Teaching & Social

Networking

Youth Ministry & Technology Study

52 youth pastors

90% in charge of middle school & high school

Average age: 31

Average years in ministry: 8

Use of Technology

Second Life

Podcasts created by students

Podcasts of sermons

Online video of youth events

Photo Sharing

Youth Ministry Websites

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Use of Technology

Twitter Announcements

Text encouragements

E-mail encouragements

Text Messaged Announcements

Facebook Invitations

E-mail announcements

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Use of Technology

Online Gaming as a group

Video Game Parties

Group Myspace Page

Personal Myspace page

Parent Facebook page or group

Facebook posts on student sites

Group Facebook page

Personal Facebook Page

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Use of Technology

IM chats

Facebook chats

Online chats

Videos posted to Godtube

Video posted to Youtube

Student produced videos

Staff produced videos

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Web 1.0 vs.

Web 2.0

A New Approach

Web 1.0

Static Not easily updated

Text-based

One-way

Created by experts

Web 2.0

Fluid

Multi-media

Interactive

Consumer-producers

Web 1.0 vs Web 2.0 My website

Traditional newspapers & search engines

A leader-centered Bible study

Powerpoint

Staff-created

Program-centered

Center for Parent/Youth Understanding

Flickr, Youtube, Blogs

An interactive Bible study

Videos

Student collaborated

Social interaction/ relationship centered

EPIC

Experiential

Participatory

Image-based

Communal

John S Miller

Websites42% of youth pastors are dissatisfied

with their website60% are not able to update the website at least once a week

Content Analysis

Pictures

Video

Blog

Podcast

Forums

Parent section

No site

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

342 Websites

Percentage

WebsitesAccording to youth pastors:

What works well: Forms, information sharing, and calendar

Things they would like to change: No one uses it

The person who updates it

The overall look (more interactive, more pictures, less ‘80’s, separate from the main site)

WebsitesExamples:

Web 1.0:

GracePoint

Web 2.0:

First Baptist Church of Geneva

Huron Hills

1st Baptist Church of Manistee

Woodcrest

WebsitesWhat students say…

What makes a good website? Easy to navigate (tabs clearly defined)

Clear contact information (pictures help)

Pictures (not stock photos)

What are signs of a bad website? Spelling errors

No links (not even Facebook)

Over stimulating (flash taking forever to load)

No context (needs a “who are we” statement—not just pictures)

Weird ministry names (no info like “6-8th grades)

Incorrect contact information (youthpastor@gmail.com)

Websites What do you think?

What do you use your website for?

What works?

Is it worth it?

Text Messaging

Text Messaging 81% of surveyed youth pastors felt

comfortable with the technology

63% regularly initiate texts with students

65% have students who regularly text them

75% feel it is an excellent ministry tool

Most text just a small group of students

Text MessagingGood things:

Openness of students Students ask good questions

Students volunteer more information

Coordinating & advertising

Sense of contact Prayer requests

Birthdays

Bible passages

Good luck in a athletic event

Any other ideas?

Text Messaging Challenges

Miscommunication

Boundaries

Shallow

Too much stuff!

Students text during school

Advice about texting Get a text-savvy phone

Talk to parents (make sure student has text plan)

Let youth make 1st contact

Don’t overdo it

Keep hard conversations f2f

Technology Ideas Facebook

Personal page vs. group page

Photo sharing

Easy access

Learning what is going on with kids

Good conversations

Blogs

Have students & volunteers sign up

Needs to be kept up—2-3 per week

Technology Ideas Hi-tech connections

E-mail works with parents (not students) Have the chat turned on during work Use software for mass text messages Student produced podcasts

“Bad visuals are worse than no visuals” Webstarts.com animoto.com Zamzar.com (reformat youtube videos) Nooma, Youtube videos Videos made together Video game parties

Technology“Technology can burn and waste valuable time. Keep it simple and use it sparingly. Kids don't need flashiness; they need an adult who models Christ! If they do not have this, all the cool technology is just

more noise in a noisy world.”

Discussion What does Ministry 2.0 look like in your

group?

What have you found works well?

What frustrations do you have with technology?

What are some of the tensions with using technology in ministry?