Help for Young Life Leaders NOW » Campaigners

Another Name for Campaigners – “Community”

PHSYL — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:59:00 +0000

Over the years I’ve tried a few things to change the name of campaigners to something else: Wiffleball Wednesdays, Commandos (WL), and a few others. I’ve also heard of names like “Man Club”, “Super-Man Club”, “Breakfast Club”, “Brothers of Thunder”, and others. My friend Alex wrote up an article on one name that has worked pretty well and he explains why. I thought I’d share it with you. Thanks Alex!

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Over the Summer of 2011 I announced to our Young Life club that we would no longer be calling our weekly Bible studies “Campaigners” anymore but now we would be calling it “Community.” The process of making this change took a while, but I really believe the change created some positive affects on our club and especially on our weekly Bible studies. About a year before announcing the change I tossed out the idea of changing the name at a team meeting, this didn’t go over so well immediately. We thought through a couple name changes, things like “Large Group,” “Small Group,” or “Home Group.” At the time my team didn’t like any of those suggestions, and my team, especially the Junior Leaders weren’t crazy about the name change. I tried explaining that the name “Campaigners” was incredibly outdated as it began as a term for those that “Campaign” for Christ. By no means am I against “campaigning” for Christ, but the term “campaign” isn’t exactly a term that’s tossed out in day-to-day conversation with our High School or Middle School friends.

I also believed that the name “Campaigners” didn’t do a decent job of really conveying what it is and why my high school friends and I gathered every Wednesday night. The method for “Campaigners” varies from club to club, but our group would gather Wednesday nights at one of our Junior Leader’s homes. Their parents would supply some snacks and drinks, we’d gather and chat for about twenty minutes, then gather together as a group, we’d each share our highs & lows for the week, pray and then hop into the book of the Bible we were studying that semester. While at the heart of all of those things are our hearts pursuing Christ as a group together, but we weren’t necessarily “campaigning.” As a the team leader for my club I saw a great need to emphasize community from the beginning of when I stepped into the position. I organized our contact work activities, and our Bible studies in a way that they created opportunity for communal growth amongst my leaders and our high school friends.

A year after initially tossing out the idea of changing the name of “Campaigners,” the idea of changing the name crept up into my mind again. The dynamics of our team had changed a bit since I originally tossed out the idea and we were all a little bit more open to innovative and creative ideas like this one (compliments to my awesome Young Life Team). I wouldn’t necessarily recommend how I went about making this change, but I will say that it ultimately worked really well (haha). One Wednesday night I made an announcement that next week we’d be making a change to things at “Campaigners,” I thought by building some momentum for the change might creative a positive outlook on the change, and would draw some of our usual kids to Wednesday night since we don’t typically make announcements like this. The one thing I did wrong was not consult anyone about this ultimate change, but I knew that if I tossed out the idea we’d never come to an ultimate agreement, and I’ll remind you, the change did still go really well. The Wednesday came, and kids were curious about the announcement. I explained the original meaning behind the name “Campaigners,” then explained my vision for our group that gather’s on Wednesday nights. I told our kids and my team that we’d be calling our Wednesday night gathering “Community” from now on, I was surprised at how well received it was! I made it a point to say that there was nothing negative about the name “Campaigners” and that I knew we’d still call it that in passing, but that as best as we could we’d try to call it “Community” from now on. Since then, I saw our kids truly understanding the vision for our Wednesday night gathering better, along with our High School in Cave Creek, Arizona better understanding what Young Life as a whole was all about, walking with Christ, sharing in life together, and loving on those that God’s put in our life.

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Christmas Campaigners

PHSYL — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:45:08 +0000

It may be too late, but I thought I’d pass along our Christmas campaigners time from tonight.

We opened, as we always do with a game, then we sang some Christmas carols, did some announcements (including an update on Raju, the Developing Global Leaders student staff we are helping support), and then moved into our Bible study before closing with prayer requests and prayer.

For our Bible study we divided up these parts to act out:

Luke 1:26-38 Angel speaks to Mary

People: Gabriel (angel) , Mary, Narrator

Gabriel: _____________

Mary: _____________

Luke 2:1-20 Jesus’ birth

People: Caesar, Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, Shepherds, Angel, Heavenly host (lots of angels)

Caesar: ______________

Joeseph: ________________

Baby Jesus (doll)

Shepherds (2): _____________, _______________

Angel:_______________

Heavenly host (the rest of us)

Narrator: _______________

We gave them 10 minutes to practice, then we talked about what each character experienced.

We closed with two fun Christmas videos, which are below:

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BYOC – Build Your Own Campaigners

PHSYL — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 02:29:00 +0000

For the past few years our club has split up guys and girls campaigners. This year some details changed and our leadership team decided to do campaigners co-ed. When I put together all of my ideas I simply had too many components that I wanted to include. So I came up with a plan, with some feedback from other leaders, that is sort of a plug-and-play plan to include different parts each week.

Take a look and let me know what you think!

PHSYL – Build Your Own Campaigners – Campaigners Options.docx

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Campaigners Booklets

PHSYL — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:20:00 +0000

I hope you enjoy YLHelp.com. I don’t do this often, but I wanted to let you know about some booklets that I have written. On YLHelp I’ve posted 258 different posts full of ideas that you can read and use anytime. Enjoy! Here are some other resources that might help your campaigners, one-on-one discipleship or Bible studies. I know many of you have been ordering these for your Fall campaigners.

Cabin Time Continued

This booklet is a series of lessons that are geared for camp follow-up. It reviews the main topics we normally cover at camp and then a few critical first topics for getting start in Christ. A lot of people have brought these to camp to give to kids at the end of the week, or to use right when they get back. Each lesson can also be used on its own, apart from camp. I just used one for a weekend retreat for college kids to use for their morning devotional.

Live Like This Part 1

This booklet is a study on the Sermon on the Mount. These three chapters in Matthew are broken up into 20 lessons (1-10 in Part 1 and 11-20 in Part 2). I chose the Sermon on the Mount for these booklets because I believe this section of scripture is the most compact and intense teaching on Jesus’ vision for the world built through the lives of his followers. The topics are very practical and simply just a walk through scripture. I even used these as a springboard for our couples Bible study group over the course of a year.

Live Like This Part 2

This booklet continues where Part 1 left off and finished the final 10 lessons.

If you would like more information, some samples lessons to download, or want to order online, check out this page.

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Great Club Talk and Campaigner Resource!

PHSYL — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 20:41:00 +0000

YLHelp reader Dan from Quad Cities, Indiana sent me this great resource for club talks. It also includes questions and ideas for campaigners for the same topics. Here are the talks included in this resource:

Who Do You Say That I Am? Matthew 16:13-16
Jesus and H20. Matthew 14:22-33
Attempt to Stone Jesus. John 10:24-39
The Arrest of Jesus. John 18:1-11
Peter’s Denial of Jesus. John 18:15-18, 25-27, Romans 5:12-13
Jesus’ Death on the Cross and Resurrection. 1 Cor 15:1-11, Rom 6:23
Salt and Light. Matthew 5:13-16

Club Talk for 2010.PDF

Thank you Dan for sharing your insights and resources! The idea behind YLHelp is to share the best ideas so we can benefit from each other, like a gigantic all area leadership meeting from across the world. If you have some info you can share, send it in!

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Live Like This Part 2

PHSYL — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 07:58:10 +0000

I am happy to announce that Live Like This Part 2 is now available.

Thank you to everyone for your encouraging emails and comments about Live Like This Part 1. I have continued to find the wisdom found in the Sermon on the Mount to be challenging and rewarding not only in the small groups I lead, but also personally. We have even adapted this study for a married Bible study group and for large college YL ministry small groups.

I trust that Live Like This Part 2, the second and final installment of a Bible study through the topics found in the Sermon on the Mount, will continue the style and approach of Live Live This Part 1.

If you would like more information CLICK HERE.

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New Resource: Live Like This – Plus a Free Giveaway

PHSYL — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:52:11 +0000

For those of you who have followed YLHelp for a while, you probably have seen that I have published a booklet for camp follow-up called Cabin Time Continued. It is a series of 10 Bible studies perfect for when you come home from camp. I’ve seen people use it just for normal campaigners too. In fact I’ve used it twice in the last week as a part of one of our team meeting Bible studies.

I’d like to announce a new resource I have published. It is called Live Like This. Live Like This is a study through the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is a fantastic study, especially for those in campaigners since it is simply the teaching of Jesus. I’ve divided the booklet in two parts. Right now Part 1 is available and Part 2 should be done this summer. If you would like more information on either of these resources check out this page.

I can use your help too. I’d like some feedback on Live Like This. I’ve used it for almost a year now in my campaigners and so have some of my friends, but I’d love to hear what you think of it. So I will give a free copy of it to the first ten people who leave a comment on this post. You just need to be willing to give feedback after you receive it. Just make a comment, that way I’ll have your email and then I’ll email you for your mailing address. Also, until the end of April, anyone who orders Cabin Time Continued, perhaps to prep for camp follow-up, I will throw in a copy of Live Like This for your review. If this isn’t up your alley, no worries, I will keep sharing all the YL ideas I can gather just like I always have. Thanks

UPDATE: 4/27/10 I’ve had well over 10 people contact me. Some on comments below and lots through email so thanks! If you would like a copy then check out the ordering page. Thanks again!

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Weekend Camp Cabin Time Questions

PHSYL — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:09:00 +0000

I recently spoke at a YL weekend camp. One of the best pieces of YL camp speaking advice I ever received was to plan your cabin time questions before you plan your talk. Obviously you tweak them after you study the scripture and the rest of the talk planning process, but you really want to begin with the end in mind.

Even as a speaker, I feel the most critical part of the gospel proclamation and formation is in the cabin time discussion. I’m sure you have seen miracles happen in front of your eyes in the midst of cabin time, I know I have.

I have posted cabin time questions before here, and below are the ones I recently used. If you are interested in more cabin time type questions you can also look here.

Cabin Time Questions Weekend Camp Handout

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Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 7

PHSYL — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:49:00 +0000

Here is the seventh installment of Sync through Mark…

Sync: Mark 7 Club Talk
Sync: Mark 7 Campaigners Plan

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Club Talk and Campaigners Sync is BACK!: Mark 6

PHSYL — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:39:29 +0000

Last Spring, we began an ambitious project to write a club talk and corresponding campaigner lesson for each chapter of the Gospel of Mark. We got through 5 chapters and then needed to pause. Over the summer we received lots of positive feedback. In fact, just yesterday Vince, a leader from Indiana, left this comment, “Thanks so much for the advice…I did this talk tonight at All-City club and it went well.”

My friend Tanita has stepped up on this project and thanks to her and others, I am excited to announce…

Here is the sixth installment of Sync through Mark…

Sync: Mark 6 Club Talk
Sync: Mark 6 Campaigner Plan

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