Echo Hub

You’re right on. It’s the difference between talking “at” this group and talking “with” – they get it, and need to see leadership that gets it, too.

Scott,
I do think that you are making too much of it.
There is a value in being knowledgeable about these technologies, but their application is way too broad to be a point in failing to hire someone.
I’ve discovered that my church (which is very forward-thinking and modern) does not do ministry via the internet. We have a congregation of media receivers, not creators. So, while these tools have been great for me to develop two or three key friendships, they just have not been far-reaching for us.
So, I think to have an across the board answer on this topic is a little bit short-sighted.
Just my opinion.

I think I agree Scott! I think we have to have balanced leaders that can fully operate online and live in-person. As you may know, some tech gurus are falling flat on their face in public appearances because they are purely keyboard warriors.

I think I would rather have a person that is an amazingly gifted, passionate communicator and organizer that is still learning how to excel online than the other way around.

It’s a both/and issue for me.

Good thoughts!

-Shaun

Tough call. I would have to look at the candidate overall. But all things being equal with two candidates, I would choose the one who knew more about the social media technologies.

It’s not a question about technology as some may think it is. It’s the ability to use the tools to empower others, connect people in ministry, etc. There are lots of ways to think through these things theologically, philosophically, etc. without even keeping the tech part out front.

I think we need people in ministry to be visionary in this area, especially because those we minister to are often way out ahead of us. If it wasn’t for my college students I never would have gotten on Facebook 3 years ago.

rhett

Good blog Scott! As a someone who works at a large church where I minister to students (12-18) and 20-30′s (we are starting a new service) I have found social media sites to be invaluable to how I communicate. My students now follow me on Twitter, we have a FB Group, a Myspace, I blog regularly and they read it.

Was I ever asked if that was part of my ministry plan or purpose? No. But it has to be!

Most churches do not have your type of leader making hiring decisions…most are focused truthfully on what you did at your last position, not how you did it.

I thought it was important enough for college ministry that i’m writing a 9 part series on a social media strategy…

this is my 8th of 9, with links to the others at the bottom (I know..sorry, self shameless promotion).

rhett

CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP-

I completely agree. I used to work in college ministry, and my facebook account was invaluable. That was back when you had to have a .edu account to get into facebook. My other staff members that didn’t have an account from their college days had a rough time contacting and meeting new students. It was a great tool to find out who needed to contact a student, because we could look at their interests and see what staff member would be a good fit.

I have pastor friends that are at large churches who are dealing with youth Ministers who don’t understand the necessity of having an online life.

I am a student at Asbury Seminary and I manage a program that is constantly investigating social media and how it applies to the minister. If we are to live in an age where people are this connected, we need to find ways to use everything we can to fulfill our roles as ministers.

The thing that intrigues me the most is to see a community that is extremely connected in a face-to-face manner but also connected virtually. The interactions feed of off each other and great conversation is carried over from both places.

Thanks for the response so far! One quick caveat and then I’ll get out of the way. I said, “If I’m choosing between several equally-qualified candidates …”

I’m not looking for a keyboard warrior over someone who is dynamic in person. My position is that I want it all.

I could not agree more. our community is in the process of hiring a college pastor right now and I
think that we are fools not to hire someone that doesn’t understand or have a plan for social media within their ministry plan. it’s just to much of a reality of what this generation lives in and as a church we have to
embrace it to be effective. I think the social media platform gives us new connection, daily, with people that we’ve never had before in the church.

brian

I say what better way to get the non-media updated youth leader intune with these age groups then to ask them to help him/her get up to speed on what is the latest in media tech!In a world where $$ is no opbject to hire this caliber/educated individual I say great. But not all churches can hire this caliber of a person. And let’s be honest, this qualilfied person is going to want some additional $$ because of thier “additional” skills. But I don’t care what generation you come from (70′s – 2008), the bottom line is this age group will always want to know how much you care for them first above how much you know, (media included!. Give me a youth pastor who loves Jesus and relfects this to their students, who will be on their campus, have their office door open, and play a great ax (guitar for you media techs!)and respond to kids texts, emails and phone calls!

Mom of 2 girls – 16 and 20.

I completely agree with you. If we want to get the attention of this age group – we must go where they are. Facebook, Youtube are definitely where they are.

I’ve seen more than a few of them roll their eyes at their parents’ unwillingness to learn to text message. Show them they matter by being willing to step into their world and communicate in a way that is meaningful to them.

We cannot afford not to reach this generation. Anyone who is unwilling to learn or not convinced of the benefit has probably not spent much time in the company of young people in this age group.

i agree with you scott. find the right person.
along with that i would hope that there is sufficient/adequate support from IT people – specifically assigned to support that area of ministry. lots of people know how to use most of the tools you listed, but not a lot of people really understand how to keep them properly working as they get entertwined (not sure about that spelling, sorry).

Although leveraging social media is a great tool that even our earliest apostles like Paul used (Acts 17 friends), it’s different for different context. Not everything is slick graphics and the like. In fact, in some areas a slick production using internet media would be dimwitted (i.e. rural areas with limited access to high-speed internet, not to mention the use of a cell phone.) Practicality aside, there’s the fact that contextually speaking some 12 – 30 year olds may just appreciate a “traditional” approach. And this is where Paul comes back in 1 Corinthians 9 where he talks about being to the crowd what is required of him, not just keeping up with a socially trendy marketing agenda.

on! Until recently, I was responsible for scheduling the worship band at church. Earlier this year, we had a few college-age and a high school student start. I got far better response when texting them then I did with email.

It’s crazy (to me) to think about it, that email would be a scarcely used tool compared to facebook, twitter, and texting but it’s true.

I don’t know that I wouldn’t hire them just because of that. Not using social media is at best secondary to pastoral skills, spiritual vibrancy, leadership qualities and ability as a communicator (content creation and delivery). I would want to followup and see how they saw online community, and the movement of social media affecting singles / young adults. Lastly, I would want to see two important things, especially if they hadn’t mentioned something like social media:

1. If they had shown the capacity to learn something new.
2. Their capacity to deal with change.

by two cents, and sorta disorganized, but there you go

The only reason I still have a myspace page is because about 5 years ago I set up an account to keep up with the kids in my skate church. The skate church is long gone and I no longer live in the same state… but have continued keeping up with the same “kids” who are now in their 20s.

Good to know I can get a job with you Scott as your youth pastor in the event that Collide foils and church media is a passing fade.

I guess if I was applying, the angle I’d take is to suss out if there’s already a place where the majority of the community connect, and leverage that. Following *all* of these services and technologies will greatly clutter up one’s day-to-day, especially as there are more all the time, and their purposes intersect and overlap confusingly. But at our church — not Luddites by any means — this whole skillset wouldn’t amount to much. In fact, if I rattled off all the above names at people, they’d probably think I was swearing in Flemish. (Where I am, that’s a more likely conclusion than speaking in tongues…)

If I were hiring for this position, what I’d be listening for is how the applicant plans to maximise face-to-face communication. To me that should be the Church’s end goal in all of this social media stuff — it’s not to build the facade of community (there’s a reason it’s called ‘virtual’), but to make it really real to people. If I believed in the strategy (and the heart), I wouldn’t mind if the successful applicant bypassed the internet entirely. How’s that for counter-cultural?

[...] I Wouldn’t Hire You If in some bizarro parallel universe I was an executive pastor (or whoever does the hiring at churches these days) and I was interviewing candidates for a ministry position that involved working with people between the ages of 12 and 30, I’d ask you about your vision and strategy for the ministry (youth ministry, college ministry, young adults ministry, whatever). I’d listen with great interest as you talked about discipleship, community, service, outreach, etc. I’d even ask you good questions about how you see those things fitting together and how you’d develop each of those initiatives. Then, when it was all said and done, and I’d heard your vision and strategy, I don’t think I’d hire you if you failed to mention your plan for leveraging social media. At the very least, I’d keep interviewing candidates in hopes of finding someone with similar passion and qualifications who was also social media-literate. [...]

[...] I Wouldn’t Hire You If in some bizarro parallel universe I was an executive pastor (or whoever does the hiring at churches these days) and I was interviewing candidates for a ministry position that involved working with people between the ages of 12 and 30, I’d ask you about your vision and strategy for the ministry (youth ministry, college ministry, young adults ministry, whatever). I’d listen with great interest as you talked about discipleship, community, service, outreach, etc. I’d even ask you good questions about how you see those things fitting together and how you’d develop each of those initiatives. Then, when it was all said and done, and I’d heard your vision and strategy, I don’t think I’d hire you if you failed to mention your plan for leveraging social media. At the very least, I’d keep interviewing candidates in hopes of finding someone with similar passion and qualifications who was also social media-literate. [...]