We had no idea if this event was going to work or not!
We had a 9-12th grade car show a few weeks ago and received a great response. We invited teen drivers to bring their cars to the church and non-drivers to hang out. We had car-related giveaways (car fresheners, detail kits, vacuum, etc.) and held parallel parking competitions, regular parking competition, and a cleanest car competition.
We didn’t give a message or offer an altar call, but we did connect the teens to our awesome volunteers. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (“Whatever you do”=Drive) could be used for a short devotional. I was not a slow driver as a teenager, so I shared about my experience with speeding and tickets. I then encouraged them to drive carefully and responsibly.
COMPETITIONS
Cleanest Car, Loudest Exhaust, Best/Loudest System, Parallel Parking, “Regular” parking, Drag Races vs. Church Van (Youth Pastor’s Dream)
GIVEAWAYS
Air fresheners, Detail gift certificate from local dealership, Roll(s) of quarters for car wash, Steering wheel covers, Vacuum, Windshield Washer fluid, Gas gift certificates
OTHER
If one of your teens’ dad or other relative has a cool car, ask them to bring it. We wanted to keep this a teen-focused show, but you could invite a local car dealership (or a car salesman in the church) to bring a few cool cars.
Not many people thought that this idea would work. “No one will bring their car” or “Why would anyone come to that?” are things I heard enough times to make me want to eat a cat. The car show turned out to be the best event we did all summer.
Did you try anything this summer that totally crushed or totally bombed?
Andrew Brashaw is a youth pastor of 8+ years in New Lothrop, MI. He doesn’t blog or own an iPhone, but he does Twitter once a month @andrewbrashaw.
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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. [
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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.
Awesome Andrew! Brilliant way to engage youth in their passion area. How did you do the drag racing portion?
Just sitting here and am like WOW! What a sweet idea! Thanks for sharing!
Wow!
Greg,
Thanks for the kind words! I really like car shows and teens, so I put them together! It was much different than just including the teens in a “normal” car show…it was all about them.
We didn’t do the drag race portion, but it was one of the ideas. I wish we could have done it safely (no chance). We did consider (for a few seconds) doing a burnout. I am not sure the parents would have appreciated it, so we passed on it.
-Andrew
I absolute love this idea. What a great way to get people out and hear a good message! Competition is always a fun way to get people involved.