Technology and youth ministry

I may not have been in professional youth ministry career, but as a youth ministry intern there are certain things that I notice about youth ministry. All throughout interning I have seen the countless benefits of technology, but I have also sen the disadvantages; it is these disadvantages that I would like to briefly talk about today.

I have observed that our technology can and does at times fail us. There are times where a Video won't play in our lesson, the sound system acts up, or a website malfunctions temporarily. These are only small tech failures that I have witnessed and I can imagine that there are many more. This creates problems for both us, the youth ministers, and for our students/possible job applicants in certain situations.

First to cover when it is a problem for us: it can hinder the effectiveness of our lesson or put a damper to the evening. What I have seen ministers do to prevent disaster from such failures and what I would recommend is: to always plan a back up plan and trust God to use you with the failures to bring about change. Also another suggestion is making sure everything works an hour or so before needed if it is possible.

Now to the effect that it has on our students and job applicants. For our students it can create awkward moments where they wait for you to figure our what you are going to do. It is vital to remember that the students have as little or as much say in the program as we give them; so if we have given them little place it can create this awkward time of waiting and confusion. However if we include them a lot in the program, the students can help create filler time while you as the youth minister figures out what you can do to fix things. Now, however, we come to the job applicant. There are times--that have happened to me-- where someone may be applying for a position in your youth ministry or organization and your website has an error resulting in their application not being processed. Of course a simple email can alert you, the youth director, of this error so that it can be fixed; but there are times where you will not be available to fix the error be because even youth ministers need vacations. My advice for these times would be have alternative ways to submit applications instead of just submitting it online and/or allowing he application to be emailed.

That is my two cents, my thoughts from the dust as a lowly youth intern/

Sometimes you can do the same thing right a thousand times...

Sometimes you can do the same thing over and over again right, but one day you mess up. Today, as former Youth Intern, I was given the privilege to run and teach Sunday school again. I had been in charge a few times before and in the past everything always went according to plan; today I even felt incredibly confident and more like a Youth Pastor...But it was today that I realized as the famous show How I Met Your Mother points out sometimes you can do something right a thousand times...but that thousand and one times you mess up.

It began with awaking to realize that I had forgotten to go out and buy donuts and when I looked outside the car was strategically parked behind two other vehicles with the tiniest amount of room to pull out. After careful maneuverability, I managed to get to the grocery store but that was not the end of my troubles; when I checking out, I mistakenly typed that I wanted to buy 71 dozen donuts. That would have been crazy, but of course I worked my way out of that mistake easily enough. 

Then once everything was set up, it seemed to be going a lot better. I felt more than confident as I sat on the stool with my cup of coffee in hand, leading the discussion in Sunday school. I felt overly accomplished for getting many of the students to respond, because so often in the mornings no one wants to talk. Things seemed to be going great, and then I ended.

Twenty minutes early.

I had prepared all these discussion questions and scripture, and yet I finished early. At first I counted it as a loss. All I could think was "I've always done so well, what is wrong with me today?" Then I realized how beneficial this morning was for me.

Sometimes, ending early can help create an atmosphere of community that is needed. Sometimes ending early can help the students relax their minds after such a long week with their schooling and jobs. If anything it can show me how to be more prepared for the next time. I realized that I should not look down on this experience, but that I can learn from it. Being intern and having these experiences I have realized that you can learn from everything you do.

Experiences are half the learning in ministry. These thoughts from the dust are from my experience of today.

Journeying in the College Years

You know what they say about your college years; that they form you and liberate you from your sheltered life? Well I would have to say that this year has seemed to encompass that more than the first year. My freshmen year of college focused mostly on me trying to find where I fit here and how much I can get involved. This year, however, things are quite different.

I am already involved in different groups and I have many friends and yet I continue to develop new friendships. I am being introduced to new ideas, concepts, music genres, and so on. There are days that I am realizing how sheltered that I was growing up and other days that I realize how well off I had it. Then there are days where I spend the entire day in the library.

That day is today. I have been writing papers all day in the library because my classes were cancelled. It is an interesting feeling to get your papers finished with so many hours left in your evening, especially as you see all the other students frantically trying to finish theirs. It brings me a feeling of relief but also a feeling worry. I worry that I am finished early because I did not add enough or that it is inadequate and it is times like this that I need to just let my thoughts out and follow the words of Christ that says not to worry.

My always moving mind now directs my thoughts to yesterday. There are times in our life where we are a part of something but do not truly feel a sense of belonging there until one day when there is a click. That happened with my church yesterday. When I walked into church I felt a mental click that it was the place that I belonged at for right now and that I could be myself there. I even found my behavior to reflect this new found click and it was marvelous.

So I type all of this to show that in the end of my 3rd semester at the university, I am feeling like a college student. I am defining how I am and who I am going to be. I am becoming unsheltered and finding areas where I must be sheltered. I am enjoying the simple things in life and finishing papers at my own pace. I am following God as I journey day by day on this campus.

I am on a journey figuring out who I am through Christ.

What will tomorrow hold?