Crazy Things I Did as a Youth Pastor: Paintball

8 posted on August 8, 2008
POSTED IN: Randomness, photos

Some of you may not know that I was a Youth Pastor for 4 years back in Fort Wayne. During that time I did some pretty fun (and sometimes crazy) things so I thought I’d start a new post series to share some of my favorites with you.

Crazy Thing #1: PAINTBALL
What youth group is complete without paintball? Sure, we did the regular paintball games but, like any good youth pastor, I wanted to mix things up.

One year at camp a couple of the kids brought their guns so I set up a “Human Paintball Shooting Gallery.” We gave the guns to the girls and had the guys put on their masks and run back and forth across an open space 40 or 50 feet away.

The girls, of course, welcomed the opportunity to shoot the defenseless guys with paintballs.

Some of the guys even decided to be brave (or stupid?) and run without their shirts on. You know, to show how much of a man they were.

I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to getting shot with hard little pellets so I always wore long-sleeve shirts (and sometimes a t-shirt underneath). I did this because some of my kids (like the one pictured below) welcomed the opportunity to sneak up behind me and shoot me in the back, point-blank from 3 feet away.

Yeah, and that was through two layers of shirts. If they handed out medals to youth pastors for being wounded in the course of duty, I’d have quite a collection.

What are some of the crazy or dangerous things you’ve done in your youth group?

TWEET THIS

This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 8:06 am and is filed under Randomness, photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

27 Comments

Share yours!



  1. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    1 brandiandboys said:

    the first time i met Pete in college he had shaved his head. shaved, it was about 1/8th an inch long. he had shaved it because his students had 150 kids in attendance for the youth worship service. i automatically knew he was a man dedicated to other because of Jesus! still love that about him!

    brandiandboyss last blog post..Life Through Brewer’s Eyes



  2. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    2 Nick said:

    That is hilarious. I have an old navy shirt that looks just like that one you are wearing.
    I too wear like 2 & 3 layers when playing Paintball…I am a wimp!

    We had this game we called “Crazy Night” – Why we called it that, I don’t know (But since you said crazy its the first thing I thought of). There are two teams of 4 or 5 students. Each team has a team member at the opposite end of the room with a bag full of unknown food. Some good…some not so good. When the music started the team had to run down and eat the entire item that they pulled out of the bag, they could not sit down until it was completely consumed, once completed, their other teammates did the same. The team that had all of their members seated first won.

    We found out it was not a good idea to use Anchovies in an enclosed room, especially with people who could not handle them, the peanut butter, mayonnaise, garlic powder and other mystery stuff sandwich is hilarious to those who are not eating it until the person who is eating it loses it. Fun and crazy game but not for the weak stomached :)

    Nicks last blog post..My Prayer



  3. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    3 Jason Ruggles said:

    That was the trip those crazy kids launched the fireworks toward my still-sleeping body to wake me up one morning.

    I still wake up sometimes in a cold sweat, reliving that time.



  4. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    4 Nick said:

    Once time, during summer camp, I took a few of my students (guys) and ditched chapel. We then jacked a few golf carts and had a rally derby off road with them. We would have gotten away with it but I rolled a golf cart and we couldnt get started again. Bad youth pastor.

    On a more legal note, last year a junior high summer camp, I decided to ditch the camp afternoon activities and take ALL of my students to a San Diego Padres game. We had 5 15-passenger vans driving around downtown SD look for parking for about an hour. Eventually we gave up looking for parking and decided to go to Seaport Village instead. The whole debacle cost me $180 but won me some cred with my kids.

    Nicks last blog post..I just listened to…



  5. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    5 Brad Ruggles said:

    @brandiandboys – we must have pictures!!

    @NickC – gotta love the “make kids eat disgusting stuff” games. I’ve done a few of those. I’ll have to see if I have pictures from any of them to post in an upcoming “Crazy Things I did As A YP” post.

    @Jason – now THAT was funny! You may not have thought so (and I tried not to act like it at the time) but it was.

    @Nick – Dang, you were quite the rogue youth pastor! Bet the parents loved you! :-)



  6. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    6 Vince said:

    This:

    Vinces last blog post..What the World is Saying



  7. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    7 Jad said:

    Dude:

    Way too many things to mention, including several that could possibly spark legal action.

    Considering my pastor and his wife both regularly check your blog, I should refrain and plead the fifth.

    When I was PERSONALLY in youth group, I’d do all kinds of stupid food stuff. For instance I’d freak everyone out by eating food that had already been chewed by one of my buddies. I also ate 32 bowls of jello one year at camp.

    @Nick: That’s our version of the pointless eating game. Our kids LOVE IT. It’s truly the pinnacle game for our kids every year at camp so we save it for the last night.

    We did a video scavenger hunt last year too which was AWESOME. There’s just something about seeing one of your kids dressed in a robe asking the cashier at McDonalds if he can cook the fries that he just ordered.

    Jads last blog post..Thursday’s Question: What’s Your Favorite Starbucks Beverage?



  8. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    8 a-ron said:

    while that was painful brad, did it compare to the dollar general duct tape??
    i think that was more fun than the paint ball.
    do you still have the marks on your arms?



  9. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    9 tam said:

    brent ‘bobbed’ (sp?) for baby ruths in a toilet filled with mountain dew. i threw up in my mouth a little.

    tams last blog post..fill-in-friday – renewed! just a tad



  10. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    10 Adam said:

    Does that make me a boring christian b/c I don’t have any crazy Youth Group stories? I think I may need counseling or should try to relive my Youth Group days over again.

    @ Brandi Ugh Man..I wish you would have told me that Pete shaved his head once. I could have used that leverage with Karen when i wanted to shave mine

    Adams last blog post..Mid-End week Mumblings…



  11. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    11 Brad Ruggles said:

    @jad – you could tell a “hypothetical” story of “some guy you know” who did stuff with his kids. :-)

    @a-ron – Trust me, I didn’t forget about that! I think that’s going to be featured in a future post.



  12. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    12 Brad Ruggles said:

    @Adam – If you need any help re-living your youth group days you know who to call. I’ve got 4 years worth of pranks, stories and disgusting eating games. :-)

    And if you need any further help about convincing Karen to let you shave your hair, watch for a future post in the “Crazy Things..” series from when I shaved my head!



  13. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    13 Michael said:

    That looks almost identical to the paintball wound I got on my leg a couple months ago! Craziness!



  14. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    14 jason said:

    dude- i did so many things as a youth pastor that were crazy.

    my personal favorite was called happy shake. 2 teams, 2 happy meals from McD’s, 2 blenders. yep, we put a coke, fries, and cheeseburger in each blender, mixed them up, and the first team to drink their entire blender won.



  15. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    15 Brad Ruggles said:

    @Jason – ewww…that’s gross! I hate McDonalds to begin with but blending everything up together?? I wish I could have tried that one.



  16. Visit My Website

    August 8, 2008

    Permalink

    16 Aaron said:

    Wow, talk about INSPIRATION! I love each and every one of you! Oh the ideas that are starting to spawn in my brain… (insert Dr. Evil laugh here)



  17. Visit My Website

    August 9, 2008

    Permalink

    17 Dale Best said:

    When I was in youth group, every October we’d do a fall retreat. Every year, the girls would end the weekend with a massive mud fight at our campground. The guys would feed the mud fight by filling up pails of water and and throwing it in to make more water.

    One year as the fight was winding down and everyone gathered to take a picture, I had one more pail of water which I threw on everyone right as the picture was taken. Somewhere there’s a Poloroid of our youth group with a wave of water hanging over everyone. They had no idea what was about to hit them.

    Thanks to me.



  18. Visit My Website

    August 9, 2008

    Permalink

    18 Abbey said:

    It was fun shooting you guys while you ran around like chickens with your heads cut off. And, Jay, Heather and I still laugh at the fact that your sleeping bag caught on fire. That’s what happens when you sleep in a field during youth camp. ;)



  19. Visit My Website

    August 10, 2008

    Permalink

    19 alex mclean said:

    i took our youth group on an adventure we called “double dog dare” where we white water rafted (class 3) and rappelled into a 180 foot cavern, then spelunked for 3 hours. I didn’t realize the pushing junior highers out into a 180 foot abyss would ever be an issue… I didn’t realize crawling around in super confined spaces in pitch black would ever be an issue… made for some incredible video!

    alex mcleans last blog post..Wanted: Worship Intern!



  20. Visit My Website

    August 12, 2008

    Permalink

    20 Amanda said:

    Hi Brad! thanks for visiting :) I’d say that I never ever did anything out of the ordinary (I’m blatantly lying) at youth camp…. but I do remember some of the guys trying to One-Up eachother in dares/pranks while on a ski trip. One kid dared our pastor to stick his sock he wore snowboarding all day in his mouth. Our pastor did it, and totally threw up afterward. Another kid shaved all his hair off (BIC’d it) except for his side burns. And the worst one was a guy was dared to eat a ladle full of country crock butter spread…. he did it… and regretted it for days to follow. Great memories… thanks for bringing this topic up. Oh also, my ex-husband got shot in the bottom at a paint ball fight and had a permanent dent and discoloration from it. Lots of laughs off that one.



  21. Visit My Website

    August 14, 2008

    Permalink

    21 Erika said:

    wow. i remember that like it was yesterday! :) some boys got their cloths hung up in the trees. Some people got caught on fire… some got bricked on a hike. some people got hurt while racing down a huge hill. some people like me did NOT enjoy the river or lake that tore up our feet and legs because it was so shallow. ahh… the good days. :) We miss you bradly.. we really do!!



  22. Visit My Website

    August 26, 2008

    Permalink

    22 » Crazy Things I Did as a Youth Pastor – part 2 – BradRuggles.com said:

    [...] [read Crazy Things I Did as a Youth Pastor - part 1] [...]



  23. Visit My Website

    August 29, 2008

    Permalink

    23 Blogs I’m Reading & Link Love – betterthanblank said:

    [...] computer stuff, life stuff, whatever. I really enjoyed this post, it challenged me. And I loved this post because it reminded me of my days as a youth [...]



  24. Visit My Website

    September 5, 2008

    Permalink

    24 » Crazy Things I Did as a Youth Pastor – part 3 – BradRuggles.com said:

    [...] read: Crazy Things I Did As A Youth Pastor – part 1 Crazy Things I Did As A Youth Pastor – part [...]



  25. Visit My Website

    October 7, 2008

    Permalink

    25 Tony York said:

    I was asked by one of the youth to assist with their New Year’s Eve talent skit. He was doing Elton John and he wanted me to be “Tiny Dancer”. Long story short… I ended up dancing in a tutu on that New Year’s eve. I will have to upload the video to youtube… it was crazy.

    Tony Yorks last blog post..Reaching the Inner City



  26. Visit My Website

    April 22, 2009

    Permalink

    26 Beau said:

    paintball is good times. it looks as if you guys had some fantastic fun. paintball is definitely a great game to bring people together.



  27. Visit My Website

    December 19, 2011

    Permalink

    27 Goedkope Kinderkleding said:

    Goedkope Kinderkleding…

    [...]Crazy Things I Did as a Youth Pastor: Paintball | Brad Ruggles[...]…



Leave a Comment

Here's your chance to speak.

  1. Name (required)

    Mail (required)

    Website

    Message

Ad Ad Ad Ad
Ad