Youth Game: Underground Church and Subliminal Scavenger Hunt | Resource Sharing

We are doing something interesting with our Underground Church game that I wanted to share with other ministers.

Background for Underground Church:

Underground Church is a fun game like hide and seek but more intense that opens the door to discuss persecution of the early and current church and talk about the value of faith that we so often take for granted.

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In underground church you assign “persecutors” for every 5-7 youth present. They wait outside of the room for 4 or 5 minutes. During the first two minutes the remaining students are the “congregation” and elect a “minister” who will hide somewhere in your church and not tell anyone where they are. During the remaining two minutes, the congregation members must hide and try to find the minister at the same time. When the four minutes are up the persecutors run in. Their job is to find the minister first and win the game. The congregation members’ job is to find the minister first and win the game. If the persecutors find the minister, he/she must admit they are the minister. If the congregation members find the minister, they must all gather around them and announce they’ve won so everyone knows the game is over. If the persecutors find a congregation member other than the minister, they place them in “jail” where they cannot leave until tagged out be a free member. Only one person at a time can be released, with 10 seconds before another can be released. In that 10 seconds the freed captive is untouchable. Persecutors cannot guard the jail.

Some other rules I’ve outlined particular to us: 1) No diving from the balcony or baptismal pool 2) No hiding in bathrooms 3) No hiding in the closets where we store gardening equipment (ouch!) 4) Don’t play with locks or bar doors 5) Don’t remove any items from any rooms

New addition: Subliminal Scavenger Hunt

Okay, that’s underground church but recently we kicked it up a notch with a “subliminal scavenger hunt.” We set up the premise that the Christians crash landed in a restricted nation where missionaries are persecuted. They have been shipped to this location where they will be brainwashed into not being Christians. Fortunately, a few Christians escaped and modified the brain washing videos with their own subliminal messages. These messages contain hints on where to find pages of the Bible you will smuggle out. Here is how to construct your own video:

Browse YouTube for videos like the Dharma brainwashing video from the TV show LOST. You will find several clips with subliminal messages already in them. You may have to edit out one h__ word. Next, if you want to add a little fright, search for the “Cursed video” from “The Ring” movie. You will have to edit out some of the scarier parts! Now, if you have any Christian HARD rock videos gather them up to. Download the YouTube videos (google download YouTube to find out how,) and put all of that into your favorite video editing program.

Next, hide passages of scripture on little pieces of paper throughout your church in the day time and take pictures of their locations. Drop these pictures at random throughout your strange little video at 1.5 to 3 seconds a piece depending on how challenging you want to make it. Now when your youth go to jail, they can watch a “brainwashing” video that actually gives them hints on where to find the Bible passages for smuggling. Give them a reward at the beginning of the next round like extra hiding time or a get out of jail free card.

For an example of some files I am working with click below

Let me know if you’d like some help with this, have questions, or would like a copy of the DVD I’ve put together.

Grace and Peace,

R. Travis Crocker

Student Family Minister- Beaufort FBC traviscrocker@beaufortbaptist.org

Associational Youth Director – ABANC 252-269-0578