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Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry Tuesday, May 19, 2009 In This Issue
Featured Article: Making it Special for Graduates
Making it Special for Graduates Fun Ideas Youth Groups Can Do for Graduating Seniors and 8th Graders With the end of the school year around the corner, many of us are looking for some fresh ideas of how we can do something special for our graduates. As our seniors leave the group or our 8th graders move on, let's make it memorable! You know our team here at THE SOURCE loves to regularly provide you with free youth ministry ideas. That's why in past years we asked our EZINE subscribers for their best graduation ideas in the form of a little contest. We're posting many of the individual elements we liked, the top five ideas, and a few honorable mentions below. Even though you might not use these exact ideas, I think they'll get your mental gears turning. INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS WE LIKED It was amazing to see all the fun and creative ideas that came in. Many had similar elements. Some of the basic ideas for ceremonies included the following components:
People also came up with some great "senior trip" event ideas:
Some of the gifts that were suggested were:
THE TOP FIVE IDEAS Out of all the ideas, a select few stood out to our team at THE SOURCE. The following five are our top picks: #1- Senior Night... and Then Some Submitted by Leo Barnes, Christ Community Church, Zion, IL JONATHAN'S NOTE: Although we had many people submit ideas about "graduation ceremonies" of some sort, Leo had some very distinctive elements that we loved (for example, bringing the college kids in for a unique portion of the ceremony and the freshman kidnapping). Thanks for the great ideas Leo! Every year we do the following for our graduating seniors and 8th graders: In Church: On the Sunday before graduation we bring all of our graduating seniors to the front and I give a short (2-3 minute) talk, followed by a name by name recognition of each senior. As they leave the stage they always receive a book from our pastoral staff, this year it will be Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ." In Youth Group: That same evening we bill our youth group event as Senior Night. We project a slide show of pictures of the seniors from as many years back during their youth group time as we can. Inevitably, the non-seniors appear in the shots as well and it becomes a great time of looking back and reminiscing. Then, in place of a message from me that evening, we have the seniors all sit at the front of the room and let everyone else share their favorite memories of the seniors. We get a mix of "most embarrassing" stories and genuine encouragement from underclassmen about how some of the seniors have shaped their walk with Christ. We then give every senior a chance to share a piece of advice with the underclassmen. We as staff are always amazed by some of the things we hear/find out that night. Then we take the underclassmen out of the room for an activity and bring in current college students who graduated from our youth group and have them talk with the seniors about the challenges of being a Christian in various college environments. We get more positive feedback from this night than any other night of the year. Freshman Kidnapping: One of the final tasks of our seniors is to assist with our annual Freshman Kidnapping. With permission from parents, our high school students show up at the homes of our graduating 8th graders at about 7:00 AM on a Saturday morning and pull them out of bed "as is," with some obvious provisions for modesty of course. They then take them out to a local restaurant where our staff are waiting and the church treats them to breakfast. Students talk about their kidnapping experiences for years to come. Once the kidnapping has occurred, the 8th graders are then an official part of the high school youth group.
Jonathan's Blog: Jonathan Unveils Messages from Popular Songs
It's fun, it's informative, it's gritty... it's Jonathan's Blog.
This weekend, Jonathan's Blog unveiled some of the messages our kids have been hearing lately from a few popular songs
on the charts
Katy Perry Does It Again Posted on Friday, May 15, 2009 6:52 AM 
Last week Katy Perry made a guest appearance on American Idol, elevating yet another one of her songs to the top of the charts,
Waking Up in Vegas. Not a bad marketing move for Perry. Most people that appear on Idol are on the charts days to follow.
No exception here, as of today the song is #5 most downloaded song on iTunes and the #10 most downloaded
video.
Katy's song started with these lyrics...Maybe it's just me, but it seems that Idol's content this year has been a little less "family friendly." Not the contestants... but the guest stars. Just a few weeks ago Jamie Foxx sang the song, Blame It (you decide what you think of the lyrics). This week, Katy did her thing. Sure... these songs meet the standards of what is "acceptable" for T.V... but parents should probably make the decision of what is really acceptable for their kids' ears.
You gotta help me out
Nice. Huh?It's all a blur last night We need a taxi 'cause you're Hung over and I'm broke I lost my fake ID But you lost the motel key Spare me your freaking Dirty looks now don't blame me You wanna cash out And get the hell outta town Don't be a baby Remember what you told me Shut up and put your money where your mouth is That's what you get for waking up in Vegas... Katy's background is interesting, a flop as a Christian singer who adjusted her content to go mainstream. I blogged about her before when her I Kissed a Girl song first came out (and received heated responses from internet readers), she's definitely one to keep your eyes on. Her journey as a young artist is reminding me of Madonna's legacy-- creative, controversial, and sexual... just what young people want to hear. It would be nice to think that our kids are not hearing this music outside of our houses... but, think again. My son came home from school yesterday and announced, "Guess what song they (the school) were playing at lunch today. If You Seek Amy." (If you're not familiar with that song... you'll want to read this article) The song wasn't edited. The school plays songs as long as they aren't "explicit." (and that song only 'spells' the F word... it doesn't say it. Nice!) This isn't my first experience with this kind of music slipping under the radar at my kids' schools. So how should we respond? Unfortunately, a letter to your congressman will probably do very little. But David offers parents and youth workers some advice at the bottom of our past Youth Culture Window article on the subject-- check it out for more about the lyrics our kids hear, how the lyrics affect them, and how we should respond. Add Comment
Another one of Jonathan's Recent Blog Entries:
Twilight or Slumdog? Posted on Tuesday, May 05, 2009 3:06 PM 
MTV is entrusting their web viewers with the task of choosing the nominees for their upcoming MTV Movie Awards. I love seeing what kids choose...
it provides a realistic glimpse into their world.
I'm not a betting man, but if I was, I'd bet Twilight is going to take all! Twilight and Slumdog Millionaire took the lead with the most nominations. But I predict that at THIS award's show, Slumdog won't come out on top. It's a no-brainer. I have personal experience with the type of dedicated (or brainwashed) fans that Twilight draws… 
Jonathan McKee, president of The Source for Youth Ministry, is the author of numerous youth ministry
books including the brand new 10-Minute Talks, and the
award winning books Do They Run When They See
You Coming? and Getting Students to Show Up.
He speaks and trains
at camps, conferences, and events across North America, and provides free resources for youth workers internationally on his
website, TheSource4YM.com.
Delivered free via e-mail to subscribers each week. We encourage you to distribute this newsletter freely and ask only that you not change its contents. HAVE YOU MISSED PAST "EZINE" ARTICLES? CLICK HERE FOR JONATHAN'S "EZINE" ARCHIVES And for more FREE resources and ideas ... go to THE SOURCE www.TheSource4YM.com Copyright ©2009 The Source for Youth Ministry All rights reserved. |
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