NEW TO CHALLENGE

The Gathering is our entire group time for worship and teaching by our speakers – held twice a day. The Gathering sets the tone for the conference and often the spiritual barometer. In the Gatherings we will unpack the Everything is New theme. Students will be challenged through what they see, hear and experience in the Gathering. The Gatherings are mandatory for all Challenge participants. Here are some things you want to keep in mind concerning the Gatherings:

• You’ll be sitting together during the gathering as an entire group. This becomes a great place to reconnect if you’ve been scattered through the day. You will be assigned seating that is rotated 3 times during Challenge. You’ll receive those instructions at registration.
• Take notes during the Gathering of questions you may want to ask your students afterwards when you have time as a group.

Challenge is youth group orientated – meaning that you and your group are there to experience Challenge together. You move from the Gathering to the Huddle – a meeting time dedicated to your group immediately following the Gathering session. Large groups will be assigned a specific meeting space for your group to gather. The Huddle is where students can begin to process, wrestle, and interact with what they have heard and experienced. There will be materials available to help you direct the time following what the speaker had to say that day. This time also allows you to give the group updates, schedule for the day, plans, etc. Here are some things you want to keep in mind concerning the Huddles:

• This is a time for the students to really wrestle and process with what they have been hearing. Don’t preach them another sermon.
• If your group is more than 10 people, we highly suggest you utilize other leaders to facilitate smaller groups of students so everyone gets a chance to talk and interact.
• If you want the big “what’s everybody feeling/thinking” sort of campfire feel, save it for later in the week.

The afternoons have programming available for your students. The Challenge team works hard to make all these options meaningful and intentional for teaching and equipping your students. Students can participate in Training, Ministry and Recreation. All the afternoon options run concurrently so you’ll need to choose what your group will be a part of together. Some things you’ll want to keep in mind regarding the Afternoon Options. Develop your own schedule that will really help your group stretch and grow in the areas they need it most. Remember, the conference is YOUR tool to use in ways to best benefit your group.

• Pick and choose what you will do in order to give your students a good number of varied and enjoyable experiences.
• Make things fun. If you do sports competitions, then do what you can to make it a big deal for your group. Go all out! During ministry times, set it up to be more than just a service project, but a way to serve one another, encounter Jesus and express love, etc.
• Think through what experiences your students have not had in the last year and push them to experience them during Challenge. Also, think about where you want your students to be in the coming year and use the conference to equip them and give them experiences in those areas.
• You may want to choose some days your whole groups does certain things together and other days where they break into smaller groups and get the opportunity to choose what they want to do.

Each evening before the Gathering, there will be a voluntary student prayer gathering. This usually ends up being a couple thousands students gathering to prepare their hearts and pray for God to move. In this gathering we also seek to teach students how to pray by modeling different types of prayer. Here are some things you want to keep in mind concerning the Prayer Army:

• This is voluntary, but it can be a powerful experience to bring your group together once and then let them choose on the rest of the nights. Many students have found this to be one of the most powerful portions of the conference.

This is extremely important – a leader from your group must be present every morning for the Youth Worker Update. Important information that you and your group needs to know for that day is shared – any schedule changes, anything special happening in the Gatherings that you need to be aware of, special opportunities, prayer requests, housing or security information, etc. This is the only time that we have the opportunity to pass on this information.     

 

We are providing a basic schedule  to help you plan your afternoon activity options as you see how you want to utilize your time. All afternoon activities run concurrently so you need to pick and choose your priorities. Download the form.

 

If you are a small church, you don’t have to do this all alone. There may be other small churches in your district who would like to partner with another church to make this happen. Contact your district point person or district Challenge rep who will work to find you other churches that are in the same situation. There may be large churches that you can also partner with for help and transportation. If you travel with another group and want to be housed with them, you will want to sign up together as a group.

 

January 2 – registration opens for Challenge 2012. (Registration requires $100 per person)

April 16 – early bird deadline – price goes up to $300 after the 15th. ($125 pre-registration fee)

May 15 – Web registration closes. Housing deadline as well.

June 1 – final payment of $175 each due to EFCA . 

• Plan a day of prayer and even fasting as a group prior to coming to Challenge.
• If your group is over 15, consider breaking your group into smaller groups for the week. Prior to coming to Challenge have two group meetings for students to gel together. During these times challenge them to develop a group covenant for the week expressing their desires how they personally and corporately will seek to relate to God, one another and those they encounter at Challenge.
• Notify your students that at the end of Challenge you will be asking them to fully surrender their lives to Christ.

• Assign a volunteer to oversee the registration and housing (especially if your group is larger).
• As your students register, you will need their full name, address, phone number and the grade they are finishing that spring.

During the week, consider carving out an afternoon and spending the day together just as your group at pulling away from the crowds and activity. Give students an hour alone with a few key questions to consider in order to process what God has been saying to them thus far through the trip.