Tuesday, January 6th, 2009...6:04 pm

Youth Ministers Need To Be Online

by JoeRBennett
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For 3 ½ years, I served as Minister to Students at First Baptist Church in Chillicothe, Missouri.  In a small town, having a ministry of presence is usually an easy task.  To make sure the students knew I cared, I attended sporting events, plays, school lunches.  I simply hung out with them.  Just being a presence in the lives of teenagers is so important.

So why do Youth Ministers need to be online?

The answer is simple – because that’s where your students spend a lot of their time.  The Internet is a mission field in and of itself.  You have an opportunity to connect with students in a whole new way.

Many students tend to communicate more freely through Facebook messages or email or IM.  Those students feel free to express themselves in ways they probably would not face-to-face.  And if you aren’t connecting online, you are missing out on a whole new realm of ministry.

Places to connect with your students:

 

-Facebook        -Twitter        -MySpace        -YouTube

-Flickr            -Skype            -Blogs            -IM

 

Why do you think Youth Ministers should be online?


4 Comments

Filed under Church, Social Media, Video, YouTube

4 Comments

  • Steve Gwilt
    January 7th, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    Here’s another reason for being on Facebook - there’s a world of hurt going on in your students’ lives that you just don’t see or hear about at church or youth group. It tends to surface when they talk to each other, and also when they’re not focused on ‘connecting to the grown-ups’. The source of the problem may not come up, but the symptoms will. This is your chance to pray for them.

  • JoeRBennett
    January 7th, 2009 at 4:18 pm

    Steve, thank you for bringing up another excellent point. Too often, we neglect the power of prayer and that is a wonderful opportunity to pray.

  • John
    February 19th, 2009 at 5:01 pm

    I totally agree with this - so much so, that I basically have a blog about it at http://www.threeparts.com. Not *every* post is on this topic, but I try to keep them at least relevant to people using technology from a ministry perspective. Thanks for the post -

  • Craig Gilman
    August 25th, 2009 at 8:12 am

    Make sure you get parental/carer consent to add the young people as your friends. Online Protection is really important. CEOP is a good site for advice and resources - http://www.ceop.gov.uk/ its a UK site but has some good resources for you guys across the pond too.
    Craig Gilman, Digital Youth Adviser, Birmingham Diocese, Church of England

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