Church retreat game! Need help immediately!!?

Question

Hi, I am helping to design a retreat game for our church, but I am somewhat out of ideas, so I need some help ASAP
It's best if it can be 1-2 hours, outdoor game, great for teams or around 50 people.
Thanks :)

Answer 1

I don't know if this qualifies, but I heard of an excellent exercise. It doesn't take anywhere near an hour, but would be a good addition to something else you might do. Do this one first, then go into something more active.

Start with one very small group of 2-3 people. These are the only ones who've ever heard about Jesus. They need to spread the word. The others may not 'come to faith' without talking to someone who's already 'come to faith,' but anyone who does come to know Jesus (anyone these 2-3 people 'convert') can share their new faith, too.

In the larger group of people, pass out little cards. The card gives the person who receives it his 'character' for the game. On these cards, write things like "you've never heard about Jesus and wouldn't be interested unless it involves love" or "you're interested in knowing about Jesus, but are afraid to commit" or "you've been burned by organized religion" or "you want to know Jesus and are looking for someone to share Him with you" or "you may be interested in knowing Jesus" and so forth. Come up with about 10-15 different things, some positive and some negative, and make several cards of each one. Mix the cards well before handing them out.

Once you get the cards handed out and put the 'Christians' into the mix, tell everyone there's 15 minutes until the game is over. The Christians need to work quickly, making new disciples and sending them out to share, too. Be sure to give count-down warnings starting at 5 minutes or so. Once the time is up, separate the people into those who have accepted and those who've not. The size of the 'not' group is usually a pretty good eye-opener.

Be sure to allow time for discussion afterwards. If the group is too large to facilitate easy sharing, break into 2-3 groups. Many folks will need to talk about this, so please allow some time.

Of course, if you're not looking for a teaching game, you can always play softball or run egg-and-spoon relays. Those are fun, too.

Answer 2

I don't know what films you have in mind but whatever you show, you could ask each person to write their own review of the movie. What was the central theme? What was the central message? Do they think it was accurate and coincided with the Bible? Why? Why not? Did they learn anything? What? Another thing could be to list all the commandments they can think of and give an explanation of each (boys vs girls?) You could play some modern day Christian music and some older, traditional, music and ask what they got out of the songs. What did they like the best-newer or older? Which do they think honored God the most? You could ask for group discussion on what communion means and/or what baptism means. Have them memorize the books of the Bible N.T. and/or O.T. I have seen the class divided into several tables, listen to a short sermon or story from the Bible, or Bible passage/s then give them art supplies and each table make their own picture displaying how they interpret what they heard. Hope this helps...

Answer 3

spin the bottle!