Youth, Techology and how do we fit it all together to get kids excited

I love it when I go to workshops that get my head spinning. Two GREAT workshops today.

iPad, Droid, Twitter, Potential: Emerging Technology and Emerging Ministry was led by three people who have used technology in their programs and had great resources to share. One thing that everyone in the room agreed upon was that faith formation MUST be brought into the 21st century and utilize it as a large part of its curriculum. That goes for all ages..not just for children and youth.

I loved the analogy of one of the presenters who said that when she was a kid, her mother used to ring the dinner bell outside and she knew it was time to come in from playing where ever she was in the neighborhood. Now, parents text their children when its time to come home from where they are (usually not playing outside, but that's another discussion).

We have to stop mourning "the way kids are these days" and embrace who this generation are. Or, as a church...we will lose them. And we will lose some of their parents too. Because young parents are living in a digital world that keeps them just as tech savvy as their children.

There were some great questions about how churches are using their Facebook page and it got me to thinking about how we at Grace would like to use ours. Right now, myself and a few others are admins and we use it primarily as an announcement site. But what about bringing in a more regular spiritual message. Create a God moment every day with a weekly blessing for parents to share with their children before they start a new school week, or a scripture passage to begin everyone's morning?

Missy Morain, from the Diocese of California, had some really radical ideas that she uses for her programs of all ages using different apps. Buying iPads for the Christian Ed and Youth Group, was one idea, and having kids use certain apps to re-tell Parables by creating them in an app called Toon-tastic. Using iBook creator apps for Confirmation classes, but also for things like an Acolyte training book that kids (and parents) can download right to their iPads, or phones. Did you know there is an app for the BCP? Yep. Creating an interactive classroom AS WELL AS creating an interactive parish is key to attracting new families.

This is not to say that people who do not Tweet or FB or even own a computer need to be left unattended and included. There are people who do not like, or can not afford, to be "plugged in." These suggestions were meant to be used along side of what we do now...making paper newsletters available, Sunday bulletins that people hold in their hands, phone calls, tacking things up on bulletin boards. etc.

Finally, the last workshop seemed to wrap things up for me as to giving me an idea on how to create a sustaining Youth program. Bringing our community, parents, vestry and youth on board for youth ministries was the outstanding workshop of the conference. Randall Curtiss, from the Diocese of Arkansas travels around to churches in his diocese and councils churches of all sizes to revitalize their youth programs. In a nutshell, he said from his experience, the only way a youth program will grow is if the congregation is invested in it. And the only way to do that is to create a Youth Ministry Steering Committee with members that consist of youth members, parents, the Christian Ed director, a Vestry member, and other adults that have no children in the program. This will take the program squarely off the youth leader's shoulders and bring it into the parish.

I loved this idea. I think it could work at Grace. I worry about what will happen specifically with our SYG at Grace when Amy and I retire. I don't see anyone in the wings to take it over as of yet. And it is such an important ministry. We have such great teenagers who COME to youth group. I plan to talk with Father Chip when I get back about this!

The conference has officially ended. We had a closing worship and many of us have said goodbye. I am here until Sunday and I will be going up to Santa Fe tomorrow to do some site-seeing and then I go on to California to visit family and friends.

It has been a wonderful conference in an enchanted land, for sure. I am very happy I attended and will miss seeing everyone next year when they gather in Virginia, but will keep in touch via the wonderful social networking that exists.

What half of your life are you in?

Today was our first full day here in New Mexico. We began with morning prayer followed by breakfast. When I come to these things I like to mix it up who I sit with so that I can get the most diverse experience of churches attending. Today I sat with Adelaide from the Diocese of New Orleans and Sue from the Diocese of Seattle.

I love to see the look on everyone's face when I tell them that I am a volunteer Christian Ed Director. First they are astonished since the majority of folks here are paid professionals. Second, they are impressed that my church sends me each year. Most small churches do not. But there are a few of us here. And I wish more did. This is a invaluable experience.

Big or small, we are all facing the same issues. How to grow our churches. How to keep kids coming. How to attract more volunteers for Christian Education. We share ideas. We share frustrations.

I can't  say it enough times to you-you must read Richard Rohr's book Falling Upward.  I started it last night and I am already half way through.  Today he walked us thru what he feels are two distinct  halves of our lives.

The first half of our life we are trying to figure it all out. We want answers. We want knowledge. When we get to The second half we see things differently. We see things are not so clear cut. We are changed by experiences that we have gone through. And we are asking different kinds of questions. We want to DO something with the life lessons we have learned.

 How old are we when we get to the second half of our life? Some never let themselves get there. They relive the same experiences over and over again. They don't allow themselves to hurt or to feel deeply or to go below the surface of themselves. And unfortunately, according to Rohr, you must experience hardship to fully experience joy. He likens it to the resurrection of Jesus as a prime example of what beautiful joy there can be in the second half.

Fascinating stuff. And a fascinating man to listen to. He admits he is not your typical Franciscan priest. His order is a "bunch of hippies" who like to ask questions, he says. He had us all laughing at some of the funny things about Catholics and the funny things about Episcopalians.

I love that there are private areas for prayer here. Comfy areas set up near fireplaces or in quiet areas with candles for reflection and peace.

There are some great vendors here and I'm enjoying hearing about new programs on the horizons for Church School education...many geared towards technology.

Only one workshop session yesterday because of the extended time for Falling Upward workshops. I attended one about Young Adulthood: Formation in the Midst of Transition. A little disappointing, quite honestly. I didn't walk away from this one with any "hands on" things we could apply at Grace.

Tomorrow is a full day of workshops and the end of the conference