In mid-February 350 middle school and high school students “intersected” through the wee hours of the morning during a lockdown at Calvin Christian Reformed Church in Muskegon, Mich. Intersect, the name of the lockdown, drew teens from six denominations and 12 churches from the inner city to the suburbs.
Brian Kingshott, children and youth director for Calvin CRC, said the idea for Intersect sprang from the weekly meetings of youth directors from those churches. The church youth leaders wanted their teens to receive what they got from their time together—sharing and support for one another through increasing their connections.
Katie Meloche, 16, is a member of Calvin CRC. “The friends I know brought friends, and that was neat,” she said.
The teens paid $10 each for the event, which covered costs for food, a T-shirt with a picture of a goat on it, and . . . more food. Monies raised went toward a Southeast Asia project, which bought two pigs, six chickens, and two goats.
The lockdown featured music, worship, video games, dodgeball and basketball tournaments, a bungee run, and a 24-foot rain gutter filled with ice cream.
Kayla Frisinger, a college student, was one of the 50-60 volunteers who helped. “It was amazing and super-organized to have that number of students turn out,” she said. “There were lots of new connections made.”
Kingshott said the unique event was successful because “the leadership is uncompetitive and wants to support each other. It allows us to focus on the larger body of Christ.”
