Goofs
If you have been in youth ministry for more than one day you have experienced some goofs. No, I’m not talking about students. I’m talking about times when you said something or did something that just didn’t work out how you wanted it to. This week I want to open up and share some of my goofs in youth ministry, and hear some of your goofs.
I was a summer youth pastor at a church, and was taking a group of students on a retreat at the end of the school year. I decided since I didn’t know the students real well, and they didn’t know me that I would lead them on a trust walk that ended with a whipped cream fight (I don’t know why I didn’t use shaving cream). Anyway, it all went just fine until we got back to the cabin and found out that the water only came out of the faucet in a very, very small stream. We all did the best we could, but ended up stinking like spoiled milk the whole weekend long. It was a smelly situation.
So, what goof have you had in youth ministry?
Posted on January 12, 2009, in Uncategorized and tagged Goofs, Student Ministry, Student Pastor, Youth Ministry, Youth Pastor. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
I am doing a series on a similar topic at http://www.youthinthecorner.com
At my first church, when we went to camp the first summer, one of the boys thought it would be “awesome” to bring a strobe light. I didn’t really see the harm…until they turned it on and began to run around the cabin.
The sinks were on the back wall, and as they ran around, half in the dark, one of them knocked a sink off of the wall.
No big deal right? Well when the sink fell, the water line burst and a stream of water was shooting up to the ceiling and raining down all over the floor and 2 of the bunks. It took a few seconds for everyone to figure out what happened, watching it rain in the strobe light, and to get the lights turned on.
I figured out how to kink the water line to make it stop, while one of the boys ran to maintenence.
We had to do without showers that morning, but it was fixed by the next afternoon, lots of stuff got wet, but overall it was harmless. Good times
It may not be youth ministry, but as music minister, I once stood up the Sunday closest to Thanksgiving and asked the congregation to stand and sing “Give thanks with a grateful fart…umm, I mean heart.”
Most didn’t hear it. But those who did, namely the youth minister, still rag me about it. I can’t sing that song anymore.
I’m in my first year of youth ministry. On a Wednesday night service I was talking about setting priorities and that we have to make choices. I made the stupid comment that I had to choice between personal time with God or “personal time” with my then girlfriend (now she is my wife). Opps.