Underground Church

by Holly
(Georgia)

The youth pastor will probably have to get permission to use the whole church building for this. It can be confusing at first, but everyone gets the hang of it eventually.

There are two or three guards, depending on the size of the youth group, and everyone is allowed to know who the guards are. After the guards are picked, everyone faces a wall and closes their eyes. The youth pastor will tap the shoulder of one person, and then that person is the 'pastor' and no one can know who he/she is (yet). Then everyone, except the guards, goes to hide in various places around the church. After the time limit is up, the guards go out searching for everyone. If either guard finds the pastor, then the round is over. The hiders will try to discreetly change hiding places so they can find out who the pastor is, but the pastor can never tell anyone unless they're asked. Once they find him/her, they ask if they're the pastor and if they say they are then the person who found them will try to find as many other people as they can to tell them who he/she is and where they're hiding. The object for the hiders and preacher is to get all (or a set number if the youth group is really big) the hiders and pastor in the same room together, still without the guards finding the pastor. If they accomplish this, then everyone starts singing "Jesus Loves Me" and the game is over and the pastor and hiders win.

If one of the hiders, not the pastor, gets found, then they go to the sanctuary, or jail, for one minute, then they can keep playing and trying to find the pastor. Guards usually escort the hider to the sanctuary so they don't cheat and keep on playing anyway.

Also, this game can usually be played with the lights in the rooms off so it's harder to find people.