Youth Specialties Blog

Is the Digital Generation a Myth?

By YS on September 25 2008 | 13 Comments

Many use Facebook and MySpace because they are easy and fun, not because they are powerful (which, of course, they are not). And almost none know how to program or even code text with Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Only a handful come to college with a sense of how the Internet fundamentally differs from the other major media platforms in daily life. link
This quote recently appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Written by University of Virginia Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan, his opinion is that while there are some early adapters and some late adapters, students are as inept at utilizing technology as students were 10 years ago. So, while Myspace, Facebook, text messaging may be king in your youth group for communicating it doesn't mean that your students can help you develop a youth group website nor be expected to do complex tasks on your church or youth groups website. Question: What about your students? Are they more or less technologically savvy than 10 years ago?

By YS on September 25 2008 | 13 Comments

On their turf

By YS on September 24 2008 | 0 Comments

As a youth pastor I long to move beyond shallow ministry, programs, and dodgeball. And I have to confess something right from the get go, I’m not sure if my ministry over the past 18 years has been very effective. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I’ve wasted my time. I’ve just watched students come through our programs and it’s been kind of hit or miss. But of course when you see a student grow into an adult and they whole-heartedly follow the way of Jesus, well, there is nothing better in my book, huh? We just had about 10 students from our previous 2 churches visit us over the course of this past summer and all of them are Christ followers – what a thrill! But for all of those students over the past 18 years who are now following Jesus, there are just as many, if not more, who didn’t make it. They left the faith and I haven’t heard from them in years. We attracted them to our youth ministry but it never became home. It’s been just over a year now since we moved to Oregon to start a new youth ministry project. For me, this was my shot to start from scratch and think out of the box about discipleship, outreach, programming, and basically everything. Traditional youth ministry had become so predictable, stale, and ultimately no longer relevant to most of my students. I was tired of running unproductive events, sitting in meaningless meetings, and trying to inspire my students to do amazing things for Christ when I myself wasn’t even doing that. I asked them to be salt and light, to take their campus for Christ, but I myself was just sitting on the sidelines. So here we are in Oregon, one year later, and I have to tell you it’s been amazing. We joined a church that truly has a heart to reach and serve the city. To actually be salt and light and to let go of the old attraction based ministry and to get off of the Hill (city on a hill?) and begin to meet felt needs in our community. The first thing I wanted to do was to try and find out what the schools in our city needed: What their struggles were and what dreams they had, but ultimately didn’t have the manpower or the finances to see them become reality. So I met with the county commissioner, the mayor, city officials, and the administrators in our city. Just asking them how we could serve – no strings attached, no agenda – just plain and simple – make their jobs easier. What blew me away was that they said no one had ever asked this question. If that’s not a sin, I’m not sure what is. So I need to make a long story short. We are now running the school assemblies, service projects, video and media classes, DJ all dances (I have never DJed before… ever), and I attend the student government classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to help them plan all of their school’s activities. I want to tell you a whole lot more but I guess I’ll have to wait until the convention – I’d love to share this stuff with you. Here it is in a nutshell, I wanted to stop running competing programs with my students’ schools and just run their schools’ programs – hey, they are already there anyway and I get to meet their friends on their turf. And then at church, I am able to focus on discipleship, mentoring, spiritual formation, and of course dodgeball. Oh, excuse me, Xtreme dodgeball. Brock Morgan is a member of the Youth Specialties Core training team and has been working with students for the past 18 years. He is an exciting and popular speaker for retreats and camps and lives in Oregon with his wife, daughter, and labradoodle. They are a year in to launching a ministry to the city of Salem where they are loving students and serving the city in new and innovative ways. He loves to play Madden football, hang with his wife and daughter, and he welcomes all-comers on Facebook.

By YS on September 24 2008 | 0 Comments

Remix: Jesus is a friend of mine

By YS on September 24 2008 | 3 Comments

Last week just about every youth ministry blog on the planet featured a video of an 80s band singing "Jesus is a friend of mine." And it is very funny. Over the weekend our friend David Crowder was inspired when they showed the video during the announcements at their church. During the sermon he and his band disappered to an office and worked out this memorable remix. This is why we love Mr. Crowder. HT to David

By YS on September 24 2008 | 3 Comments

Because You Matter

By YS on September 22 2008 | 1 Comments

Over at Youth Ministry Exchange they say "You Matter" a lot. In fact, the driving force of the YMX community has always been to serve, support, and encourage youth workers. Here are a few articles that highlight exactly how youth workers matter.

By YS on September 22 2008 | 1 Comments

Murphy’s Law of Printers

By YS on September 21 2008 | 1 Comments

By YS on September 21 2008 | 1 Comments

Chile’s Sexual Revolution

By YS on September 21 2008 | 1 Comments

We tend to focus our attention on what is happening in adolescence here in North America. But, once in a while, we get a glimpse of what is happening with the emergence of adolescence in other places around the world. Recently, The New York Times profiled a major shift in the traditionally conservative nation of Chile.
The place is a tangle of lips and tongues and hands, all groping and exploring. About 800 teenagers sway and bounce to lyrics imploring them to “Poncea! Poncea!”: make out with as many people as they can. And make out they do — with stranger after stranger, vying for the honor of being known as the “ponceo,” the one who pairs up the most. Chile, long considered to have among the most traditional social mores in South America, is crashing headlong into that reputation with its precocious teenagers. Chile’s youths are living in a period of sexual exploration that, academics and government officials say, is like nothing the country has witnessed before. link
Question: Do you think this is a phenomonon we can expect to see in North America or do you think that our sexual revolution has already passed and we can just anticipate reverbarations and manifestations of what has already occured?

By YS on September 21 2008 | 1 Comments

A Time the Police Were Called on My Youth Group

By YS on September 20 2008 | 15 Comments

Some quotes from youth workers who had the fuzz called on their groups. 314 Indecent Exposure
We were at the Kalahari in Wisconsin and 3 of my students were mooning people out of the hotel window. Security and police were called. Fun night!
45 Simple kidnapping
We were playing a game of kidnapped with one group of kids outside the church. We were guarding the "hostage." Another group had to sneak up and release the hostage. It was after midnight and a neighbor called the cops on us.
23 Traffic congestion
When the church bus full of high schoolers got stuck on the railroad tracks.
11-7 Prowler
Office worker saw me & 3 others attempting to climb the church with a grapling hook.
Code 8 Fire Alarm
We were putting on a labyrinth during a lock-in for the senior high. A candle fell over and set the pulpit on fire in the sanctuary. 20 foot flames-- $200,000 in damage, 4 weeks before Easter. Police, 10 firetrucks.
10-107 Suspicious persons
Going home from summer camp we stopped at a mall. About 4 of our senior high guys had power ranger masks on and plastic ninja knives. They were running through the mall & stores harassing "customers" (our youth group).
Code 20 Notify News Media to respond
We spent the night in the church parking lot in cardboard boxes to simulate a homeless village. The Sr. Pastor called the cops.

By YS on September 20 2008 | 15 Comments

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