Remember that time Jesus and all the disciples did trust falls on the banks of the Red Sea? Right at the last second they didn’t catch Jesus when it was his turn but he floated because he was the son of God, so it was all good. OK, that didn’t happen, but to this day, the trust fall is a staple of most youth groups.
It’s a simple concept: One person stands on the top of a ladder or a stump and falls backward into the waiting hands of two rows of people. At the end of the whole experience you’re really close and play DC Talk songs and walk through the ups and downs of adolescence together with your face against the winds of change that swirl across us all with challenges and opportunities, hopes and fears, dreams and decisions. Cue One Tree Hill music.
We never had any issues with the trust fall. No one ever broke anything or revealed the bad logistics of jumping into the hands of a sweaty 13-year old boy that is nervous just being near girls never mind preventing them falling. But once, a guy named Adam broke some lady’s back on a ski trip. They had to take her off the mountain on a stretcher. I love retreats.
(Thanks to all the folks that suggested this idea.)
