The internet is the new ground zero for social activism – and churches need to get on board with this. Facebook is more than a place where you post pictures of your kids – it’s also where you can decide to donate your organs. Twitter isn’t just a silly place where you share what you ate for dinner – it’s the place where presidential debates are discussed in detail live.
Now there’s a new study from the Pew Internet And American Life Project confirming how powerful the interest has become. The study found that 39 per cent of all American adults had done at least one civic or political activity with social media. (While it’s an American study, there’s no reason to believe this isn’t the same in Canada.) Among the activies, people said they had posted their political opinions (or reacted to someone else’s post), followed political candidates, hit “like” in support of political or civically minded web pages, and belong to politically or social active groups. One other activity caught my eye: they also said they had pressed their friends to “act or vote” on certain issues. That’s a powerful tool for spreading the gospel. And one we still haven’t figured out. That’s why social media training should be mandatory for all new pastors – and for us old ones! I recommend you check out your local university or college for a course or seminar. And in the meantime, grab a young member of your church: they can teach you.

To check out the full Pew study, click here: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Political-Engagement.aspx#src=prc-newsletter

Why do we put our youth in a box?  On Thursday night, I attended the opening of the 131st General Assembly for the Ottawa diocese, and heard Bishop Chapman’s charge to the synod. He had some interesting comments to make about the presence of youth in our churches. To distill it down, he was suggesting that we need to see church for what it is -  as a more inter-generational experience – a place where children, teens, parents and grandparents, seniors and singles – all gather to worship. In that context, the Bishop suggested, we need to stop thinking about this group of members, and that group. Do youth sometimes want time on their own? Absolutely, he agreed. (I think the youth I serve would prefer their parents join the all-nighters at our annual leadership retreat.) But for the most part, youth need to be treated as full members of the church. Perhaps we don’t need a “youth” council member; we need our young people to sit on council. We don’t need youth worship services – we need worship services that integrate everyone. And maybe, especially if our numbers are small, we should be re-defining Sunday school into  inter-generational education. Just ask your youth where else they hang out with people of different ages, outside of the church? I bet there aren’t many places. And we can both learn from each other, as Bishop Chapman observes. But that only happens if we come into the space that church provides as equal members.

We heard these same sentiments from our youth at Assembly this past summer.  Our youth are tired of the tokenism we offer them in the life of the church.  They are tired of the entertainment slots we give them at our gatherings.  They want to be integrated into the life and purpose of the church the same way everyone else is.  They don’t want to be ‘youth delegates’.  They want to be delegates.

Consider the motion on the floor of the Eastern Synod Assembly this past summer that spoke to increasing the numbers of youth at Assembly.  I spoke against that motion.  We do need a larger young adult contingent at our Assemblies.  But changing a number in a constitution will do little to make that happen.  I applaud the energy and excitement people have for youth, just as I applaud the motives of the mover of that motion on the floor of Assembly this past summer.  We need that energy, excitement and positive motivation to move youth and young adults more fully into the life of the churches we are a part of.  That takes work.  But imagine what our communities would look like if our youth and young adults were leading worship regularly, leading committee work, serving on council, elected as delegates to Convention and Assembly.

We have heard our very own Bishop Michael Pryse voice the same invitation that I heard from Bishop Chapman this week.  Perhaps it is time for us to use our energy and excitement to build up the inter-generational life of Christ’s Church.

Churches, let’s be honest, are lousy at marketing. In the old days, we didn’t need to worry about it – churches, and the services they provided,  were the place where communities met, where you took a day from your labours, where your children were educated, and where you got medical treatment if you couldn’t afford to pay for a doctor. But that’s not the case anymore, as we all know: however valuable the lessons of the gospel may be, and however valuable the non-profit work that happens, we need to do a better job marketing ourselves. The goods news is that social media makes this cheaper, and it allows for the creativity that wouldn’t have been possible without a Don Draper-style media campaign to happen from the grassroots. But our job, frankly, is to loosen up: to think outside the box and take some chances. Let’s get this conversation going. For the next couple weeks the blog will focus on different ideas for how to reach and engage young families; how to get the word out about what our churches are doing, even how to widen our doors for Christmas. Let’s try to bounce around some ideas, and share best practices and take a few risks.

For starters, here’s a good test case: a few months ago Zellers began a unique marketing campaign, even as it was shutting it doors. The company created a social media campaigning using its mascot, Zeddy. While it was still expensive by church standards, it was also far cheaper than an ordinary department store campaign – and far more successful. It made Zellers look hip. Here’s a great piece in the Globe describing how it worked: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/with-a-healthy-dose-of-humour-zellers-says-goodbye/article4590422/

Oh, and where do youth fit in? Well not only do they respond the most to campaigns like this, if we are going to look within ourselves to find the talent and know-how to pull one off, where do you think we’ll find it?

Our young adults are well on their way to becoming the most educated population in the world. A majority of them will spend a chunk of their 20′s in either college or university, hoping to leave with a degree or diploma that will get them job. The Globe and Mail has been running a great series on some of the innovations happening at universities and the need for changes. (There may be some pertinent lessons in there for the church as well.) Although it’s not the focus of the series, one thing worth noting is that there’s been an increasing incidence of anxiety and depression among university students. We need to worry about this. What’s causing it? Some students arrive at university dealing with high expectations from parents, or having breezed though high school – university faculty report a phenonemon called “grade shock”when their first marks comes in.
Students today are also dealing with the financial pressures of rising tuitions and a difficult job market. The church needs to be aware of these pressures, and help give students the ability to cope. That can mean character education that stresses the valuable lessons that can be learned in moments of failure, and the skills to return from it. It may mean organizing recent graduates to speak to those about to set off for university. But ultimately, it means offering support, asking questions, and really listening so that troubled students in our midst get the help they need, and know where to access it.
If you want to read more about the state of Canadian universities, I recommend you take a look at the Globe series:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/ Students, parents and general readers are encouraged to participate in the discussion.

Zombies are pop culture icons these days, and now in a pretty abrupt switch for its usual Public Service Announcement the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation is using them to teach CPR online. The ad, which has gone viral is done in Night of the Living Dead Style – a lone woman races through city streets, eventually going into cardiac arrest when she finds herself trapped by a crowd zombies. The zombies give her CPR in fewquick steps (calling 911, quick pumps to the heart) and then, well, devour her. But that’s not the point: the ad has gone viral online, becoming a brilliant example of how to speak to an internet generation about an important public service. (Since research shows that even people are often reluctant to jump in and help those having a heart attack for fear of making it worse.) It’s a reminder, that Sunday mornings, or youryouth group meetings, can be a good chance to talk about our responsibilities to each other – and maybe even attend CPR training as a group. But it’s also a media lesson to the church about how we could perhaps sell the message of the gospel more cleverly – so that people pay attention. Zombies might be taking things too far, I agree (hey, I can’t even stomach the TV show Walking Dead) but the people at the Heart and Stroke Foundation suddenly have a lot of people watching, and they might have saved a life or two. Even zombies, it appears, may be good for something after all. To watch the video and read a Globe piece on the campaign, click here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/heart-and-stroke-campaign-uses-zombies-to-promote-cpr/article4593241/