Every Friday night on any retreat seems to start off the same way:
Long bus ride up a big mountain with Rudy playing on those tiny TVs.
Core Members offering rosaries that said bus doesn’t get a flat tire.
Bus gets flat tire because Mary wants everyone to grow in patience.
Bus finally arrives at the camp. Teens place their stuff in cabins, and Session 1 begins with some prayer and everyone’s favorite: a Rule Skit!
Any retreat I’ve ever been on always has to have some creative way to present the rules, and to be honest it boggles my mind. It’s like we, as youth ministers, think teenagers can’t handle a one-minute list of rules.
Maybe they’ll tune us out.
Maybe they’ll miss one.
They must know that there’s no drugs or alcohol allowed at the camp.
Oh, and we have that “no purple” joke we’ve crafted that we must use!
What should we do? We need to hold their attention.
They may not listen to us, but I bet they’d listen to Batman and Napoleon Dynamite.
There’s something so beautifully cheesy about rule skits, and each one must top the previous. The more ridiculous it is, the more it seems to get the point across.
I have no idea how this happens.
I have no idea why this resonates with teens.
But for some reason it does, and all of us youth ministers are better off for it. After all, when teens know the rules and follow the rules, it allows them to enter into the most important rule of all: to keep an open heart for the weekend.
And if it takes SpongeBob to get that across, well, so be it.
Question: What’s the most ridiculous rules skit you’ve ever done? (Share below.)
We re-did the Will Farrell and Jim Carey “Lifeguard on Duty” skit from SNL. Complete with blow-up baby pool and floaties. I did get a black eye at the end of the skit because the other guy slipped on the pool and kicked me in the face without knowing it but I did not break character and finished strong! As we were going through the rules once more in a serious tone, the teens were enthralled by my eye getting more and more swollen =) But we had no problems with rule-breaking at that retreat!
Haha! Oh wow. I can only imagine what the teens were thinking: “Ok, I don’t know if that was intentional or not, but if she’s willing to get a black eye in a skit, I better follow the rules.”
No mountains here Eric. Thanks for bringing that up! lol.
Haha! Good point. I should work on my imagery.
Hehe! At one of my favorite retreats my old youthminister was laying out the rules then got to the part commonly referred to as “purple-ing”. Not wanting to have to go into the whole boys and girls, blue and red/pink explanation he paused, thought, and found a one word, appropriate way to explain what was forbidden. Expecting nothing of such a sort, there came a great gasp from everyone in the room followed by shrieks and peals of laughter after he announced “There was to be absolutely no… cross-pollination”. With issues like this, which some people even teens sadly struggle with, this… unorthodox method (although it’s ridiculous;) really provides an effective way to absolutely shut down the temptation on the spot. That’s a great thing you can give a teen. And for those who are already strong to this particular temptation- it’s a great great laugh not soon to be forgotten!
Oh wow! That is hilarious.