Mixer idea: Friday Night Scramble
Our Indiana pastors and wives retreat this weekend was such fun! Our churches are blessed with wonderful, Godly leaders.
Looking for a good mixer for a large church event? Here’s one we used at the retreat. You can see that the questions are designed for pastors and pastor wives in Indiana, but you can tweak the questions to fit your group.
Hang giant numbers 1 – 9 (made of posterboard) all around the room, high on the walls. Spread them out to cover the entire room. You’ll call out a question, show the answer choices on powerpoint (or posters), and ask everyone to go to the number that corresponds with their answer, and chat with others in that area. Explain that when the buzzer sounds, everyone stops and moves to the next question.
We gave a new question every 3 or 4 minutes to keep the game moving. People would move to their answer and immediately begin chatting with others there. We played music a little loudly to make conversaton less intimidating. The purpose, of course, is to allow the group members to quickly discover some things they have in common, stimulating friendships and later conversation. These are the questions we used:
FRIDAY NIGHT SCRAMBLE
[Questions & answer choices on powerpoint; host blows whistle to announce next question.]
COLOR OF YOUR SHIRT
(this one’s for practice…when you get there, tell someone your favorite joke?)
1) Blue
2) Red
3) Green
4) White
5) Pink
6) Black
7) Brown
8) Yellow
9) Other
MY CHURCH LOCATION (chat about what your town’s known for)
1) North Indiana
2) South Indiana
3) East Indiana
4) West Indiana
5) Central Indiana
LIFE STAGE: (if you have children, share your favorite “pastor kid” story)
1) Married with no kids
2) Married with preschool kids
3) Married with school age kids
4) Married with teenager
5) Married with college age kids
6) Married with adult kids
BIRTH STATE (where did you grow up?)
Put up a map of the US with colors and have them to the right area by number
ARE YOU… (more than half IN pastors bi-vocational! Q: tell your worst wedding accident)
1) Full Time Pastor/wife
2) Bi-vocational pastor/wife
A SPORT I LIKE: (FAVORITE PLACE/USED FOR MINISTRY HOW?)
- 1. Hunting
- 2. Fishing
- 3. Golf
- 4. Team sports (football, baseball, basketball)
- 5. Hike/walk/jog
- 6. Camping
- 7. Archery/Shooting
- 8. Biking/motorcycling
- 9. Tennis
CHURCH SIZE: [your church’s high attendance this year](Q: what’s the best thing going on at your church lately)
1) 2-50
2) 50-100
3) 100-200
4) 200-350
5) 350-500
6) 500+
BIRTH MONTH (a quick one. See if you can find someone who shares your birthdate.)
1) January - February
2) March
3) April
4) May-June
5) July
6) August
7) September - October
8) November
9) December
OUR CHURCH WORSHIP MUSIC STYLE: (talk about how your music helps reach people)
1) Contemporary
2) Traditional
3) Blended
I ENJOY… (FAST)
- 1. Reading
- 2. Model building
- 3. Knitting/quilting/sewing
- 4. Bowling
- 5. Gardening
- 6. Eating J
- 7. Scrapbooking
- 8. Woodworking
- 9. Stamp/coin collecting
CHURCH SETTING: (after you get to your group, tell someone about your most embarrassing moment as a pastor/pastor’s wife.)
- 1. Rural
- 2. Small town
- 3. Medium size town
- 4. Large town
- 5. Inner city
IF YOU WERE LEAVING TODAY TO BE A MISSIONARY, WHICH COUNTRY WOULD YOU CHOOSE? (Here’s a fun question for you.)
1) Chili
2) Ireland
3) China
4) India
5) Brazil
6) Mongolia
7) Iran
8) Australia
9) Zimbabwe
AGE GROUP I’M DRAWN TO FOR MINISTRY: (if you could only do ministry with one age, which would you choose?)
1) Senior Adults
2) Adults
3) Young adults
4) Singles
5) Youth
6) Children
7) Pre-School
WHICH COLOR WOULD YOU RATHER DYE YOUR HAIR? (Here’s your chance to tell about your funniest ministry story (baptism, evangelism bloop). Divide this way, then share.)
1) Blue
2) Green
3) Pink
4) Purple
5) Yellow
6) Orange
AGE: (couple/use younger age) (name your favorite restaurant)
1) 20s
2) 30
3) 40s
4) 50s
5) 60+
MINISTRY DRAW: (Besides preaching, what’s an area of ministry that you really enjoy?)
1) Music
2) Media/Arts/Drama
3) Administration
4) Prayer
5) Benevolence
6) Teaching
FAVORITE SEASON: (what’s the most unique ministry your church does in this season?)
1) Summer
2) Fall
3) Winter
4) Spring
FAVORITE STYLE OF MUSIC (Just for fun, which of these styles of music do you like best?)
1) Jazz
2) Rap
3) Bluegrass
4) Rock
5) Classical
6) Techno
7) Country