Patrick Scriven
Patrick Scriven is the Associate Director of Connectional Ministries with Youth and Young Adults for the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church. After finishing seminary, he dove into the mercurial waters of youth ministry and has worked in both traditional and non-traditional settings. Patrick is regularly honored to work with inspiring young people who are not the future of the church, but the present hope for the church.
If Your Youth Ministry Were a Website...
- By Patrick Scriven
- Published 07/23/2008
There are days where I let my mind wander a bit. I’m not sure if this is always a healthy exercise as it certainly can cut into my productivity. On one of those days I was imagining what youth ministries would be like if they were internet sites…
So, what kind of internet site would the average youth ministry be? Would it be a trendy blog that has the scoop before the mainstream? Those bloggers always know the best bands and the political dirt before the rest of us catch wind of it. This youth ministry would have a great sense of where God is calling us to be and to act.
Perhaps youth ministries could be like spiritual wikipedias. You would go there and be connected immediately to this wealth of information about God submitted and lifted up by people just like you. Sure it might need a little cross-referencing sometimes (no pun intended) but that kind of environment could really help people to grow.
Or maybe the youth ministries should be like an amazing version of facebook; a version without all the thinly veiled advertising and spambots. People could walk into this program and feel connected and everyone would know their name. Kind of like a 21st century version of Cheers.
I sometimes think it would be awesome if youth ministry was like youtube. People are always posting the craziest stuff on youtube; stuff they obviously don’t always think all that hard about before they click “submit.” I’m a big fan of people not sharing too much information (TMI) but I would like to see the real youth sometimes and not the version they know they are supposed to be so everyone thinks they are “alright.” And some of those youtube videos are wicked creative!
Sadly, I sometimes feel that our youth ministries are too much like profiles on eharmony.com. We spend so much time trying to impress people with how amazing our youth ministry is; and how amazing we are, that we lose the spontaneity, passion and depth we are capable of.
Instead, what if our ministry profile read a little something like this:
Christ-centered community of youth looking for open-minded young people who will share their lives with us. We are not perfect, in fact we have more flaws that we could ever list, but we will never expect you to be perfect either. (Perhaps we could add something about large biceps if that seems a little too idealistic?)
So what kind of website does your youth ministry most resemble? And more importantly, does it resemble it for the right reasons? Its hard work to keep a sense of direction; especially in the midst of the craziness that youth ministry can bring. But it is definitely worth the thought and effort to think about your ‘web presence’ before the chaos gets to define it for you.
Peace & Grace,
Patrick
So, what kind of internet site would the average youth ministry be? Would it be a trendy blog that has the scoop before the mainstream? Those bloggers always know the best bands and the political dirt before the rest of us catch wind of it. This youth ministry would have a great sense of where God is calling us to be and to act.
Perhaps youth ministries could be like spiritual wikipedias. You would go there and be connected immediately to this wealth of information about God submitted and lifted up by people just like you. Sure it might need a little cross-referencing sometimes (no pun intended) but that kind of environment could really help people to grow.
Or maybe the youth ministries should be like an amazing version of facebook; a version without all the thinly veiled advertising and spambots. People could walk into this program and feel connected and everyone would know their name. Kind of like a 21st century version of Cheers.
I sometimes think it would be awesome if youth ministry was like youtube. People are always posting the craziest stuff on youtube; stuff they obviously don’t always think all that hard about before they click “submit.” I’m a big fan of people not sharing too much information (TMI) but I would like to see the real youth sometimes and not the version they know they are supposed to be so everyone thinks they are “alright.” And some of those youtube videos are wicked creative!
Sadly, I sometimes feel that our youth ministries are too much like profiles on eharmony.com. We spend so much time trying to impress people with how amazing our youth ministry is; and how amazing we are, that we lose the spontaneity, passion and depth we are capable of.
Instead, what if our ministry profile read a little something like this:
Christ-centered community of youth looking for open-minded young people who will share their lives with us. We are not perfect, in fact we have more flaws that we could ever list, but we will never expect you to be perfect either. (Perhaps we could add something about large biceps if that seems a little too idealistic?)
So what kind of website does your youth ministry most resemble? And more importantly, does it resemble it for the right reasons? Its hard work to keep a sense of direction; especially in the midst of the craziness that youth ministry can bring. But it is definitely worth the thought and effort to think about your ‘web presence’ before the chaos gets to define it for you.
Peace & Grace,
Patrick
Spread The Word
Comments
Comment #1 (Posted by Brett)
Incredible post...
