Super Bowl Outreach event is one of the most effective opportunities we have at reaching out to non-believers all year. If for no other reason than everyone watches the Super Bowl, we have the perfect chance to bring students into the church. Whether students like football or not, the fact is that they are going to watch it (if for no other reason than the ads) and we can use it to our advantage to introduce students to our ministry. After all, the Super Bowl has such a festive ora about it that you want to watch it and want to watch with your friends. So why not give students a fun place to hang, eat great food and enjoy the game/ads together? This is the exact reason why I have always done Super Bowl Parties. It was only once I came to Cedar Run over 6 years ago that we changed our philosophy to where we have gone from an “in-house” party to an outreach focused one. Even though we are less than 3 weeks away, you can still make an effective one happen. Here are some ideas:
- Give students reasons to come. The fact is, your Super Bowl party needs to be more than just football. Even though most people watch the Super Bowl, you have to set yourself apart from the other parties that are going on. At Cedar Run, we offer a variety of things other than just football. For instance, we offer tons of free homemade food, plenty of activities (this year we are finalizing details to have some teen appropriate inflatables) and we have give-aways. By doing more than just showing the Super Bowl, you are opening up your doors to more people and giving students a reason to come to your party.
- Do your own half-time show. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way on this one. When the “wardrobe malfunction” happened, we were watching along with the rest of the world. It was at this point that we decided that we could use this opportunity to further set our party apart from others by doing our very own half-time show. Each year is different as we try to keep it fresh and new, but basically this is where we do a little mini youth group. We will play a mixer or a game, show a quick funny video and then conclude with a testimony and “This is Cedar Run” video. We do all this so that we give students an opportunity to see that Cedar Run offers so much more on a weekly basis. Doing our half-time show has been a huge hit.
- Share Christ. Ultimately, we did not just want to be another Super Bowl Party where you watched the game and ate lots of food. We wanted to stand apart by giving our students something provokative and life-changing to think about. Therefore, at the end of our half-time show, we have a a few students stand up and share about Christ’s impact on their lives.
- Start planning. Think of some unique things you could offer that would not only attract your students, but other non-believing students as well. If it is just one or two simple ones, implement them and start working on it so you can get the word out.
- Think of some students who might be good at sharing their testimony. Set it up that during half-time, you turn the TV off and give at least 1 student an opportunity to share about Christ.
- Create a Facebook page for it! We did ours over a week ago and the word is starting to spread like a wild-fire. Facebook is a great promotional tool.
Here is what we are doing/have done:
Souper Bowl Collection and Party February 7th
Join the movement that is transforming Super Bowl weekend into the nation’s largest youth-led weekend of giving and serving! The Souper Bowl of Caring equips and mobilizes congregations, schools and businesses to positively impact their communities by collecting money or food on or near Super Bowl weekend. For more information, visit http://www.souperbowl.org/. 100% of the collections are donated directly to the charity of each group's choice. Last year $3,391,455 was raised and we were a part of that!
This February the 7th, Super Bowl Sunday, our youth will be collecting canned goods and toiletry items for Western Fairfax Christian Ministry, http://www.wfcmva.org/, and FACETS, http://www.facetscares.org/. They will also hold soup pots for donations after both services to raise money for disaster relief in Haiti through the Anglican Relief and Development Fund (http://anglicanaid.net/). Traditionally, this has been an extremely successful time for our church in raising funds for those in need and we know that this year will be no exception with all of your involvement and participation.
We will celebrate our collection again this year by watching the Super Bowl at the Peake’s home at 13426 Hidden Meadow Court, Herndon, VA 20171, near the church! Call the Peake’s if you get lost. We will have maps and more information in the gathering place and on Facebook. Our party will start right before kick-off at around 5:45ish and will end at game time, or when your parents insist you be picked up, because it is a school night. Don’t forget to bring your canned goods, a favorite dessert or snack, donation for dinner, and a souper bowl donation. We look forward to seeing you on Super Bowl Sunday, at the collection, and at the party!
Do you have any video from your Super Bowl Outreach? I would love to see what it looks like! I've never thought of doing an outreach using the Super Bowl but it makes a lot of sense.
Yeah – this is the video of the programatic part of it. When these guys came up they did a few games and give aways. After they left we did 2 testimonies. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNHQP-4Aa-4
I am curious how you get around the copyright law. We have had to more our party to a home because having it at the church supposedly is an infringement on the NFL copyright of the game. Your thoughts!
A few years ago that was removed as a violation of the copyright law. There are still violations like no cover charge but having it at a Church is not one of them.