Not A Mega Church? Building a Youth Ministry that Lasts no matter what size Church you are!

Are you Super Bowl Planning yet?

As I have said in a few different posts, our Super Bowl Party is probably one of our biggest outreach events we put on ever year.  In fact, we have built a solid reputation around the NW corner of Fairfax County, VA as one of the best Super Bowl parties around in which we draw an average of 125 people a year. Considering that we are a small to medium size church, we are very pleased by the turnout.

With less than 3 weeks until the Super Sunday, we are at full speed in preparation for this big outreach event.

The question I have for everyone is do you do a Super Bowl Party and do you use it as an opportunity to reach out to your community and non-believing teens?  Whether you do or not, I believe that a Super Bowl Outreach event is one of the most effective opportunities we have at reaching out to non-believers all year.  If for no other reason than everyone watches the Super Bowl, we have the perfect chance to bring students into the church.  Whether students like football or not, the fact is that they are going to watch it (if for no other reason than the ads) and we can use it to our advantage to introduce students to our ministry.  After all, the Super Bowl has such a festive ora about it that you want to watch it and want to watch with your friends.  So why not give students a fun place to hang, eat great food and enjoy the game/ads together?

This is the exact reason why I have always done Super Bowl Parties.  It was only once I came to Cedar Run over 6 years ago that we changed our philosophy to where we have gone from an "in-house" party to an outreach focused one.  Even though we are less than 3 weeks away, you can still make an effective one happen.

Here are some ideas:

1. Give students reasons to come.  The fact is, your Super Bowl party needs to be more than just football.  Even though most people watch the Super Bowl, you have to set yourself apart from the other parties that are going on.  At Cedar Run, we offer a variety of things other than just football. For instance, we offer tons of free homemade food, plenty of activities (this year we are finalizing details to have some teen appropriate inflatables) and we have give-aways.  By doing more than just showing the Super Bowl, you are opening up your doors to more people and giving students a reason to come to your party.
2. Do your own half-time show. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way on this one.  When the "wardrobe malfunction" happened, we were watching along with the rest of the world.  It was at this point that we decided that we could use this opportunity to further set our party apart from others by doing our very own half-time show.  Each year is different as we try to keep it fresh and new, but basically this is where we do a little mini youth group.  We will play a mixer or a game, show a quick funny video and then conclude with a testimony and "This is Cedar Run" video.  We do all this so that we give students an opportunity to see that Cedar Run offers so much more on a weekly basis.  Doing our half-time show has been a huge hit.
3. Share Christ. Ultimately, we did not just want to be another Super Bowl Party where you watched the game and ate lots of food.  We wanted to stand apart by giving our students something provokative and life-changing to think about.  Therefore, at the end of our half-time show, we have a a few students stand up and share about Christ's impact on their lives.

Even though you have less than 3 weeks to get organized, your Super Bowl Party can be a success.  If you have to start small this year and implement a few new ideas, NO PROBLEM.  Plan for long term success, not just short term.  We didn't just throw a Super Bowl Party and get 125 students immediately. We had to work to get that number, building upon our numbers each year.

So, are you planning yet for your Super Bowl Party?  If you are not, it is still not too late!!!

TAKE A MINUTE and...

1. Start planning.  Think of some unique things you could offer that would not only attract your students, but other non-believing students as well.  If it is just one or two simple ones, implement them and start working on it so you can get the word out.
2. Think of some students who might be good at sharing their testimony.  Set it up that during half-time, you turn the TV off and give at least 1 student an opportunity to share about Christ.
3. Create a Facebook page for it!  We did ours over a week ago and the word is starting to spread like a wild-fire.  Facebook is a great promotional tool.

If you have a thought or comment on how you have done Super Bowl Parties before, post them up so that all of us can benefit from the different and creative ideas.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Transitioning H.S. students into College Ministry
• Summer Service Opportunity: V.B.S.
• Summer Idea: Partner with Other Ministries or Churches
• Working on a Plan B
• 4 Things Youth Ministry could learn from A.A.