summer ministry | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts Our Summer Camp Baby

We’re giving birth to our first HSM Summer Camp – Phil bought this fun cake to celebrate. We leave in the morning – here we go!

JG

Add Comment July 4, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts 4 Reasons It is Time for Retreat

Every year, the student ministry team gets away for a couple of days for a little getaway to refresh and gear up for the year ahead. It always comes at the perfect time. Here’s a few reasons you might need a little retreat, too:

GO OFFLINE: Really, no email
How often do you go a day without even having your phone on you? I am so attached I instinctively check it like an electronic tether every minute or so. Not this week! Email, calls, even texting on an extrememly limited basis. Just what I needed … a little break from the noise. I only Twittered once!

STAY LONGER: An excuse to stay an extra day with my wife … and the kids
I stayed an extra night with my wife, and two extra nights with the kids and the in-laws. My wife takes the brunt of student ministry’s pace, so some extra time away with her and then the family joining us was really special. Lots and lots of pool time.

WORK AHEAD: We leave for camp in 24 hours
We’re taking a ton of students to camp this summer – couldn’t be more excited about that – we leave July 5th. So did that stand in the way of a real retreat? Honestly, it was difficult to NOT think about camp every once in a while. It is such a critical part of our summer emphasis and a big deal, but we did our best. The team worked hard to make sure we didn’t have to work hard at the retreat.

READ UP: Devour a good book
OK, so I brought 4 books along with to read … and didn’t read any of them! I was too busy spending time with people, sleeping and watching World Cup. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts!

Feels good! Now off to teach 4 services and leave for camp. Here we go!

JG

1 View Comments July 4, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts 7 More Expectations of Summer Camp Volunteers

I posted 5 camp leader expectations earlier in the week – here are the remaining seven expectations for Summer Camp volunteers. We had an amazing camp volunteer leader meeting this past week – and leave for camp in eight days!

Follow the Rules and Enforce the Rules
Students will always look to leaders to see how far they can push the rules. It is important that you are following the rules as well as enforcing them.

Respect the Staff and Campus
Please respect the campus and the camp staff. If the camp staff asks you to do something…please do it…and make sure your students are do the same.

Model Christianity
Possibly our greatest ministry is modeling what Christianity is all about. This will happen through our love for them, our passion over our relationship with God, our attitude, and through our servant heart.

Know Where Your Students Are
You are responsible for knowing where the students from your cabin are at all times. Whenever you sit down for a meal or show up for an activity do a quick head count to make sure they are all there…and go find them if they are not. Unless it says optional next to an activity on the schedule, every student should be at every activity.

Be On Time
Please help your cabin be on time to all meals and events. We have created a schedule for a reason and with such a large group even one cabin being late can throw something off.

Stick to Ministering to Your Same Gender
If you are a male you need to be ministering to male students and if you are a female you need to be ministering to female students. That doesn’t mean you can’t spend time with students of the opposite gender, but MOST of your time should be spent with students who are of your same gender.

No Pranks. No Exceptions.
Everyone likes to have fun, but when one person starts a prank the next person always takes it to another level. We want our students to have a good time. It is possible to have fun and be relational without wedgies, licorice slapping, excessive AXE body spray, nakedness, handcuffs, and stuffing small freshman in a duffle bag. Please help us protect our students, our ministry, and the integrity of our church.

JG

7 View Comments June 26, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts 5 Expectations for Summer Camp Volunteers

We had an amazing leader’s meeting the other night for our summer camp volunteers. We listed out a dozen or so expectations we have of our summer camp team, here’s the first 5 if you’re interested in adapting them for your setting, too:

This Is the Student’s Trip
We need to do everything possible to make this the greatest week of their life. In our role of leadership we need to model servanthood and take our turn last at everything.

Know Everyone’s Names
By the end of dinner the first night you should know everyone’s name in your cabin. Also, please work to learn student’s name outside of your cabin.

Be Highly Relational
This trip is our “big-time” relational trip (building significant relationships is the backbone of our ministry). Of course you will need to steal a few quick moments for some personal time to hang out, but the majority of your time should be spent investing in the students in your cabin. You should be exhausted by the end of the week from working on relationships.

Maintain a Great Attitude
Without question, the attitude of the leader will set the tone for the entire cabin. If the students in your cabin complain about something, they will listen for leader’s response. Keep positive and free from complaining, and you will see the students do the same. Your attitude is crucial.

Don’t Be Afraid To Discipline
Our philosophy is to discipline with grace and truth. Grace enters in when we remind ourselves they are high school students and we need to allow them the freedom to be teenagers. The truth enters in when there is a need to speak honestly about their behavior. If there is a relationship built you shouldn’t have any problem (rules without relationships lead to rebellion). If you need help or are unsure to how to handle a student feel free to talk to bring it up at the leader meeting.

JG

3 View Comments June 24, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts Summer Challenge for Small Group Students

One of our small group leaders named Dennis (who runs volunteeryouthministry.com) had a great post about challenging his small group boys with next steps over the summer. Some good stuff in

1. Grow spiritually! Just as they should be further along spiritually than they were when the school year began, they should be further along spiritually in the Fall when we come back together for small groups. To help them do that, I remind them of some of our discipleship tools (HABITS — see the link below) they can do on their own. I actually have a few copies there so they can take something with them if they choose.

2. Stay connected! Even though we are not having small groups over the summer, there are plenty of ways for them to stay connected through the church. I have plenty of our ministry’s summer calendars so those who don’t already have them can grab one. I especially highlight our summer camp because that’s where the best connections and spiritual decisions are made.

JG

1 View Comments June 22, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts Top 5 Things You Won’t Hear at HSM Summer Camp

Silly video promoting summer camp for our student ministry blog (it was cut form the weekend, sorry Taylor!).

JG

Add Comment June 12, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts Top 5 Reasons You Should Go to Camp

The first in a new series of videos created by our summer interns to help promote HSM Summer Camp.

JG

Add Comment June 10, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Weekend in Review: Volume 98

Weekend Teaching Series: Camp Promotion Weekend (Doug Fields 1-off)
Sermon in a Sentence: Faith is developed when life goes off the script.
Service Length: 79 minutes

Understandable Message: Doug Fields, the guy who literally wrote the book on Speaking to Teenagers, was really incredible this weekend, teaching students about a deeper faith that is built on the back of tests and trials. He used the analogy of the script and ad libs in life that cause many students to graduate from their faith. It was one of my favorite messages I’ve ever heard Doug teach and completely memorable.

Volunteer/Student Involvement: This weekend the control room was completely run by students – not a single adult in the back – and they did great! So director, lights, cameras, sound computers, producing, everything technical was run by students. Yes! We had an all-u-can-eat pancake breakfst on Sunday morning (largely because of 3 major proms Saturday night) and there were a ton of volunteers flipping flapjacks, too.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We played a game of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Summer Camp Edition” where the grand prize was a free registration to camp! That and a couple videos (the Killball Old Spice one was the highlight for me) made for some good fun setting up the weekend. We introduced the 3 HSM summer interns as well, they’re going to be a great help for the next couple of months.

Music Playlist: The Time Has Come, Rise and Sing, The Stand

Favorite Moment: Lots of great moments – my favorite was that the team covered for me to go to a birthday party with my son. Doug has always encouraged this culture, calling them planned absences, and everyone stepped up so I could be a good dad.

Up Next: Senior Weekend (1-off, graduating seniors speaking)