Oh, goodness, I can't think of anything...Sorry, no help!

@mrcolorful - torture works... ;)

hmmmm, you could start it off and make it sound like the most cliche, awful and boring youth group of all time (which given that you're leading it I'm sure it won't be) and say a dress code will be enforced, the sexes will be divided, and laughing is prohibited because this is serious stuff you guys will be talking about. Keep that up for 5-10 minutes and then break out the cookies and fun stuff.

Play edward forty hands (though with 40s of water instead of beer...that might be a good idea).

the human knot, complete with duct tape on the hands could be entertaining for you.

I mean, if you want to go true initiation style, you have to get a keg (of root beer)....and then just knock yourself out. Maybe watch some jackass re-runs and dumb down the pain and nudity...a gauntlet of airsoft gun fire could be fun.

Sorry, that's all I got, I hope that helps...I'll rec this, maybe someone else will have something good. (ask ChrisRusso@revelife, he should have some interesting things)
good luck

We just hung out with the youth leader at our new church and he gave us this idea:

Tell the new kids that they have to do sit-ups blindfolded and tell them that it's really difficult because you loose your balance and sense of direction (which you don't). Have a current member demonstrate and make it look really hard. Once they've started they'll realize that it's not difficult at all, but on the second sit-up, throw a pie in their face.

One that we did years ago was bring a bunch of clothes, pile them in the center, blindfold the kids, and tell them to put on all of the clothes that they can (you don't want to do this with nice clothes). After they finished we sprayed them all down with silly string. Silly string is always enjoyable. Katelyn still has fond memories. hehe!

Hope you're doing well hun! I'm praying for you. Give me a call if you need someone to talk to!

@mrcolorful - ohhhh we are all midwesterners, minnesota nice and I would say the prevailing atmosphere in the group is nice but awkward! :P  If that makes any sense.  We would love to break down the kids a little bit more, get some real, actual feelings and thoughts out of them, you know?  But I'm not sure how initiations will help with that - you never know though!  Love the dresses!  Not sure the parents would, but HEY! :)  I'm not sure about other restrictions, bsides cheap!  We should have at least half an hour to do it, maybe an hour if we are really quick with our service project - stuffing envelopes for a missionary family. :P

One more thing I just thought of that could be fun to try sometime.  I've never tried it myself but I've heard of it a couple of times and read about it once.  You might want to try it on your own first but if you have a large (I do mean large) open space like a field or something, you can blindfold the kids and then have them try to walk in a straight line to something that is in the distance.  Apparently, what happens is people will walk straight for a little ways and then start to angle off at different rates to either the left or the right depending on what is happening with their inner ears.  If you did it by the lake, maybe you can wind up with a couple of kids walking into the lake...

I don't think initiations would help with getting people to open up but there are any number of games that you could try.  Speaking of which, have you tried the Psychiatrist game that I had mentioned?  It can be good for bringing people out somewhat.  Also, if you can split the group down some and have a good length of time, the game Apples to Apples can be a fun way to get to know people better.  Though to really get them completely out of their shells, I think that would just take time and maybe a few minor beatings.

I like the snipe hunting.  That's a pretty good initiation that isn't harmful.  I was in a choir once where we were initiated by having to do a lot of things while blindfolded...nothing scary, just singing a song, doing a dance, and then we were broken up individually to go on trust walks with one older member.  Good luck!