Josh GriffinMore PostsPOLL: Swimsuit Season in Youth MinistryChurches have all sorts of different standards/policies on swimsuits – wondering in this week’s poll what yours is. I tried to think of as many options as possible – select all that apply and vote now. Thanks to Josh Bump Galletta for the poll question!
JG
Josh Griffin has been in youth ministry for 16+ years in a small church and a big church. He currently serves as the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. [read more]
Geoff Stewart serves the Jr / Sr High School Pastor at Peace Portal Alliance Church in Surrey B.C.
Chris Wesley serves as the Director of Student Ministry at Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Maryland.
Colton Harker serves with Josh at Saddleback Church. He is currently in his second year in youth ministry.
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Our youthgroup is quite small (<15 boys and girls) and we never had any policies regarding swimsuits. If I remember correctly last time we went swimming all girls wore bikinis. I don't think that it makes sense to prohibit that when you go to a public beach/lake/pool where other people wear this stuff. In our church there is some kind of "tradition" to do a small preaching series about sexuality and lust at the beginning of the summer season to prepare the church members for the coming "hot" season. I think that this is more helpful than swimsuit-policies.
When I was a youth pastor in the midwest this was much more an issue than now in SoCal…
But any time a parent approaches me about this I usually ask them, “Do you really want your youth pastor on boob patrol?”
As the YP wife, “boob patrol” fall to me. This is how I handle the swimsuit & modesty topic.
Several times a year I do a special event for the girls and talk about the 3 B’s and Modesty.
“Ladies, I don’t want to see any of these things hanging out at any events, whether that be church Sunday morning, Youth on Thursdays, or swim parties. No Boobs, Butts or Bellies. Skin is a stumbling block for the men in your life. Cover it up.”
Because it’s a running topic, the girls are just used to it. There are plenty of times we have girl only swim parties and out come the bikini’s, but I’ve noticed, when a boy shows up, even a Dad or brother, the girls pull on a tshirt. Coed parties, tshirts are just a given. The girls bring them and toss them on. I’ve never had a girl balk the policy mostly because it isn’t a “YOU MUST WEAR A TSHIRT” policy. Modesty has become part of the culture of our youth ministry.
Now, if a girl shows up at an event with too much skin showing, the other girls talk to her, offer a tee or a safety pin if need be and I’m rarely brought it. So swimsuit season isn’t so scary, just another chat in a continued series of conversations.
Always an interesting debate. I’ve seen stricter dress codes where it’s one pieces only and even the BOYS have to wear t-shirts while swimming.
I’m not sure where I stand on this issue. If a boy is going to lust, he’s going to lust, no matter what the girl is wearing. But I like Suzanne’s approach: The issue is addressed year around, not just during the “hot” season. The issue is two sided: keeping boys from lusting and helping the girls be modest.
We probably focus too much on the girl’s dress code, though.
We allow our girls to wear a one piece or tankini. Tankini’s weren’t an option.
We tell them one piece or tankinis, but we don’t police it. Our kids are swimming together every day of the week as it is. If a girl is in a skimpy bikini we’ll have a female leader tell her to put a shirt on, but if it’s just a normal, non-racy two piece then we just deal with it.
Suzanne, amen!
you forgot, the girls swim from 7-8 and guys from 8:30 to 9:30 policy. No swimming together.
We recently changed our swim policy. It had been everyone wears a t-shirt, guys and girls. We got some feedback from various students that this made them feel out of place at public pools where the other kids weren’t wearing t-shirts. We felt like if this was a problem for our active kids, it was probably even more of an issue for the guests who might be invited to these events. So we have changed the policy to asking that students use good judgement in choosing their swimming attire. This has seemed to work out so far, since most of our students who are connected and hear our talks about modesty know what we mean by good judgement. And for the kids who aren’t connected it doesn’t make them feel awkward. It also gives us the opportunity to talk with the gentlemen about their responsibility in keeping their hearts pure.
Thanks Josh for the Poll Post. I live in Florida, and its rare to see a one piece unless your at the retirement home. I know growing up several churches I went to had rules, T-shirts, separate swim times, or place. So after 15 years of this, I’m slowly changing my way of handling this and wanted to see where everyone else stands on this. I to have amazing Lady leaders, and a Great wife who help with this. Most of my girls wear shorts and tank tops on their own anyway. I have yet to see a speedo at a youth activity. Its true our students go to the beach and their friends houses to swim during the summer a lot, then we change it up drastically for a youth pool / beach party event. When I do announcements about this and rules, I “act” like its the guys are the one who dress inappropriate and have fun with the swim suit guidelines.
two piece with a shirt or one piece / tankinis is our policy…. speedos always prohibited
We don’t have any policy in place, but culturally here in Australia, Budgy Smugglers (aka – speedos) are generally not worn.
Last year, my first, I tried to do a tankini or 1 piece only for girls. If they wore a 2 piece that wasn’t a tankini, they had to wear a shirt (not white) over it. Parents went nuts. I had one go so far as to tell me that if I wanted them to wear a one piece I could buy it for them. This year we will have 1 event where bathing suits are allowed and it is at a water park that is open to the public. I figure my kids will be the least of my worries. I did however ban “chicken fights” until Jesus comes, because there is just no need for crotch to neck contact. ~M
We have a policy, if you don’t think I should wear that swimsuit ( I am 6′, 300lbs of Youth group road trip, eating too much pizza fun) then try again. That definitely stops the guys from bringing speedos
@mia hahahhahaah
@Scott strong … wow, I think we might have the same build, too!
JG