Young Adult 1: Communication or Miss-communication

Communication is an important part of any organization especially the church.  I'm sure we've all heard the saying that to ensure one truly gets the message it must be communicated seven different times in seven different ways.  Anyone who has spent any time at all in church leadership will agree with that statement.  Communicate, communicate, communicate its what we must all do to be successful in ministry.  Unfortunately, not all churches are very good at this and especially when it come to ministering to younger generations.  Many churches want to have young adults in their congregation but for some reason can't attract and/or retain young adults and they wonder why this is.  Not all but many of the churches that I see with this problem have a problem communicating to young adults and while this isn't the only reason for the absence of young adults it is a major one.

A key point in communication is to know your audience and communicate effectively to them.  Young adults aren't reading your church newsletter especially when in only comes to them in the regular snail mail and it is black and white with cheesy clip art.  They definitely aren't reading your bulletin again cheesy clip art.  While they may be listening to your announcements (this assumes you've attracted them) they like most won't remember what you said.  Below I've laid out some ways that churches can communicate better to attract young adults, but remember once you attract them you have to have substantial and effective programming for them or they won't stay around.  In other words you have to engage them and make a connection.

1. Website - If you don't have a website you won't have young adults coming through your door or anyone in the age bracket of say birth to 55.  Websites are key to attracting first time visitors especially young adults who live on the web.  Gone are the days of looking in the phone book or local church directory in the newspaper for a church to visit.  If you have a website it must be up to date, attractive and engaging.  Use video, photos, flash slide shows, and social media to engage your visitors.  Additionally, all the basic information must be there and be easy to find. A web presence is key to attracting young adults.

2. Facebook - As I said earlier young adults live on the web and if your church doesn't have a Facebook presence where you can build your community away from the church building then you are missing out.  Not only is this a great way to communicate about upcoming events and get information out it's also a great place to do ministry.  Facebook can be used to build community by posting and interacting with  pictures, links to intriguing articles about faith, videos, and much more.  Take a poll of your congregation on Facebook and use it in your next message, etc.  Facebook is a ministry tool that you must use.

3. Twitter - Twitter is another must have especially for organizations.  I personally use my twitter account to get news and information from the organizations I'm connected to and from around the world.  Twitter is a different platform than Facebook but can be used to get the word out and in a teasing promotional sort of way.  Twitter can be synced with your Facebook account creating less work and more communication.  A must have to communicate with young adults

4. Newsletters - If you want to reach young adults with a newsletter it has to be e-mailed.  I know very few young adults who bother with printed newsletters.  On top of being e-mailed it must be designed well.  When I say well I mean no full page articles or even two to three paragraph articles.  In our twitter/text driven world of 140 characters or less most people aren't going to read a full or even 1/4 page of text to get the basic info.  The only time a page or 1/4 page of text is effective is in a specialty article or news story (much like a blog). In addition to watching the words on a page it must have great graphics so drop the cheesy clip art and invest in good graphics either from a graphic service or by learning how to create your own.  Finally, color is better and if you're e-mailing the newsletter then color cost is not an issue.

5. Texting - To get the word out quick to young adults pick up the phone and text don't call.  My basic rule of thumb is this (and these are rough generalizations) call anyone age 40 to 45 and up, text anyone age 39 and below as a primary means of communication.  Yes, there will be some overlap in these categories and that is good.  If your church isn't texting in mass to communicate then you are way behind the times.  There are many services out there to help you with this I use simply youth ministries texting platform for this.  Texting is short and sweet and seen as non-intrusive where as a phone call can be seen as intrusive at times.

6. Power Points - I can't count the number of terrible power points I've suffered through in my lifetime.  Let me just say this if I was attending some of these churches as a visitor and experienced these terrible power points I wouldn't come back.  A good power point has graphics that pop and grab ones attention; the presentation connects with the theme; the words are legible both in font, size, and color; and most importantly when slide shows are used the show is slow enough that everyone can read it but not so slow that they loose interest in the show.  A great resource to help with power point graphics is Graceway Media I've used them for several years and I highly recommend them not just for worship power point, but also for power point based announcement videos that one would place all over the building (much like at an air port or mall)

This is a lot of information, but I think it is only the basics that one needs to consider in communication to young adults.  So, take a moment and review how your ministry is doing in each of these areas and ask if I was a young adult (age 18-31ish) would I be attracted to my church based on our communications?

Weak Leaders 7 Signs

MinistryMatters.com has a great article on weak leaders and the seven signs of a weak leader.  Check out the article here and below are the seven signs.  I've known and worked for/with some weak leaders in the past how does one overcome working for a weak leader?

Here are 7 signs of a weak leader:

• Runs from conflict
• Hides all flaws
• Never admits a mistake
• Quick to pass blame
• Pretends to be in control
• Shies away from difficult decisions
• Appeases critics and complainers

I've known and worked for/with some weak leaders in the past how does one overcome working for a weak leader? 

How can a subordinate help a weak leader become a strong leader?

longevity in Youth Ministry

A classmate of mine from JBU and fellow youth ministry major Brit Windel wrote this article on longevity in youth ministry for youthministry.com.  He has some real good words of wisdom and as one who has been in ministry for 12 years now I highly recommend this article to anyone.  Whether you are just starting out in ministry or have been around a while we can all learn something from this article and this series by youthministry.com.  I especially like the advice on finding ways to detox without venting to others or your spouse.  This is one piece of advice that I know is very wise, however I need to take it to heart and put it into practice.  It is really easy to vent to those comfortable people around us like our spouses or close friends but this can do more damage to your relationships than it does to help you.  Trust me I have been there and I have seen the damage done to spouses and close friend by venting ministry frustrations on them it's not good.  So, check out this article an all the other great nuggets of wisdom on longevity in youth ministry.