At a morning tea after church (which members of your youth group cater for), or during your normal youth group time, auction off Youth Group members and leaders as slaves. Ask someone in your church (not a youth leader, as they are likely to fetch the best prices) to act as the auctioneer, and present each “slave” for auction, and use photos of anyone who could not be there for the auction. Once a slave is purchased, present the slave owner with a certificate of ownership that specifies the name of the purchaser, name of the slave, & conditions of ownership. The certificate we use is headed “Certificate of Purchase” and reads:
This is to certify that the above named is now the proud owner of ___________, a Slave from FREAKS. This certificate entitles the recipient to take their purchased slave to a place of their choosing between 7 – 8:45 pm Friday 6 August, 1999 to perform tasks (within the bounds of the law) of their choosing. It is expected that the purchaser will put their slave to work and will then return their slave to the point of purchase, having received value for their outlaid money. FREAKS thanks you for your participation in this fund raising event.
Have a space for the auctioneer to sign and date it. Also give each purchaser a receipt (this helps your own record keeping if you use a carbon copy receipt book.) You may like to have all slaves perform their duties during your normal Youth Group time the next week, or have the slave owners and slaves work out a mutually acceptable time. In that case you should specify the length of time the duties should take. If you have the slaves perform their duties during the next Youth Group meeting time, have the owners drop them back to Youth Group 15 minutes early and provide supper for everyone, and perhaps have a feedback time, discussing their experience, and relate it to Matthew 20 v. 20 – 28.
NB: If you have kids from outside your church in your youth group, make sure you send a personal invitation to the auction to their parents. Morning tea time is a less threatening time to come than to church, but make sure they feel welcome to come to church beforehand, too. This has become an annual event for our youth group, and church members and kids alike love the fellowship together, not to mention the owners getting some stuff done they don’t normally have time to do or hate doing! And the Youth Group raises money. Make sure you let all bidders know what the money will go towards. Have fun!