have used over the thirty three years I have been involved in youth ministry.
To describe the program in detail is not possible on this website. It is described in the eighth chapter of the book "Not the Same Old, Done-it-before Youth Meetings" (pages 55-65). The results of this years Olympics at the Deer Park Presbyterian Church in New York can be found on the Christian Under the Stairs Youth Group page on this website Youth Olympics 2010 .
This year's program spanned ten weeks of activities except for Easter Sunday which was in the middle of the program. We had several adults of the church play the role of Judges but before they judged events, they were given a couple of minutes to share personal testimonies with the young people. The young people were always receptive to the testimonies. This is one way to personally share the gospel of Christ in the midst of competitions.
The teams have to organize themselves and create a banner for themselves which is judged and for which they receive points. They also have to write a skit and a song which is performed and judged at a final performance for parents and youth members to attend. Many youth have developed new friendships while doing these activities which require planning, cooperation and practice.
One contest, Bible Trivia is highly weighted with points to identify the importance of the topic. I use Bible Trivia to review the topics discussed during the year up to the Olympics. Notes of the year's discussion are given to the youth a week before the event to review. In this way the Olympics plays the role of reviewing the topics of the youth program for the year.
For every athletic competition there is a non-athletic competition so everyone finds an event that they will do well in. For example, every Olympics since the early 1970's began with a volleyball game followed by a spelling bee. See the link above for more ideas of events to hold in Olympics. If you have any questions or thoughts about holding any Olympics, please write to me at Timferguson@christianyouthgroup.org or at Mountgote@AOL.com.
In conclusion, there are two events that are described in this website that I have total confidence will be successes for your youth program if done correctly. One is the Trust and Prayer activity described on the activities page and the other is the Olympics. Happy Competing!!!
For more information on Olympics read chapter eight of "Not the Same Old, Done-it-before Youth Meetings" Click: More on Olympics