QuaranTEENED: Youth Ministry During Crisis
How can we capture our students attention now that they are at home for awhile?
The psychology of fear. It can often be more scary than the crisis itself. What we need right now is a psychology of faith.
Crises reveal character. And ultimately, crisis reveals facts. What kind of leader are we when things get tough?
As we are in the beginning stages of the shutdown in lieu of the COVID-19 virus in America, here's a look at how YTH leaders can make sure we do not waste this moment. With our students off school and quaranTEENED at home, how can we help parents and teens survive? I know some students are doing minimal homework online, but, there's still plenty of time to implement great YTH ministry during crisis.
As leaders, we can help make sure that when we come out of this corona virus, we are better for it.
NOTE: Every region or area is going to have differing city regulations at this time. Please adhere to your location directives by local authorities. You can get updated information at the CDC website. There are updates, news, and emergency preparedness on the site. www.cdc.gov
Here are 7 practical ways we can lead as YTH leaders:
Serve Projects - Create opportunities for students to serve in isolated ways. It probably isn't going to work to be in soup kitchens or shelters at this moment, but, students can serve at home doing chores - I think cleaning their room may take most of this break the next few weeks!
At the church, groups of 1 to 3 can safely be guided with assignments such as filing, networking, correspondence, and sermon series planning. Especially for YTH leaders who may still be at work or home and are not able to focus time during the week to these things.
Volunteer at a hospital - Here's a very practical way to help at the local hospitals. Check with your hospital to see if you can bring in food for the hospital staff. Many elderly who volunteer or work at hospitals are not able to do so right now. You can also help by grounds cleanup or parking assist.
Elderly Care - With the elderly on lock-down in their homes, this is a great opportunity to do yard work, or get groceries, or pick up medication and deliver it to their homes. Many churches can use the benevolence program to even help pay for this. We do not have to go in and sit down with them, but, volunteering to work around the house or to deliver these kind of things to the door will be a huge help to the elderly. Make sure you pray for them or sing to them before you leave!
Social Media - Our students are already online. So, if you do not have a footprint digitally, every YTH ministry must take this moment to create their Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube platforms. There is no excuse right now.
Because the students are already familiar with these, you could even have the students create these accounts for the YTH ministry. All over the country there are great examples of this - just search student ministry or youth ministry on the socials. Every YTH ministry should have at least a daily post or live footprint with the social platforms right now that either the YTH leader or the students are producing!
Spiritual Formation - How are we going to do spiritual formation when we cannot gather publicly? This is the discussion in the church right now. Take some time to talk to other leaders and see what they're doing. It should be our default right now given the situation we are in. It's not like being online is new to any of us.
The internet has become our 21st century discipleship and evangelism tool for many of us. Now is a great time to create your strategy for online spiritual formation because this shutdown may be several weeks. You can create small groups online so students can connect with others with the new content created. See #4 above for a few practical tips.
Content Creation - Tapping into this generation's publisher and creative traits is critical at this time. With the extra time the students have, we can be guiding them to create message content for the ministry. Gen Z does not have to be encouraged to create - they are entrepreneurs at heart. So, get them working on upcoming series content, images and illustrations, statistics, and other sermon material. This would be a great opportunity for them to create bumpers, videos, writing blog posts, or content for the youth service and for the YTH ministry platforms!
Encourage them to do S.O.A.P., read a Proverb daily, or to create a login account and watch the Alpha Youth Series videos and content. www.alpha.org
Student Takeover - Let's take this last point to another level. Now that the students are working on social media, spiritual formation, and content creation, give them the opportunity to take over themselves. This can be a way for them to take the YTH ministry social platforms to another level and to share their faith with friends. What a time to match their gifts with the moment to create discipleship.
Execution
Instead of the psychology of fear, what about a psychology of faith?!
Lets lead with strength and positivity. Most of this will be very easy to get into motion because the students are already in a setting that makes this simple to put into place. You can accomplish this by having three or four small meetings with interested students at the church, planning a ZOOM or Instagram Live meeting with a larger number of students, or, by having several small meetings with your adult leaders and having them execute these plans with smaller groups of students.
And again, make sure you check with the CDC online and in your local region on how best to do these things. Also, communicating to parents is vital. Parents may have ideas of their own they can share with you. I know students are still doing some homework online, but, there's still plenty of time to implement great YTH ministry during crisis.