Whether it’s a weekend retreat, weekly Bible group meeting, or new-faith membership class, it is essential for the group to break the ice. A friendly, light-hearted game will help people relax and get to know each other before the meeting. There are a few ice-breaker games that would work well in a Christian setting.
Complete the Sentence Games
A great way to get people sharing is to have one person begin a sentence and have everyone else in the group take turns completing it. For example, “I am blessed because…” can be the first part, and each person completes the sentence by sharing whatever comes to mind. An idea for a married woman's retreat can be to use the passage in Proverbs 31 that describes a wife of noble character. The first part of the ice-breaker sentence can be “I am a Proverbs 31 woman because…” or “I need to work on being a Proverbs 31 woman in the area of…” Choose a sentence that is specific to the theme or type of gathering.
Ice Breaker Questions
One of the best ways to get people in the group talking is to go around and ask everyone specific questions. The leader must ask thought-provoking questions that gives insight to the participant's personality. A few questions could be: “What’s one question you would ask God if given the chance?," “If you could have been at one biblical event, what would it be and why?," or “What is your favorite Bible verse and why does it have significant meaning to you?”
Team-Building Games
Bonding as a team creates a sense of unity and enables the group to trust one another. A scavenger hunt is one fun way to have groups work together. Scavenger hunts can have several variations, but the general idea is to move around certain places in the church or retreat location, and place cryptic clues at each site that when solved directs the group to the next destination. Another team-building ice breaker involves providing groups with certain kinds of materials and challenging each team to build something mentioned in the Bible.
Other Ideas
A game called “one fact” is an easy ice breaker to execute. Have everyone write down one interesting fact about themselves on a piece of paper and then have the meeting leader collect all the slips of paper. One by one the leader reads each fact and the group tries to guess whose is being described. Another variation of this game requires each person in the room to tell two stories out loud about themselves and then have everyone guess which story is the truthful one.