How to Host a Special Event for Leaders: “Getting to Know You”
Plan Ahead:
- Ask some church members to contribute desserts and beverages. This is a great way for people to have a part who can’t commit to working in club.
- Choose ice breakers based on your time frame.
- For Speed Meeting, write these topics on the board or easel pad: who’s in your family; what you do for a living; your favorite place on Earth and why; why you became a club leader; one thing about yourself that you think no one knows; a favorite childhood memory.
- Have club supplies on hand.
Ice Breakers
- In Common. Have co-leaders pair off, and give them pencil and paper. Give them three minutes to come up with as many things they have in common as possible. Clothes and bodies don’t count—no “we can both walk” allowed! When time is up, have pairs read their lists aloud. Cheer or reward the pair with the most items.
- Shining Moment. Do this as a large group or in pairs as time allows. Give leaders a minute or two to think of a personal “shining moment” in their past work with kids—a time when everything came together, they did a really good job, or the kids “got it.” (If any leaders have never worked with kids before, let them think of a shining moment working with adults, such as teaching or being part of a team.) Then take turns sharing briefly.
- The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Have co-leaders pair off. Tell them they just had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Have them tell each other five things that would turn it into an awesome day. The sky’s the limit; the ideas don’t have to be realistic (e.g. having lunch with their favorite celebrity, etc.).
- Speed Meeting. Set this up like speed dating. Form two rows facing each other. Each pair opposite each other has two minutes to tell each other the answers to three of the topics you’ve written on the board ahead of time. Have pairs choose which topics based on how well they know each other already. Call time after two minutes and have one of the rows shift to the right so everyone is paired with the next person. (The first player goes to the end of the row.) If you have a large group, you can cut back to one minute and one or two questions.
Club Resources
Hand out leader planbooks, kids handbooks, awards, Bible Memory Cards, Memory Verse Stickers and other supplies that leaders will be using. Let co-leaders familiarize themselves with the resources. Be available to answer questions.
Devotional
- Name some famous pairs who worked together, real or imaginary. (Batman and Robin, Sonny and Cher, Bonnie and Clyde, Lewis and Clark, etc.)
Read Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.
- Who are some examples of “two are better than one” in the Bible? (Paul and Barnabas, Priscilla and Aquila, David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, etc.) How did they help each other?
- When have you appreciated getting help from someone so you didn’t have to do something alone?
- In club this year, when might one club leader “fall down” or be “overpowered,” as these verses say, and how could the co-leader help? (When one has to be absent, when kids get unruly, to divide up tasks according to each other’s strengths, to give feedback on how one club leader is doing at leading a meeting part, etc.)
- What kind of “good returns” are you hoping for, for your labor as a team? (Being able to reach different types of kids, salvation decisions, less work for each, etc.)
Let co-leaders know what help you will give them as they develop their teamwork. Give co-leaders an opportunity to pray together about the upcoming club season. Close by praying for their partnership.
