You guys.
Friday, March 18 is Awkward Moments Day.
So I feel like we should talk about our awkward youth ministry moments. And then I’ll give away a prize for the best one. Because I love awkward moments.
I mentioned this magical holiday recently in my post, Weird March Holidays to Celebrate in Youth Ministry, along with a simple idea that you can use with your volunteers: run a contest for your volunteers that celebrates the awkwardness of youth ministry.
But then I thought, Hey! I should do this contest for youth workers, too.
So I’ll run this contest for you. And then you can run this contest for your volunteers. Get it? Awesome. So here’s how we’ll play.
1. LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST.
In this comment, tell me your most awkward youth ministry story, like when a water balloon exploded on your lap right before you had to teach. Or when you tried a trust fall to teach your students about faith, but they dropped you and you got a concussion. Or when you asked a kid how their hamster was doing and they told you they accidentally dropped a textbook on top of it and now it’s dead and they started crying. Your comment will enter you into the contest. And if you want even more chances to win, you can submit multiple stories. Each story equals one entry.
2. TELL YOUR FRIENDS.
Because the more awkward youth ministry stories, the better.
3. WIN A PRIZE.
I’ll choose one winner on Friday at 12:00pm EST. I haven’t decided what you’re going to win yet, but I’ll let you know. It’ll be cool, whatever it is. Oh, I know! I’ll give you a 3-month subscription to Digital Devotionals! Plus some other stuff probably.
4. STEAL MY IDEA.
Now take this idea (and this graphic I made for you) and use it with your leaders. Have them submit their funniest and most awkward youth ministry stories to you and then, on Friday, Awkward Moments Day, you can give away a prize of your own to your leader with the most awkward moment.
Sound good?
Good.
Go!
oh man…i hesitate even sharing this, but i’m sure we’d miss out on a bunch of hilarious stories if everyone refrained, so i’ll go for it.
we’ve all done what i’m about to share to some extent or another…i just happened to have possibly experienced the worst. one of the bad ones that we all probably heard years ago was that poor sap who said “pinched their tits” instead of “pitched their tents”…but i topped it (in my embarrassingly humble opinion).
it’s as simple & terrible as this…while teaching on stage to a room of about 100 7-12th graders & 30 small group leaders…i was sharing the life changing gospel. I was sharing about who Christ was & what his death & erection meant for us.
Yep. You read the right. Instead of referencing the RESURRECTION of Christ, I talked about His ERECTION!
I tried to power through…but the ballgame was already over. I’d lost them. And deservingly so.
our adults were laughing harder than the youth. i still hesitate when talking about the power of the resurrection to this day.
Game over. You win. Thanks for sharing! I love sitting in the coffee shop laughing out loud by myself.
HAHAHA BRETT. STOP IT. I AM CRYING.
This is absolutely hilarious!
Oh, I dunno. There was that one time I bought a tank top from Target and wore it to youth group. It had little cute owls with big eyes all over it. The night was awesome. Until car line / pick up when I’m standing in a circle with a crowd of middle school boys. That’s when Dalton looks over in a gap in the conversation and says “Hey, I like those hoo-hooterz yeah hoo-hoo….” (as his voice trails off his friends become suddenly interested in things not in that circle–ditching him and leaving me standing there with him) I’m not sure what happened after that. But I did burn the shirt immediately.
Reminds me of that Arrested Development episode when Lindsay buys a “Shèmale” tank top lol
There was that awkward time – and subsequent conversations with staff, parents, elders, etc.- when you plan a town-wide capture-the-flag type game, and rather than participating, the freshmen girls opt to go skinny-dipping in Lake Superior…in April.
#stillsweatingthrucounselingsessions
I would love to hear more about doing a town-wide capture the flag type game! That sounds like fun. I’ll skip on the skinny dipping freshmen though 😉
I am sure mine won’t compare to others as I have only been in full time ministry for 3 months. I have been volunteering for a few years. Thinking through all of these moments, only one sticks out.
In a recent trip with my students in the church van, there was an awkward exchange between a new guy student and a girl. They were sitting in the seat behind me so I heard the whole exchange.
I will use the name Evan and Molly for privacy sake.
As the trip was ending and were on the final roads back to the church and I hear Evan say to Molly (despite not speaking the whole night), “Molly, I am so glad we met tonight. I really felt like we have made a connection. Don’t you?”
“Sure…guess I will see you Sunday.” Molly said.
“Molly, do you think tacos exist? I think they’re a government conspiracy and are actually tofu,” Evan says. “That’s an interesting theory Evan, but I think tacos exist”, replied Molly.
Evan goes on about tacos and ends with, “give me your phone Molly, I will go ahead and put my number in cause I know you’re gonna want it.” Molly, awkwardly hands her phone over, trying not to laugh. Evan hands her phone back and say, “just go ahead and text me so I have your number, preesh Molly. We’re going places.” Two Minutes later I hear from Evan, “Jeff, do you see what I did there? I just totally picked up Molly!”
Molly laughs. Evan laughs and has no clue. I just turn around and high five both of them.
This was is incredibly awkward because he had no idea that Molly was shooting him down. It was hilarious and awkward. But the taco question did it for me.
Every year, a couple of churches in our town get together to do a giant food fight we call “Messfest.” Hundreds of middle schoolers all soaked in syrup, mayo, etc. Being fairly early on in my youth ministry years, I got in on all the action and was also covered in multiple viscous substances.
Also at this event was a rather extroverted middle school girl who decided she was excited and ran to see me. When she got to me she didn’t stop, but instead leapt into my arms looking for a hug. Being covered in all sorts of grossness, however, had the effect of creating a rather slippery surface. The girl proceeded to slide from my shoulders down to my feet like a fire pole. For some reason, though, my shorts decided to go with her and there I stood, in my tighty whiteys in front of a nice crowd of horrified middle schoolers.
Unfortunately, my “Messfest” story from below was not the only mishap from one of our annual food fights. A few years later I had “earned” some respect in our community and was given the opportunity to speak at our Messfest event. I had a great illustration, a powerful message, and I had tightened my strings on my shorts extra tight. I was prepared.
Part of my message was going to talk about how Jesus cleanses us from the messiness of our sin. I was going to do a Harlem Globetrotter trick and hold a bucket of water. Then, casually switch it out for a bucket of popcorn that I was going to “splash” the audience with. Everything went smoothly until it was time to throw the popcorn (what they thought was water). Apparently, I hadn’t learned my lesson from previous years and I was again messy and slippery. As I went to throw the popcorn into the crowd of students, the entire 5 gallon bucket slipped out of my hands in to the terrified audience. It eventually landed on the feet of one girl, slicing her toe and causing her to need stitches. Turns out the girl was the daughter of the senior pastor at another large church in town. It was several years before I was asked to speak again.
Final story for me. There was a church in a town about an hour from my home that was going through a pastoral transition. During the transition, the church invited different speakers to come and speak for them. I was fortunate enough to be asked. The first time I went, things went smoothly and God moved. Great. Then, they asked me to come back.
The second time I went, I prepared a message about running our race and being prepared. In my mind, I envisioned the message (with my illustration) being received with applause and perhaps the spirit of God descending like a dove while I spoke. Instead, I got rather mixed reviews.
As part of my illustration, I was going to wear running clothes underneath my suit/tie. During the course of my message, as I explained that we need to be prepared for where God is leading us, I was going to take off the suit and wear my running clothes. The church sat in stunned silence as I disrobed to “Eye of the Tiger” right in front of them. Men’s jaws dropped and women looked away as I took off my pants and proceeded to do a victory lap around the sanctuary.
After service I got to each lunch with some of the team. The worship leader mentioned that he had wanted to do a sermon where he took off some overalls and had other clothes beneath, but didn’t think it would be appropriate. However, now that I had totally undressed, he thought he might be willing to give it a try. One of the ladies said she couldn’t watch as I unbuttoned my pants, not knowing exactly what was underneath those slacks. I was never invited back.
Before I begin you need to know one thing… When my children were small rather than telling them that they needed to take a coat because they would get cold, I would tell them that if they didn’t take a coat I would get cold. Sounds subtle but it worked they would chuckle and concede instead of argue.
Last summer I took a group of middle school students, which included my son, on a mission trip. The last day we had a storm and it resulted in a cool morning so he chose to wear pants. By the time we got back from our worksites it was 104 degrees. Upon coming back to where we were staying I greeted my son and as he walked away instead of saying, “why don’t you go put some shorts on,” I yelled, YELLED, “take off your pants, you’re making me hot.”