Coronavirus: A youth ministry liveblog

Feeling overwhelmed with video calls? "Zoomed out"? Will Van Der Hart from the Mind and Soul Foundation has published a really helpful blog post about this topic, titled "Telephone Empathy" - find it here. This was also the blog post mentioned in this week's podcast episode.

Here's a quote from the post: "The fact is that something about the medium of interactive screen calls interrupts the flow of empathy between us: People who are usually sensitive and intuitive suddenly seem abrasive and blunt. All of the subtleties of tone and pitch seem to have been edited out of our communications."

It includes some helpful tips about how to counteract this exhaustion with video calls - useful for youth leaders and perhaps also useful for any young people who are struggling with it. Mind and Soul Foundation blog is also just a great place to find help and support for your mental health. Check out their articles offering support during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Things have been a little quieter this week with the bank holidays on Friday and Monday and people taking time off to celebrate Easter. That being said there’s still been some great content on the liveblog and, like last week, we want to bring you the highlights of posts you might have missed:

• It’s been great to see whole organisations embrace life online and so encouraging to see both Princeton Theological Seminary and The National Youth Agency bring events and training on to a digital platform. On Wednesday 29th April, Princeton Theological Seminary's Institute for Youth Ministry is running a Digital Forum on Youth Ministry titled "Revisioning Youth Ministry: Failure, Grief, and Hope". This is set to be an informative and engaging event designed to bring support and encouragement to youth leaders on a personal level, as well as in a professional capacity, as they seek to minister to young people during this challenging time. Before then, The National Youth Agency is holding a free webinar over Zoom about how to do detached youth work during Covid-19. The event takes place this Friday, 17th April, from 2-3pm.
• Unfortunately, several Christian conferences have had to cancel this year due to the current circumstances. However, Spring Harvest Festival have put together a completely free, online Christian conference, available for anyone via their Youtube channel. There are talks, devotionals and worship all around the theme of “Unleashed – The Acts Church Today" and it’s definitely worth checking out.
• Dr Lucie Shuker, Director of the Youthscape Centre for Research, released a very interesting Monday Report which examined youth leaders’ responses to questions about flouting, furlough and finding new connections. The research team are doing weekly 3x3 questions (3 minutes, 3 questions, every week at 3 o'clock) and your input in those surveys is greatly appreciated. We've changed the day to Thursday, to give you a bit more time! Find out more about this research in this week's podcast.
• We've released the latest in our "Together Apart: youth work online" series. We've been creating free, easy to use session plans for your youth work. Find the latest one here.

Again, we want to thank you so much for your support and if there’s something you’d love to see or even something you want to contribute in coming weeks please get in touch!

As a youth leader, investing in young people is at the heart of what you do. You want to see young people thrive in all areas of their lives. In this time of online youth work, it’s difficult to know how best to come alongside your youth group and continue to offer them holistic support.

With some young people becoming increasingly frustrated with life in lockdown, one practical way you can encourage them is by inspiring them to explore new activities, hobbies and skills during the isolation period. Young people have more time than ever to try new things and pursue new skills. Many organisations, both educational and recreational, have responded to the current lockdown by putting material online which is readily available for anyone to access. This is the perfect time for young people to experiment with something they’ve never done before – they just need to know what’s out there!

Here’s a list of things you can inspire your young people to try:

• Cooking classes – several chain restaurants have recipes and cooking tutorials available via their social media accounts or youtube channels. These include Wagamama’s ‘wok from home’ and Zizzi’s #zizzirecipes.
• Khan Academy – this free online programme might sound a bit too much like your usual school work but there’s a far greater variety of courses available online than in your normal classroom. There’s everything from a course on Storytelling, which has you create your own theme park, to World History, highlighting key moments in various cultures throughout time.
• Learn how to code – Hour of Code offers free beginner tutorials on how to code. Everything from Google logos to apps to Minecraft landscapes.
• Photography classes – during the month of April, photography giant Nikon, is offering courses for free!
• Learn a language – there are several apps available to download that will help you get started with learning a new language. Apps such as ‘Memrise’ and ‘Duolingo’ are free, easy to use and fun to explore.

Why not direct your young people to some of these courses/activities and help them make the most of the time they have during quarantine? At the end of a youth group session, you could challenge your young people to try out at least one new activity before you meet again. For something like the cooking classes, why not encourage them to make something and send in a picture? Before recommending young people to certain websites, please make sure you follow your usual safeguarding procedures regarding consents and pre-evaluating content.

Last week we asked you some questions for the Friday 3x3 – a way to take the temperature of the youth ministry community during the Coronavirus pandemic. Every Friday at 3pm we’ll ask three questions which will take you no more than three minutes to answer.

It was quieter this week. Last week, lots of those who engaged with our survey told us they were expecting to carry on at the same pace over Easter. But we only had 35 of you glorious people respond to our Thursday survey (a day early!) so maybe we were winding down after all! So, a quick reminder, with only 35 responses this is not representative of what the wider Christian youth work tribe thinks or feels. You can read the full-length breakdown and reflection here but a brief summary is below:

1. FLOUTING: ARE THEY OR AREN'T THEY?

Ministers and public health officials have been under fire for ‘flouting’ (great word) government guidelines, and to some extent so have teenagers. Obviously youth workers won’t really know what young people are doing 24-7, but the majority of those who responded felt that young people were compliant. In contrast, an article in the Telegraph reported that government polling showed teenagers to be a "problem" group when it comes to compliance. If that’s right and teenagers are more likely to gather socially, what is the responsibility of youth workers? On the one hand, we need to help young people #stayathome but we may also need to advocate for them, especially where they may lack safe spaces. Here is a great blog post on that topic.

3. A MINORITY CONNECTING WITH NEW YOUNG PEOPLE, PARENTS AND PROFESSIONALS

We asked who you had been engaging with since the lockdown, to get a sense of how many of us have experienced our networks expanding or new opportunities for connection presenting themselves. It’s reassuring to find that all respondents told us they are in contact with young people they were already in contact with before and 97% are in contact with parents they were engaged with before. What is more interesting is that these youth workers report being more likely to engage with new parents (57% said ‘yes’ or ‘somewhat’) than new young people (34% said ‘yes or ‘somewhat’). Why is that?

Thanks to those who took part! If you missed it why not join us next time – see you Friday at 3pm?

’It’s no accident the Gospels tell us that, as Jesus was dying, it grew dark in the middle of the day. Few images are more telling. As Jesus hung upon the cross, seemingly, light gave way to darkness, love to hatred, and life to death. How can that be good?’(Ron Rolheiser)

Tonight we’re praying for hope to be planted and nurtured in our churches and communities.

On today’s Youthscape podcast, Andy Winmill from Urban Devotion Birmingham shared how as a team they've had to re-imagine themselves so that they can still stand alongside young people. His stories from the frontline of supporting vulnerable young people at this time are full of sorrow, as well as deep love. Tonight’s compline is taken from his words, which you can hear in full on the podcast.

‘As the Good Friday story unfolds doubt creeps into the minds of believers. They had seen Jesus feed a crowd from crumbs and silence a storm with the authority of His words. Their mindset had shifted to “You’ve got this”. This certainty faded into darkness.

Perhaps doubt crept into the mind of Jesus. “My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?”

I wonder whether doubt has crept into your mind these past few weeks and this doubt has turned into fear? Have there have been times over the past few weeks where you haven’t known what to do? When the burden of responsibility has weighed heavily. When others have looked to you for direction and you’ve not been sure which way is up. Doubt quickly turns to fear.

Fear has it’s critics but it’s a helpful emotion. Fear saves lives. Adrenalin rushes through our bodies, causing us to steer away from danger. But what happens if we don’t see the danger to steer away from, we can’t formulate a plan of action. So often our brains go into overdrive and we end up either numbed or hyperactive. We end up buying excessive amounts of toilet paper. We burst into tears at the most delicate trigger.

The apostle John says that perfect love casts out fear. It doesn’t suppress fear, it doesn’t silence fear, it doesn’t ignore fear. It casts it out. Fear at it’s worst causes us to pull away. Love calls us to draw in.

‘Good’ Friday; it’s a strange title. It’s the biggest spoiler of all time but only those of us who know the ending can see through the bad to the good. In the moment it can feel as though we are in a horror movie when we know this is the most incredible love story.

Now in 2020, in the great lockdown, the detail is still being worked out. It’s important that we name our fear. We don’t suppress it. We don’t silence it. We don’t ignore it. And then we invite Love to cast it out.’

Father,
You know where my fears might be causing me to doubt your love or pull away from your presence. Thank you that even before I name my fears, you know them and you invite me to allow your Love to cast them out. Help me not to let fear pull me away from the young people you’re calling me to stand alongside, however that looks. Even with all the changes and limitations, I’m facing, help me to figure out a way to show love to the young people and the communities around me. Thank you that as I look to the cross, I see a God who doesn’t stand aloof from pain and suffering, but steps into the mess, the hopelessness, the contagion and the despair, to be the Light of the world. May your Spirit fall this Easter, and may your church rise to be beacons of light and sharers of your love.
Amen

"We're not keeping this to ourselves, we're passing it along to the next generation - God's fame and fortune, the marvellous things he has done." (Psalm 78:4 MSG)

Tonight we’re praying for churches to have a greater desire and capacity to connect with and serve young people, during this lockdown and beyond.

Young people growing up in church need a safe space to grow in their faith. They’re living in a world where being a Christian makes them the odd one out and which is often critical, even hostile, to that faith.

Beyond the church, young people in our communities are growing up in a world where there are hardly any opportunities to explore the big questions of life or get help to face the pressures of being a teenager.

One hundred years ago, nearly 80% of young people were connected with a church where some of that could happen. Now it’s less than 3%.

Lots of churches long to find ways to meaningfully connect with young people - but they’re not sure how. Let’s pray that churches find, through prophetic imagination, creative ways to connect with young people and draw them closer to God.

Thank you, God, for calling your church to tell of your great deeds to the emerging generations. We pray that while church leaders across our nation engage in new ways to ‘do’ church, that there will be a growing desire to reach emerging generations. We pray that entire churches will be equipped to reach young people. We pray for an unleashing of resources into youth ministry and for you to raise up a wave of your people, eager to reach, serve, champion and disciple young people.
Amen

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed." (Psalm 34:18 NLT)

Tonight we’re praying for young people who are living closer to uncertainty, risk and suffering during the lockdown. Some are experiencing a ‘double lockdown’ by living in households or families where they are at greater risk of being hurt, abused or neglected by those they are having to self-isolate with. Some young people will be witnessing increased violence between people in their households.
Some young people will be staying with neighbours or other relatives as one or both parents are key workers and have been deployed to areas of very high risk.

Some young people have friends or family members who have tested positive for covid19. Some young people have already been bereaved. Others will lose loved ones to the virus as the weeks go by.

Ever-present God, thank you that you draw close to those in great need. We ask you to draw close to young people who are facing grief, suffering and uncertainty in their isolation. Keep them under the shadow of your mercy and hold them in their anxiety and fears. May people around them have the skill and wisdom to respond to their needs.
May those in need of protection reach out for help and find the support they need, quickly.
May those who are grieving know your comfort and love.
May those who are anxious for families they are in isolation with or are separate from, know peace in the midst of their fears.
Amen.

We've been posting a lot on this liveblog and we don't want you to miss out, so we thought we’d give you a mid-week round-up of some our highlights you might have missed over the last seven days:

• Together Apart session three and session four came out this week! These comprehensive session plans are part of a short series enabling you to explore life and faith with young people, designed specifically for the context of online youth work.
• There have been several great podcasts released in the last week but in particular, we recommend checking out Dr Kate Middleton’s insights into the mental health of young people during isolation. There are tips and practical advice applicable to both young people and youth leaders alike. On a similar theme, another great article to check out is Young Minds blog post 'Young people's self-care tips for self-isolation’ which features practical advice from young people themselves!
• Writer and broadcaster Andy Robertson shared some excellent content on the ‘Spirituality of Games’. He challenged us to reevaluate the way we view video games and how these games are more than just entertainment to young people – they are a new way to tell stories, to engage with the world and make sense of life.
• Our friends at Open Doors Youth have created some incredible resources for young people and youth leaders for this time of isolation – learning lessons from the persecuted church. These resources are available in several different media forms and explore themes of uncertainty, isolation, lack and fear.
• The ultimate ‘Lockdown Listicle’ appeared on the liveblog just in time for the start of the Easter ‘holidays’! This list brings together 99 fun, thoughtful and creative ideas young people can try out over the next couple of weeks.

These are just a few highlights from a week of all-around incredible content. We want to thank you so much for your support and if there’s something you’d love to see or even something you want to contribute in coming weeks please get in touch!

A lot of young people are using Houseparty at the moment, a video-sharing app that's been around since 2016 but gaining popularity recently (it's had over 2 million downloads in just one week). It's also received a lot of negative press because of security worries - it has features that allow people to easily virtually "enter" a room. Open View Education have written this helpful blog post for a clearer overview of Houseparty.

Starting digital evangelism for the first time? Need tips for how to use social media to reach young people? We recommend this blog post by our friend Ben Cutting, digital evangelist at Youth for Christ. We love this quote about digital evangelism for the long haul:

"In that sense, digital evangelism is like dieting. You can shortcut the proper process and get some instant results but long term, it requires time and consistency to be more than a flash in the pan. I want to encourage you that when all this is over and the youth group can meet up again, please continue what you have started online."

"Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family." (Proverbs 18:24 MSG)

Tonight we’re praying for young people’s friendships. During the teenage years, friendships take on a powerful new dimension in helping young people gather a deep sense of belonging and confidence. On the flip side, it’s also the time when young people are most vulnerable to feelings of rejection and loneliness if they don’t find close, supportive friends, or if they are caught up in peer groups that assert a negative influence on them.

Let’s pray that when the regular routines that provide social connection, stability and purpose are removed, young people in our churches and communities will find existing friendships growing stronger, make new positive friendships and find brilliant ways to support each other.

Father, friendships are a brilliant gift from you.
We thank you that young people are often the best at demonstrating the kind of loyalty, sense of adventure and compassion in their friendships that delight your heart. Tonight we pray that you will bless the young people in our churches and communities with even greater skills to develop positive friendships that will build their confidence and increase their hope in this difficult time.

May they find opportunities to be honest and vulnerable with each other, in a way that’s safe.

May they be courageous in reaching out to peers who may feel lonely or are struggling at this time.

For young people who may have felt socially isolated and lonely before covid19, may this break from the regular routine give them new ways to express themselves and find good, lasting friendships.

For young people who may be feeling trapped or overwhelmed in their peer groups, uncertain who their friends are or suffering bullying online, may they have the strength to reach out to peers and adults who can support and love them.

For young people whose struggles to accept themselves and feel that they fit in is exaggerated by social media, may they find safe and meaningful ways to connect with peers online.

May the young people who know you, find the confidence to take the risk of sharing you with their friends.
Amen.

Looking for another group activity to do with young people during the lockdown? Instead of the usual in-person movie night, why not have a Netflix party? Netflix Party is an add-on to Netflix that allows people with different accounts to all watch the same thing at the same time. If someone pauses the show to grab some popcorn, it’s paused for everyone. There’s also a fun chat option at the side so people can send comments to one another while the movie’s going on.

This will only work if everyone in your youth group has a Netflix account. The other challenge is that Netflix Party is only compatible when running on a laptop or desktop computer because it's downloaded and run via Chrome. Hopefully, even if a young person doesn’t have their own account or own a computer, someone in the family will be willing to let them borrow theirs for the night.

Prior to any party, make sure you follow your usual safeguarding procedures regarding consents and also ensure you’re not exposing young people to anything which isn’t age-appropriate. Netflix has an abundance of movies to choose from but why not select something that you can use to fuel discussions in subsequent group meetups?

Films like ‘Lion’, ‘The Boy who Harnessed the Wind’ and ‘The Theory of Everything’. All these movies contain inspirational themes of characters who overcome immense challenges. You could pull out themes from the movies and link to bible stories with similar themes. Use these movies as a link between the experiences of fictional characters and lessons learnt from reading scripture.

Here’s how you’d go about setting up your lockdown movie night:

• Download and install the Netflix Party extension from Chrome
• Make sure all the young people have also downloaded the extension otherwise they won’t be able to join the party
• Load the Netflix website and choose a movie
• Choose something light-hearted and funny to watch – something young people would naturally laugh and chat about if they were watching it in person
• Turn that solo-movie into a party by clicking on the red NP at the top right of the screen
• Start the party and invite your youth group to join by sharing the URL
• They then can click on that URL invite which will load their own Netflix account and they join the movie by clicking on the red NP in the top right of their screen

"Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help." (Hebrews 4:14-16 MSG)

Tonight we’re praying for young people in our churches and communities to experience the goodness and mercy of God. Whether we are able or not to stay in contact with the young people we’re called to serve, we can rest in the confidence that God is more than able to make his presence known to each and every young person right now. Social isolation is no barrier to the Holy Spirit. If you can, bring young people before God by name. Ask God to pour out his blessing and comfort on the young people who are living in your community.

Father, every young person is known and loved by you. Tonight we pray that the young people in this community who you have called me to serve will reach out for you and will find you. Bless them in their homes. Bless them online. Bless them out on the streets. Bless them as they sleep. Bless them as they adjust to this new way of living. Above all, may they see and understand how wonderfully they are made and how powerfully they are loved by you. Amen.

1. EASTER: KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON?

This will be an Easter like no other. We asked you to complete the statement "Over Easter, I anticipate that I will mostly…" Half of you said you were going to carry on at your current pace, with 8.7% expecting to work harder. Only 40.6% expected to slow down or stop working. Of course, we don’t know what ‘current pace’ means, or whether Easter would normally be a time for rest for all Christian youth workers (I suspect not..). But it’s a reminder that this situation will affect us differently.

3. DIGITAL BURNOUT: NOT MUCH "NOW", A LOT OF "NOT YET"

Digital burnout can mean feeling exhausted, distracted or disengaged when interacting online, or beginning to avoid online activity. We asked whether you had seen any evidence of young people you support experiencing digital burnout.

Fifty-five people answered this question, with 39 (71%) reporting that they had not seen evidence of young people experiencing digital burnout. Some added that they were intentionally keeping online activity simple or minimal, either in response to young people’s request for space or to avoid overload. 18 of these added the caveat ‘Not yet’with some anticipating that they would see this in days to come. Seven people said that while they didn’t see digital burnout among young people, they were experiencing it themselves.

Fourteen (25.4%) told us that they had seen evidence of young people experiencing digital burnout. Ten responded with a clear ‘yes’ to our question, and an additional four reported lower engagement with digital youth work this week compared to last week. A few of these 14 told us that young people want screen-free evenings when they’ve been doing schoolwork online in the day and that some have turned their phones off for a day.

Thanks to those who took part! If you missed it why not join us next time – see you Friday at 3pm?

In this time when we're all so aware of our physical health, let's not neglect the mental and emotional health of the young people we work with. As a starting point, Young Minds have gathered some self-care tips from some of their young bloggers.

In the coming weeks we’re posting simple ideas for online youth work here on the liveblog. So far, we’ve thought about taking young people on Virtual Tours of exciting locales from the comfort of their own home (admittedly, that phrase works better when you’re not on mandatory lockdown) and we’ve thought about how young people could invest in their communities and reach out to the elderly and vulnerable.

Now let’s get creative. Want to switch up how you do youth group notices, or looking for an artistic, fun new way to get people talking and creating? Why not make a stop motion movie?

Stop motion is a form of animation where a video is made by taking a number of photos and moving things around bit by bit between each shot. When the images are then played back sequentially, what was static is now moving. Stop motion animation is behind well-loved classics like Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Nightmare Before Christmas. Stop-motion allows you to make a high-quality film using minimal resources.

Want to inspire the young people you work with to try something they’ve never done before? Explain the concept of a stop motion film and encourage them to make their own. You could use this as a way of making a collaborative youth group movie. If you decide on a storyline, each young person could film from 30-60 seconds of images, and those individual scenes could be collected and edited together to make a complete animation.

Here is a step-by-step guide you / they can work through to make the movie. There’s also a handy how-to video below:

STEP 1: Download a stop motion video app and familiarise yourself with how it works. Apps such as Stop Motion Studio are free to use and put the movies together for you. All you have to do is take the photos and move the characters.

STEP 2: Choose your characters. The cast of your movie is completely up to you! You could use Lego people, stick men, soft toys or even everyday household items. Toy Story 4 was headlined by a plastic spork, so shoot for the moon.

STEP 3: Come up with a rough storyline. Nothing too long or complicated. It can be as easy as having a character climb the stairs or fight an opponent. Remember for each move your character makes you’ll have to take a load of photos so the simpler the scene, the better.

STEP 4: …Action! Time to get the camera rolling. Open the app on your device and set up the first scene. Take your photo. Next, move the characters slightly – it could be adjusting an arm, moving them forward an inch, etc. Once you’ve set your new scene you can take another photo. Continue moving your characters bit by bit for each new photo. Once you’re happy they’ve reached the end of the scene, hit play and watch your stop motion movie from start to finish.