22 Jun 2020

Youth Pastors, Cancel Culture, BLM, Politics & Our Response

By Justin Knowles|2020-06-23T09:01:57-07:00June 22nd, 2020|Uncategorized|1 Comment

This might get some heat, but it’s something I have been sitting on for a while and I just got back from vacation. When I get away it allows me to collect some thoughts a bit better. This is not a political stance on an issue, but more of thinking about my fellow youth workers as they all are navigating how to minister and respond to students to all that is happening while in the midst of a pandemic.

In our country, there are lots of emotions, hurts, passions, movements, tragedies, etc all happening at once. There are a lot of opinions, teachings, conversations, and responses happening. People are upset, people are being cancelled, some people showing their true selves online… some of those people are youth workers like you and me.

Here’s the question that comes into my mind while all this is going on: Even though we are passionate about certain things, how are we responding to all these things knowing that our students are watching? Does it point back to our students wanting to follow Jesus more? Or less?

Even when they don’t see our responses (cough cough… youth ministry Facebook groups… cough cough), the question applies.

Is that something we as youth workers are thinking through as we have the responsibility to shepherd the next generation into Jesus-like response? I won’t lie to you: I will say lots of us are doing great, but some not so much.

Gen-Z, the generation we minister to right now, is in a prime spot for using social media to express themselves and what they are for. As leaders, we can show them how to do it well and in a way that is honoring to Jesus. This got me thinking about how we respond to the things going on.

Election. People get weird about politics. They say things like, “Jesus aligns with Republican values, not Democratic ones.” Or vice versa – “No way. Jesus was more Democratic in His perspective than Republican.” I think Jesus would be neither, because He would lead his own kingdom movement against a corrupt political structure. I’m pretty sure Jesus would be canceled if He were teaching today. He would offer the grace of the cross to those coming against Him.

We should offer grace to those who are learning and slipping up in the process, and walk with them.

“Jesus would be part of the social movement of Black Lives Matter.” “No, Jesus would focus on racism as an individual spiritual issue.” The truth is, Jesus did things in ways that upset a lot of people and didn’t seem to make sense at the time. It’s funny to me when people say “Oh, Jesus would have for sure done this,” when it seems like no one truly understood what He was about when He was alive, let alone when He’s not physically with us. That’s a whole other post.

My point?

Do you see how in the middle of this post, it started veering away from my beginning question? (To review: “How are we responding to all the things happening right now? Does it point back to our students wanting to follow Jesus more? Or less?”)

Regardless of where you stand on what issue, what I want to point back to is our students are watching it all. They are little creepers, stalking us, seeing what we post, what we like, and how we respond. They see how we respond to people who disagree with us, who get it wrong and repent and ask for forgiveness, and people in general who are struggling with all the mixed emotions happening today.

As youth workers, we have a unique opportunity to help our students walk through these times AND point them back to a Savior who will continue to challenge their ideas and ideals, their values, and their passions. Hopefully they will point others to Jesus themselves.

Let us steward students’ lives well.

Here are some reflection questions that we have to challenge ourselves with as leaders, because we know students are watching:

Is what I am posting online a reflection of my true faith in Jesus?

What would students say or think about my posts or lack of posts?

Does that point them to Jesus more or less?

If someone disagrees with me, is my response one of grace and truth? Or is it passionate, loud, and off-putting?

I can’t answer them for you. I can only answer it for myself and I won’t lie. It’s hard sometimes. Does it look different for everyone on how this plays out? Sure. We won’t all respond the same way. But asking these questions is always worth it.

@justinknowles3

8 Jun 2020

Party of One

By Ronald|2020-06-02T19:39:22-07:00June 8th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

You prepped a lesson. You planned games. You posted on social media. You showed up. But they didn’t… or maybe just one did… Sure it’s been a crazy few months, but things are finally coming back to some sense of normal. Shouldn’t they be here? Yes, they’re busy kids but it’s summer, they should have more time. It’s disappointing, it hurts, but one showed up. So now what?

Do you teach to one like a crowd? Do you ditch the lesson and play games? Do you send them home and call the night a wash? I don’t know if I did what was best for my one student that night, but we chose to ditch the lesson – the lesson I had studied and prepared hours for. I set it aside, went down to my office to my Nerf gun stash and we played games. For an hour (shortened meeting times for now) myself, my one leader that showed, and the one student that showed had a ping-pong war, tried to shoot Nerf bullets into a can across the room (Impossible Shot on the fly), blared music and laughed.

It wasn’t what I planned. If I’m honest, it wasn’t what I wanted. But after having a few days to digest the disappointment, I have to believe it was for the best. That student happened to be a more reserved quiet kid and he got an hour to talk about anything – the phone he’s saving to buy, his favorite RC car and some college plans. An hour of two leaders choosing to invest in him rather than sitting in self-pity. An hour of investment in his life. An hour of him unknowingly reminding me of the little joys of ministry. Maybe that hour changed a life or two, maybe it was just an hour of Nerf and ping-pong. Either way, that one student was worth the hour.

Choosing to see the worth in one is something uniquely beautiful and joyous. It also is exactly what Christ did for each and every one of us. So while it may be heartbreaking and disappointing to have a youth group scattered I hope and pray you see, feel and remember how much you look like Christ when you still choose to invest in the one.

Alyx Greenwood

I’m the youth pastor at Marysville Christian Church in Marysville, OH and a graduate of Kentucky Christian University (Go Knights!). When I’m not hanging out with students I love to hike and hammock, pretty much anything outdoors! I think I may be the only youth pastor to hate pizza and I that middle schooler students could rule the world if they didn’t have an early bedtime.

4 Jun 2020

Online Segments, Bits & Videos For Service

By Justin Knowles|2020-06-04T15:37:04-07:00June 4th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

It is time for another post going through all the segments, bits, serious stuff and spiritual growth elements we have been working with for our online services for the past few weeks. We are in week “God only knows because it feels like forever” and we have done a bunch of different things to keep students engaged online.

These are all clips that were a part of the services as a whole but can be cut up and distributed amongst all of your social media channels to increase engagement and get more students interacting and sharing your stuff.

Games

REAL TALKS

SERMON CLIPS & DEVOS

2 Jun 2020

Youth Ministry of Micro-Influencers

By Ronald|2020-06-02T21:25:43-07:00June 2nd, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

A recent study, “The Influencer Report: Engaging Gen Z and Millennials”, was published by Morning Consult. The market research and data intelligence company surveyed over 2,000 13-38 year-olds and reported some fascinating observations from their findings.

Let’s focus in on: “The potential micro-influencer market is massive.”

The Dawn of Micro-Influencers
What is a micro-influencer? In a nutshell, a micro-influencer is an influencer with fewer followers. Whether the individual is striving to become an influencer or if they are an average social media user who is casually sharing something with their small network of friends, micro-influencers have a unique effectiveness in marketing that advertisements can scarcely compete with. It’s essentially the ancient practice of affiliate marketing, where friends tell friends about something cool they’ve found or a product they need to buy. We all have become trained to immediately scroll past an ad, however, our attention is held when someone we follow shares a product or story we care about. Micro-influencers do just that, where they can reach the individuals who are usually unreachable under normal marketing conditions.

A Very Willing Youth
Two exciting observations taken from the Influencer Report show: (1) 54% of youth would become an influencer, given the opportunity; and (2) 86% are willing to post sponsored content for money. In other words, our youth are exceedingly willing to be micro-influencers and they want to share in the viral success of something (even more so if it benefits them). What this means for youth ministry is that it’s not that we need to convince our students to be active on social media for the benefit of the kingdom of God, they’re ready and willing. No, instead, it’s that we need to give them a reason and an opportunity to do so. They have the ability to reach those who are unreachable to the church. But do they have a reason to reach them or a community they can trust to help take care of their friends? If we as a church do not provide a framework for which our youth have enough freedom to become micro-influencers in the church, they will naturally become micro-influencers in other arenas.

A Shift in Ministry Mindset
How can we build such a framework? The short answer to this is that our students must be handed the reins of the youth ministry. Extending ownership to our youth will inspire excitement and pride in what they are building. As a result, students will naturally become micro-influencers. The days of a single leader effectively ruling at the helm of a ministry are fading away. While it may have been able to generate results in past decades, this leadership style is quickly losing its relevancy in today’s youth landscape. The church must explore a new approach. While sharing leadership may be recognized as the future of ministry, it is ironically a return to Christianity’s roots, where this was essentially how the faith thrived during its earliest centuries. To find out more information on how to make this shift occur, be sure to order a copy of Youth Empowered today for you and your youth ministers.

Sean Buono lives to teach for the Kingdom of God. Teacher and author of the book Youth Empowered, he has served in ministry roles including small group director, men’s ministry leader, youth minister, and youth pastor. When not studying or working, Sean enjoys time with family, reading, and building jigsaw puzzles. One of the ways he helps equip other ministry leaders is through his writings, found at seanbuono.com

1 Jun 2020

Perception Of Being Real Vs. Actually Being Real

By Justin Knowles|2020-06-01T11:32:21-07:00June 1st, 2020|Uncategorized|1 Comment

We know that as youth workers social media is a really big thing. We are in it, whether we like it or not because that is where our students are. And if we are honest, we can get sucked into the same things out students do when it comes to perception, finding value and sometimes portraying things to others that are not who we really are because we care a lot about what others think of us.

I mean, I know I do it. and I bet I am not alone.

I know there are eyes looking at what I am doing and what our ministry is doing. Every time we post we have eyes looking at us and we have the ability to put out and control what others see.

Craig Groeschel says on his podcast all of the time, “Be yourself. People would rather follow a leader who is always real rather than a leader who is always right.” I would agree. So I was thinking the following in challenging myself but other youth pastors out there who are trying to “make it”… whatever that means. Maybe some apply to you, maybe none of them, maybe all of them do (more me, all do in some way shape of form), but chances are there is some heart work to be done as we lead out in being real.

There is a really big difference between being around successful people to appear successful and actually being successful. – Everyone does it at some point. Name dropping. It makes us feel more important and more important sounding to others. Sometimes us youth pastors at conferences or whatever are the worst at this. Why do we do this?One of the best things we can do is work on honing in our craft to be successful for what God has called us to be rather than posting things around people who are killing it in hopes to gain some of their influence. I have done it. I wanted to be associated with them and I wanted others to think I was.

There is a really big difference between appearing genuine and actually being genuine. – Posting things online is really easy. Click, share… boom genuine. Nope. It takes work to be a genuine person. It takes Jesus to become more and more genuine in how we actually care for people and be the person we are portraying online and being the same person in real life. Have you ever met someone for the first time and they are way different than what they do/say online? I think students see this sometimes in us. We need to combat that.

There is a really big difference between appearing spiritually disciplined and deep and actually being spiritually disciplined and deep. – we have either done this or seen it. The picture of the open bible, with notes, coffee on the table. I am all for it… if thats what you do regularly. I don’t know if it is a bad thing on my end (even asking that means I need to check my heart) but when I see a post like that, I always wonder…”Do they really do it like that though? Or is it for the gram?” Point? As leaders we need to make sure we are ACTUALLY growing in our faith if we are challenging our students to do so.

There is a really big difference between having a position to lead people and actually leading people. – You can have a title but no influence. People might follow me and put up with me because my title places me to run the show, but it does not mean I am leading them. Just because you have a title doesn’t mean you are effectively leading your team, volunteers, or students.

There is a really big difference between knowing a lot about Jesus and actually knowing Jesus. – We can rally off stats and verses all day. we can preach until our heads fall off but if we are first not preaching to ourselves, out of the abundance of what we have been putting in with Scripture on our own time, we just know about Jesus. It’s when we begin to really dig into who Jesus is in our own lives, allowing Him to mold and transform us from the inside out, will we see Him move in ways we never even would have imagined.

Just some thoughts I have been wrestling with. Social media is really good at putting on that front.

Which one do you tend to fall in? What are you doing to work on it?

Let’s practice being real with ourselves, God and others.

@justinknowles3

14 May 2020

I’ll Say It… I’m Over Online Services

By Justin Knowles|2020-05-20T14:00:12-07:00May 14th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

I’ll say it out loud for everyone. I’m over online services.

I miss my people.

I miss having meetings in person.

I miss live worship and live messages.

I miss the after-service patio hangs.

I miss in-person small groups.

It feels like I am running out of ideas to make online happen.

I know our team is for sure feeling the hard pivot towards online we made 8 weeks ago now (I know I am) and I know our leaders AND students are over meeting via Zoom. The shininess of online is for sure gone now and it does not seem (at least here in CA) that it’s going to come back in the somewhat near future.

It really is hard not to be discouraged as engagement seems to be going down in a season that even without Covid-19 would already be a dip when approaching summer.

BUT…

I want to make clear that even though I am over online, our mission to preach the life-changing Gospel to students has not changed. We have been challenged, and we have innovated in ways that will change how we do ministry from now on.

We have become way more personal and intentional during this time because people are over online.

We have pushed our social platforms to be more intentional and thoughtful for engagement rather than a bunch of random posts throughout the week.

I have fully given over social media to someone else. It’s off my plate because it’s a lot. She is doing way better at it than I was.

We launched into a new platform of Twitch. Two of our leads are taking charge of growing it and engaging a demographic of students who were not engaged before.

We’re able to see the value in building our Youtube channel and making specific content for that for students to engage with. We have fun stuff, but also spiritual stuff.

We were able to come up with a creative way to honor and celebrate our seniors who are graduating (but not walking) by creating a virtual graduation for them and their families.

I have learned that I can probably work from home 1 and 1/2 days a week so I can be around my wife and boys a little more as we are in a crazy part of life with a 3-year-old and 6-month-old.

My point? While it might not be ideal, this time has showed us some things about our ministry. It didn’t create problems, but only highlighted the ones that were already there. These problems 1) we ignored, because we could, because meeting in person allowed it; or 2) we just didn’t see as problems in the first place.

I know for our team I have been asking these two questions:

What’s one thing you are most certain you will keep doing that you didn’t do before?
What’s something you will no longer do that you were doing?

I think asking these questions during this time will make sure this weird time of ministry is not wasted.

Let us not waste our time wishing it would be over. Let’s work on things that this time has highlighted for us.

@justinknowles3

14 May 2020

Sandals Church Youth Online | Back To Basics | Week 1

By Justin Knowles|2020-05-14T09:26:13-07:00May 14th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Last night we started a brand new series online called Back To Basics where we are getting super practical when it comes to reading the Bible, prayer and intentional community.

Service order:

Senior Vitutal Graduation announcement
Welcome and get connected
Zoom Singing Whisper challenge
Real Talk: Healthy mind while at home
Message by Dane Perczak
Worship
Dismiss to groups

13 May 2020

Sandals Church Youth Online Service | One Off | Numb

By Justin Knowles|2020-05-13T12:02:35-07:00May 13th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

This last week on Sandals church Youth Online we had a one off message called “Numb” where we chatted about how sometimes we can feel numb to God working in our lives and what do we do when that happens.

We had a great opening bit of “The Whisper Challenge” with two of our youth leads and we showed part 2 of our Bags Of Doom bit we did at home where we eat some pretty gross things.

It was a pretty straight forward service but it was a great one as we had some really good conversations in small groups afterwards.

You can check out the message in the DYM STORE HERE.

5 May 2020

Branding & Social Media Vision Plan

By Justin Knowles|2020-05-05T10:11:00-07:00May 5th, 2020|Uncategorized|5 Comments

The good thing about the times right now is that is expediting things on our our ministry list that was somewhere on the list to the top of the list. One of those things is online presence.

One thing in ministry that I usually have done myself when it comes to control is social media. I care deeply about it because for students, it’s one of the biggest platforms and engagement platforms we have. In this season, our youth lead resident, Madison, has started to take over our social media and has but together a strategic and well thought our plan in order to increase that engagement.

We are going to begin the process of going through a re-brand of our look and feel for our ministry (which I am stoked about) and that will begin the slow process with our social media. Since it is the first look into our ministry for most students, we are going to be a little more intentional about our quality and intentional engagement.

She created a great plan with our creative team and our social media/marketing people and was able to pitch it to our team this week in our network meeting and I wanted to share it because I feel everyone (including me) wants to get better at engaging students online.

Below you will see the thoughts of why we are making these approach changes and the looks and feel for each day we are wanting to post. This is not what we are currently doing but we wanted to show our crew what direction we were going with examples of what type or look and feel we wanted and how we wee going to be more intentional about what we post, why we post and when we post.

We already stated doing it and we have seen some great engagement already. You can follow us on Instagram HERE.

Like I mentioned, this is in process and it’s probably going to be a month or two before we are fully operating on this plan with a new re-brand as well, but I love the interaction we have already gotten so I am excited to see where it goes.

I hope our walk through and look into our ministry in this area could be helpful.

@justinknowles3

4 May 2020

Online Service Programming Segments, Bits & Videos Part 3

By Justin Knowles|2020-05-03T22:03:27-07:00May 4th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Every 2 weeks I have been sharing some all of our segments, bits, videos on the blog to share with you with what our team has been doing but also hoping it could spark some ideas in your own ministry to make them bigger and better.

In all honesty, this season has been tough but it really has caused us to be more creative than ever and I feel as weeks go by our programming and the ability to produce the stuff has gotten easier and easier.

I won’t lie to you, before all this, my role was not to be in the weeds of programming but to help, guide and coach our youth leads to create the best programs at their campuses. Since moving to all online, I am the main programer/producer and it’s been quite a turn around. Thankfully the people I get to serve with are incredible and they help me out and make it look easy.

So enjoy and I hope these could be helpful to you and your ministry in this season.