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Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Youth Ministry and Facebook

If you are a youth worker, paid or volunteer, you know all of the liabilities that youth ministry faces. From simply driving a student home to planning a hiking trip, you have to constantly think about the safety of the students as well as the safety of those serving the students, including yourself. Using Facebook for ministry is not excluded from this safe environment. Here are just a couple of ideas for keeping all protected:

Protect Yourself. Protect Them.
There is so many news stories of religious clergy overstepping boundaries and getting in trouble, even when they were not doing anything wrong. Do not put yourself or your students in a compromising situation where you could be accused of something. Just like with any form of communicating, watch your words. Unlike any other form of communicating, Facebook is open for the world to see, including over-protective parents or a board member just looking for a reason to fire you.

Have Permission Before Posting Pictures
There could be many reasons a student does not want their picture on Facebook. Their parents are divorced and the parent with custody does not want their ex to see anything. You went swimming and the student is not comfortable having their picture online. The guy just broke up with his girlfriend in the picture and is still upset. Whatever the reason, you should be sensitive to the students and families feelings.

Be A Role Model
Another pitfall is that students can become “addicted” to streams of information on Facebook, which can foster a “gossip mentality,” said Buckley. “When students gather together, it is not uncommon to hear the phrase, ‘Did you see so-and-so’s status? Did you see the pics he posted?’ Many times, these statements turn into speculation and gossip, which can be hurtful.”

Jeremy Smith is a 26-year old youth pastor at the Air Force Academy chapel, working for Club Beyond, and attending Denver Seminary for his Master”s of Arts in Counseling Ministries. He has been involved in Youth for Christ for eight years and absolutely loves sharing the life of Jesus with teens. Check out his blog at Seventy8Productions.

3 View Comments March 20, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Three Lessons Youth Workers Can Learn from “The Social Network”

I saw “The Social Network” on opening night but with all the Oscar buzz recently around this amazing film I figured this was a worth repost. I was skeptical going in, having not read the basis for the film (“The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich) and wary of anything looking to capitalize on such a trendy topic. But then I noticed it received an astronomical 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I’ll leave others to critique the accuracy of the story, screenwriting, performances, etc but I do believe that people will be talking about it for a long time for many reasons…at least around here in Silicon Valley.

I’ve had a difficult time for many years watching or listening to something without looking for ministry or leadership applications. It’s just something that’s on my brain a lot, I suppose that any work of art can be somewhat of a Rorschach. The rest of this post will make a great deal more sense if you’ve seen the movie, not enough space here to give the full run-down. So with that in mind here are a few interesting nuggets related to youth ministry that I noticed in the film:

Entrepreneurial Energy — There’s a level of energy and enthusiasm inherent in discovery, risk-taking, and the forming of great ideas that you can’t help but get excited about. This in itself was obvious and inspirational in the movie. We saw a group of students portrayed as unsatisfied with existing structures and yearning for more purpose, connection, and significance. This kind of energy and enthusiasm is vital to our work with students and our teams. If you or your team is struggling with being excited about your current plan, existing structures, or roles, it may be necessary to try something new, shake things up, take a risk. Even if you fail in the short term, it may point you in the right direction. Neo didn’t make the jump on the first try because no one makes the jump on the first try. Just like in this movie, often it’s not the first idea that generates a movement but the outcome of many drafts and hard work. Excitement runs downhill, if you and your team are excited about what’s happening, your students will be too.
Priority on Intention — All dubious ethics and betrayal portrayed in the movie aside, it was interesting throughout that the primary motivation for the lead character was not necessarily money but the integrity of the invention. While the more business-minded folks encouraged monetizing almost immediately, it was the visionaries who kept the inner circle focused on the design and intention of the product. For youth-workers trying to stay focused on The Call with a ministry plan strategically designed to produce a certain outcome (disciples of Jesus), the application writes itself: namely, distractions and rabbit trails even with good intentions are still distractions and rabbit trails. Being great at a few things often leads to a greater yield than being mediocre at many things. Not always, but often. How can we stay focused on being great at the few things we’re called to do rather than spreading out our time, energy, and resources on too many activities that have a tendency to produce vision-drift in ourselves and our teams?
A small group of people with an unstoppable idea can still change the world — Who would have thought that three 19 year olds in a college dorm room would revolutionize the world? Facebook stands at a valuation of 25 BILLION dollars. Its 500 million participants makes it the third largest nation on earth. Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history. We’re all aware of the impact of this initially small, simple idea that came from the mind of a kid. A few people with a great idea can make a difference. Reminds me of a small, motley group of people in the Galilean outback that eventually reached Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. Student ministry is tough. For many of us, we’re handling what seems like 4 job descriptions on a daily basis. Navigating politics, dealing with conflict, leading different teams, walking with parents, school administrators, teaching, coaching, programming, planning, goal-setting, and on top of it all pursuing the spiritual development of our students…it really goes on, you know the feeling. Sometimes it can feel like we’re running uphill in quicksand and true change happens way too slowly. But we have a trump card, the ultimate unstoppable idea: the Gospel is THE original, greatest, revolutionary idea that can change the world. God broke into our world in the person of Jesus and the world has never been the same. What cool things is God doing among your small group of people as you share His unstoppable idea that can change the world? May we continue to be the tellers of this great, unstoppable story to a generation that desperately needs to hear it.

P.s.: I also saw numerable negative lessons as well in the film — the ends doesn’t justify the means, loyalty DOES matter, people DO matter, narcissism is alive and well…but that’s for someone else to post about.

Matt Bond is the Director of High School Ministries at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church on the San Francisco Peninsula. He’s been serving in full-time youth ministry for the past 16 years plus a few years of volunteer leadership and internships. Check out his blog and Twitter at @matthew_bond, too!

3 View Comments February 20, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Too Much Social Media In Youth Ministry?

Let me just say this right off the bat, if you are looking for quick fixes, you will be sorely disappointed. I feel that a change of intention is needed here and band-aids will not solve the problem.

The topic of how and why we can use social media in youth ministry has been talked about lot by many other people smarter than myself: Adam McClane, Daniel Darnell from Collide Magazine, and Brian Kirk from rethinkingyouthministry.com. I agree with many things that they say, but as I talk with youth workers, am finding issue with several different things with social media.

This idea started with several key conversations I have had in the past year. The first one was talking with a youth worker who wanted to keep his personal life separate from his ministry, honorable and smart. His solution to this idea was that he needed to have three Facebook usernames and would spend up to 4 hours total a day checking everything because it was so disjointed. Another conversation not long after that, a solo youth pastor without volunteers told me how they would spend one day a week for the sole purpose of their ministry’s online presence. Finally, I constantly see staff and admin trying to redesign, rework, and reinvent a lot of stuff with their blogs, Twitter, Flickr, and everything else.

So what am I getting at? Look at the heart of what you are doing:

Face Time With Students Is More Important
Time with students is vital. I find that I barely have enough interaction for them, my volunteers, the parents, my boss, and God. Am I being a good steward of my time? Unless you are LifeChurch.tv, there should be no reason other than to spend 20 seconds sending a tweet or 5 minutes making a Facebook event.
Online Promotions Just Do Not Work
If you have a whole marketing department with your church, AWESOME. Then online advertising will work. There is a marketing practice that states you need to have audiences hear or see your ad five times for them to remember your product, seven times to be interested in it, and nine times before you start to really influence them.
Work To Your Strengths
If you have volunteers, student leaders, or really involved parents that understand even just a little about social media, you have the opportunity to build some really amazing relationships with them and multiply the ministry by COMPLETELY handing off the project to them! As a college volunteer, myself and another student were in charge of the web design, maintenance, and social media presence for our youth group. This empowered us as volunteers to feel like we were investing in the ministry and in the kingdom and I feel forever changed because of it. And if you do not have those people in your ministry, you have a bigger need than updating another status.
Listen To God
I love doing web designs because God has wired me to be equal parts relational with others and functional. So when I find my “introvertedness” kicking in, I know I can go write some programming code, play around in Photoshop, or simply be alone with God and my heart, mind, and soul become more still. But if all these social networking tools start to become a distraction with your relationship with God or others, it is time to put it away. Unplug and go out into the real world.

Jeremy Smith is a 26 year old youth pastor at the Air Force Academy chapel, working for Club Beyond, and attending Denver Seminary for his Master”s of Arts in Counseling Ministries. He has been involved in Youth for Christ for eight years and absolutely loves sharing the life of Jesus with teens. Check out his blog at Seventy8Productions.

2 View Comments February 19, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: 5 Ways to Cure The Ministry Blahs

Thanks to Josh for letting me guest blog on MTDB. I had to have him stare at a picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi saying, “These are not the droids you are looking for” to convince him. And it worked.

This can be a difficult time of year in youth ministry, especially for us northerners. Discouragement runs rampant like gossip among cheerleaders. And we question whether we’re in the right place. Pizza delivery jobs look attractive – and definitely less stressful. The reality is that youth ministry has a devious way of pressing us to the point where we feel frayed and spent — and we just want someone to clean up the mess in aisle ‘us’.

I want to say one thing: Stay Encouraged. What you do in youth ministry is important. I get to see the results of your work – and it matters. So, hang in there.

In my work with leaders, I’ve noticed five practices that help cure the ministry blahs. They aren’t anything you probably haven’t considered before, but that doesn’t mean they’re ineffective. So, here’s my prescription to cure the ministry blahs. And, hey, I am a doctor.

1. Take your temperature: Watch your reactions – especially when things don’t go your way. Do you get angry? Fearful/insecure? Depressed? Lonely? These emotions are the canaries in the cave to let you know something’s wrong ahead. Anger is most common and, unfortunately, most of us are unaware of how we respond to others. Pay attention to how you react and learn why you feel that way. Those feelings could be telling you something.

2. Develop a non-digital hobby — this one may seem weird, but it’s one of my new recommendations to leaders. And it helps. Most healthy leaders I see have a hobby where they work with their hands or get outdoors. It can be fishing, sailing, gardening, biking, golf, tennis, woodworking, bird watching, weight lifting – or even dodgeball. I’ve seen dramatic changes among hard-driving pastors — changes that their staff and family appreciate. And, no, scrap-booking doesn’t count.

3. Get away on a non-digital retreat – as I blogged a few weeks ago, the social media world draws us in and demands more and more. It’s never done. Take a two-day retreat from all of your screens and from consumerism’s “discontentedness”. Create some margins in your life — get acquainted with a good book, your spouse, and the outdoors.

4. Renew your first love — Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day (and I hope you’ve done well to celebrate). I’ve discovered that I need to renew my love for Jesus — to remind myself of what he’s done in my life and of his call on my life. When I’m in the blah’s, I’ve often forgotten the “to serve” element of youth ministry (Mark 10:35-45) and made it about me. So, I’ll do whatever it takes to renew my relationship with Christ and quit being so self-focused.

5. Take intentional ministry steps. Pick five students you don’t know well to invest in for the remainder of the school year. It’s easy to figure out how to coast until the end of the school year and just manage. However, developing an intentional and relationally intensive ministry to five new teens will remind us of why we entered youth ministry in the first place — to personally make a difference in the life of youth. Some of my greatest youth ministry ‘successes’ with students came during these February/March efforts.

If you tried any of these (and they helped), I’d love to hear about it. You can let me know at terrylinhart.com. And stay encouraged. What you do in youth ministry matters!

Terry Linhart is co-editor of the forthcoming book, GLOBAL YOUTH MINISTRY, and author of the popular TALKSHEETS: LIFE OF CHRIST series.

Add Comment February 13, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Learn

After five plus years of being in the youth worker game, I have come to the conclusion that the key to youth ministry is the desire to learn. When you break it down, learning is what it is all about:

You have to be willing to learn about the teenage brain and how they think. To know who GaGa, Gandolf, Gryffindor, and Garret Gilbert are because they matter to your students.
You have to learn how to listen and when to talk, how to not act shocked when you hear of the details of some kid’s lives, and how to convey emotion over Facebook chat.
You have to learn how to be (or at least seem) interested in stories that really don’t make sense.
You have to learn how to let kids beat you in basketball, teach you things you already know, and the Heimlich in case of a game of Chubby Bunny gone bad.
You have to know all the “Q” words that don’t require a “u” in Scrabble, and who has texting on their phones and who doesn’t.
You have to know what it means when Master Chief is in his cryo-tube and when the ACOG scope for the FAMAS gets unlocked in your third prestige.
You have to be able to cheer for 6 different high school mascots and know where 6 different auditoriums are located within a school.
You have to know who is gone every other weekend because they’re at their dad’s house, and who you haven’t seen in church for a couple of weeks.
You have to learn the names of all your students, and never ever call them by their sister’s name, even though they are identical twins. You have to learn how to remember the joys amid the deep disappointments, remind yourself that everyone makes mistakes, and always expect the unexpected.
You have to learn how to balance church life and “real life”. You have to learn how to leave your work at work. You have to know when the play performance is, the time of the choir concert, and who plays on JV and who made varsity. You also have to know who got cut, and be sure to let him know that it’ll be OK.
You have to know who is struggling and who is excelling; who needs help, and who needs space to sort things out on their own. You have to learn to not compare one kid to another, but rather appreciate each for who they are. You have to learn to not get down about who is not there, but rejoice for those who are.
You have to know how to Tweet, update, upload, post, poke, promote, and share, sometimes all at the same time. You have to know to avoid what’s so fifteen minutes ago and be aware of what’s cool today. You have to know that you are NOT 16 years old anymore and dress, speak, and style your hair accordingly.
You have to know how to say no, and when you have to say yes even though you really don’t want to. You have to know how to clean up messes (both literally and figuratively), and how to say sorry. You have to learn how to appreciate those who may never appreciate you. You have to learn how to sound smart even though you have no idea what you’re saying. You have to learn how to keep your promises and not make one unless you can.
You have to be willing to learn from other youth workers and realize you’re not on an island. You have to learn how to meet students where they’re at and not expect immediate change. You have to learn how to be the adult even if you feel like one of the kids. You have to learn that confusion doesn’t mean indifference and busyness doesn’t mean progress. You have to learn how to schedule the unscheduled time, and how to be flexible. You have to learn how to delegate, lest your passion fizzles and dies.
You have to learn how to read between the lines and how to say the same thing five different ways. You have to learn how to fill your own cup. You have to know where the Bible says an ass talked to Baalam, and what anthropomorphism means. You have to know how to answer the phone at 3am and how to react to the sobbing brokenhearted. You have to learn that you don’t know everything and you learn twice as much from your students than they do from you. You have to know who your Savior is so that you might be able to share Him when a kid needs it.
You have to know what grace is and be willing to show it even when it’s difficult.

But the thing about all these things, and I could go on for another couple of pages, but the thing about these things is we youth people love it! We get to rock out to pop music and listen to kids talk about their days. We get to play Call of Duty and get our butts kicked by kids 1/3 our age. We get to cheer for every sport we never played and paint our faces just to make our one student feel loved. We get to help kids figure stuff out and be with them when they tell their parents about the trouble they got into.

We get to answer the calls at 3am and spend way too much time on Facebook. We get to have inside jokes with teenagers and buy silly gag gifts just because it’ll make them smile. We get to learn from other people who do the same thing we do, and we get to share ideas. We get to grow deeper in our faith so that we might be able to help kids who struggle in theirs. We get to learn about Jesus and see Him work in the lives of the next generation. None of those things are a “have to”, they are all “get to”‘s and that is what makes youth ministry so great!
Learning is what it is all about- and the willingness to learn is what keeps us going day after day. Today I can learn something about someone that I never knew before.

And maybe, just maybe I can tell them something about their Lord and Savior they never knew before. That’s what this is all about.

I am blessed.

Kory Henkel is the Director of Youth Ministries at Bloomington Living Hope Lutheran Church in MN. Check out his blog for more right over here.

5 View Comments February 7, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Most Popular Youth Ministry Blog Posts of 2010

It’s been an incredible year here on More Than Dodgeball (MTDB as the locals call it) – thanks so much for joining with me in the journey of youth ministry. I’ve had so much fun and appreciated all of your comments, emails, Tweets, Likes and guest posts. Close to half a million pages viewed during the course of the year with the blog now totaling 5,012 posts with 13,158 comments. Holy smokes!

Here’s a selection of the top 50 youth ministry posts of the year as told by Google Analytics:

And the most visited static page was My Recommended Youth Ministry Resources page – if you’re looking for some good stuff to use in your ministry setting in 2010 there is a good place to start.

Thanks for stopping by, subscribing and spreading the word in 2010. Here’s to 2011!

JG

Josh GriffinMore Posts Simply Youth Ministry Podcast: Episode 148

The gang gathers round the table full of Christmas cheer. The team has big changes to talk about. They also talk about facebook and students owning their faith.

JG

1 View Comments December 8, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: If You Cast Your Net, Be Prepared

I am still somewhat new at this whole being a Youth Pastor thing and because of that I am still learning as I go about some of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of what its all about. One thing that has been on my heart is providing places and spaces for students to invite their pre-Christian friends to. But I found on at least a few occasions, I was ill prepared to reap the harvest and likely missed a great opportunity. A great example would be our Flashmob event that we held last spring, the students hyped it, we planned for everything, they brought their friends, in fact we saw a nearly 50% increase in students at the event, but I was not prepared to handle that. In light of this, here are a few things I am wrestling with:

Make it manageable: We only get one chance to make a first impression, and if someone is an invited guest in the Church, I would like to make that experience the best I can. If we host an outreach event with many new students, there is a chance they could not be personally welcomed, they might feel awkward and this could be the last time they set foot in the door. Our Flashmob event taught me a great lesson that I need to take an active role in greeting those new students so that they do feel welcomed. If you plan and event so that students can bring 10 friends each to, and they do, you might be doing more harm than good.

Unleash your leaders: If you don’t have a welcome and greeting team, you need one! This is the best way to meet students when you cannot do it themselves. This is one of the most important front line ministries; they are the friendly face of the Youth Group. Our greeting team has a ’20 questions’ form they hand out with questions ranging from contact info, to Bieber or Timberlake to Pancakes or Waffles. These questions are quite strategic in quickly finding if they are from a Christian home, if they are skater kid or a “Lightsaber kid” with apologies to Josh, these are the pseudo dorky 8-10^th grade boys that grab the coat rack and pretend it’s a Lightsaber. The purpose is to find a small group that they will thrive and make meaningful connections with students with similar interests. On the first night they are there, they will meet at least 3 core students, their new small group leader and myself.

Learn their name: There is nothing more valuable that learning a student’s name, it says to them that they belong and that they are memorable. All that contact information we get from outreach events is entered into our database; they are added on Facebook that night, invited into our student ministry FB group and added to our SMS blasts each week. Once they accept a friend request, we print a copy of their Facebook profile pic, put in on the wall in my office and the next time I see that student, at their school or at Youth, you better believe I will do everything I can to remember their name.

Planning an event is easy, engaging, welcoming and retaining the student influx of students is the difficult part, it takes teamwork, intentionality, hard work and diligence. Otherwise, these events will be attendance spikes that will have little long-term value. If your objective is for big numbers at one off events that is one thing, but if your goal is creating more disciples, be prepared that when you cast your net, it might come back full.

Geoff Stewart is the Pastor of Jr & Sr High School for Journey Student Ministries at Peace Portal Alliance Church and regularly contributes GUEST POSTS to MTDB. You can, too! See how right here.