Much like Kids’ Camp, STRETCH is a summer time growth event. This year it was STRETCH Out Loud.
Everything I described in my Kids’ Camp post applies to STRETCH. The difference is in adjusting everything to appeal to a Junior High School student. Everything from what’s happening outside in the field to the music and other programming in the auditorium is adjusted to attract, inspire, and WOW junior high students.
As you might imagine, this is a tall order. Junior high students are much more difficult to impress. It’s challenging to come up with field activities and other programming that appeals to the average junior high student.
In the field there are lots of sports games and other activities (basketball, soccer, extreme Frisbee, skate boarding, line dancing, laser tag, etc.). In the auditorium, in addition to a message that’s no longer than 15 minutes, there’s great (really LOUD) rock music, moving lights, smoke machines, and a few other surprises to WOW the students. And, of course there is always some kind of “stage game” that involves eating something gross or otherwise getting messy! Students love this stuff!
As with Kids’ Camp, the whole idea is to give new students a taste of what they can expect on a normal Sunday night and to give students that are already part of the ministry an event to which they feel good about inviting their un-churched friends. And, don’t forget inspiring new adults to get involved in serving. Our STRETCH event takes between 40 and 60 adult volunteers to pull off.
The event culminates on Sunday night where STRETCHers receive their free t-shirt and the student who brought the most friends to STRETCH is awarded the grand prize. They are also shown a STRETCH highlights video. New kids are encouraged to return via advertising a new teaching series and previewing the games, music, etc. they can expect every Sunday night.
Check out this year’s STRETCH highlights video …
