Can your church reach these kids??

[Jim Bonewald]

Take a look, and ask yourself how can my church or how can my ministry with the way it is currently structured reach out to these kids?

Do you IM (internet message?), are you on Facebook? Well if not you really should be if you want to have any chance at being in touch with this generation.

[Howard Chapman]

Frankly, I am pessimistic, Jim. I don't think MY church as it is now can reach these kids. I was at a meeting a few weeks ago and the committee was talking about how to keep connected with college kids. In the past we have sent out care packages with goodies, but we always have a hard time keeping everyone straight and someone gets left out and there are hard feelings, etc. Someone raised the idea of sending gift cards from Target or Best Buy. One dear soul, who is close to retirement, but not what I would consider one of our "seniors" said innocently, "Why don't we send them books of stamps?" She was rather surprised when she was told that no one under the age of 30 mails anything any more. "Don't they have to pay bills?" she asked, completely unaware of online payments. She means well, but hasn't a clue of any of the points this video is making, and she is a leader in our church on an important committee.

So I think it is more than just pastors learning to text message and use Facebook. I think there has to be a whole shift in thinking, in what makes community, in how we communicate. I am not sure how we do this. A start is realizing this gap.

[Jim Bonewald]

Yeah, that is a big part of the point of this book I'm reading "The Tribal Church," finding ways to connect the huge generational gap and the misunderstanding that the 'older' generation has about the lives of the 'younger' generation. I hope to blog about it some more here.

Certainly it's going to mean more than facebook! But I do have a 20 something in my church and most of my pastoral care with this person is done by way of Internet Messaging and almost none of that is done during traditional church office hours. It's quite a different world even for me just a decade and a half removed from that 20 something group!

[Bonnie Beyer]

I think it's awesome that you're an online pastor! When I learned that you actually read and reply to email, I was thrilled. I've been online since the 80's and type faster than I write, write clearer than I speak, and read better than I hear.

My son is one of those college kids, and I can easily see him in that classroom situation. Yet even as familiar as I am with the electronic world, I can't figure out how to reach him. Maybe it's because he's my son. :-)