Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Youth Ministry of Micro-Influencers


Earlier this month, we kicked off a new Focusing on Jesus series that will be discussing youth ministry through the lens of a recent study on youth and young adults called “The Influencer Report: Engaging Gen Z and Millennials.” Published by Morning Consult, the market research and data intelligence company surveyed over 2,000 13-38 year-olds and reported some fascinating observations from their findings. Be sure to bring along a friend or two by forwarding this to your youth ministers and/or youth pastor, as this will be a series of articles they won’t want to miss.

Last week we discussed “Authenticity is the Key Trait People Want,” which was one of the five key takeaways that the Influencer Report begins with. This week, we will explore another one of the five takeaways, namely “The potential micro-influencer market is massive.”

The Dawn of Micro-Influencers
In the first week of our series, we learned what an influencer was, but what is a micro-influencer? In a nutshell, a micro-influencer is an influencer with fewer followers. Whether the individual is striving to become an influencer or if they are an average social media user who is casually sharing something with their small network of friends, micro-influencers have a unique effectiveness in marketing that advertisements can scarcely compete with. It’s essentially the ancient practice of affiliate marketing, where friends tell friends about something cool they’ve found or a product they need to buy. We all have become trained to immediately scroll past an ad, however our attention is held when someone we follow shares a product or story we care about. Micro-influencers do just that, where they can reach the individuals who are usually unreachable under normal marketing conditions.

A Very Willing Youth
Two exciting observations taken from the Influencer Report show: (1) 54% of youth would become an influencer, given the opportunity; and (2) 86% are willing to post sponsored content for money. In other words, our youth are exceedingly willing to be micro-influencers and they want to share in the viral success of something (even more so if it benefits them). What this means for youth ministry is that it’s not that we need to convince our students to be active on social media for the benefit of the kingdom of God, they’re ready and willing. No, instead, it’s that we need to give them a reason and an opportunity to do so. They have the ability to reach those who are unreachable to the church. But do they have a reason to reach them or a community they can trust to help take care of their friends? If we as a church do not provide a framework for which our youth have enough freedom to become micro-influencers in the church, they will naturally become micro-influencers in other arenas.

A Shift in Ministry Mindset
How can we build such a framework? The short answer to this is that our students must be handed the reins of the youth ministry. Extending ownership to our youth will inspire excitement and pride in what they are building. As a result, students will naturally become micro-influencers. The days of a single leader effectively ruling at the helm of a ministry are fading away. While it may have been able to generate results in past decades, this leadership style is quickly losing its relevancy in today’s youth landscape. The church must explore a new approach. While sharing leadership may be recognized as the future of ministry, it is ironically a return to Christianity’s roots, where this was essentially how the faith thrived during its earliest centuries. To find out more information on how to make this shift occur, be sure to order a copy of Youth Empowered today for you and your youth ministers.




Let's Connect! Follow on Twitter: @SeanBuono

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

A Student’s Need for an Authentic Youth Minister



Last week, we kicked off a new Focusing on Jesus series that will be discussing youth ministry through the lens of a recent study on youth and young adults called “The Influencer Report: Engaging Gen Z and Millennials.” Published by Morning Consult, the market research and data intelligence company surveyed over 2,000 13-38 year-olds and reported some fascinating observations from their findings. Be sure to bring along a friend or two by forwarding this to your youth ministers and/or youth pastor, as this will be a series of articles they won’t want to miss.

Last week we discussed “Influencers are More Trusted as Spokespeople than Celebrities,” which was one of the five key takeaways that the Influencer Report begins with. This week, we will explore another one of the five takeaways, namely “Authenticity is the Key Trait People Want.”

Influencers are Authentic
In last week’s article, we discussed the difference between influencers and celebrities, and how your church can benefit when the youth ministry adopts social media strategies that are similar to what influencers also use. But what makes influencers so special and why do our students follow them? The Influencer Report states that “88% say it’s important for influencers to be authentic and genuinely care about their interests.” In other words, it is more than simply agreeing upon a shared interest. Indeed, the influencer engages with their viewers and builds a genuine relationship with them. When fashion vlogger Zoella asks her viewers to be her “second opinion” for trying on outfits during her latest “haul” video, or when popular gamer Ninja interacts with his “stream chat” in real-time, the viewers find themselves genuinely immersed in the experience as they become a contributor to the conversation between influencer and audience.

Relational Truth
Just as how we see influencers interacting with their audience in the secular realm, there can be similarities in how youth ministers can interact with their students. Students today are hungry for truth. But it is not simply truth from a factual standpoint that they are seeking; it is a truth that must be conveyed through relational means. This can be referred to as “relational truth” (not to be confused with “relative truth”). In a world with an abundance of experts and technology, youth are not lacking access to information. Instead, they lack the level of relational connectivity from which the truthful information is derived. Ministering to students today is more than simply conveying Christian information. Indeed, the youth pastor is called to engage with their students and build genuine relationships with them by inviting them into the experience of conducting ministry together. If there is anything the Church can learn from influencers of today’s social media, it’s that ministry is no longer operated from a one-directional approach. Immersion and involvement is the goal for our youth, and relational truth is the vehicle (More on this topic can be found in my book, Youth Empowered).

Authenticity Requires Vulnerability
Another observation taken from the Influencer Report is that an influencer’s authenticity is of more importance than their knowledge on the topic matter.  When working inside or outside of youth ministry, vulnerability is a powerful tool that can help embody authenticity and also empower others to become involved. While discernment remains key to knowing what to say and how to say it, our youth need to know that you’re on their side. They need to know that you will fight alongside them on the battlefield of spiritual warfare, rather than shout advice from the top of a hill a mile away. They need to know you’ve got their back, and that they can have your back, too, if you’re willing to let them into your heart.




Let's Connect! Follow on Twitter: @SeanBuono

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Youth Ministry and the Influencer Report



Late last year, Market Research & Data Intelligence company Morning Consult surveyed over 2,000 13-38 year-olds and published a study called “The Influencer Report: Engaging Gen Z and Millennials.” Not only is it a very relevant and timely publication, but here at Focusing on Jesus we will be spending time this summer in exploring the Influencer Report through the lens of youth ministry within the church. I invite you to join me for the journey and to bring along a friend or two by forwarding this to your youth ministers and/or youth pastor, as this will be a series of articles they won’t want to miss.

One of the five key takeaways that the Influencer Report opens with is that “Influencers are More Trusted as Spokespeople than Celebrities.”  Today, we will consider how this element is applicable to your church’s youth ministry:

What is an Influencer?
Social media influencers are typically regarded as individuals who are recognized in having an authoritative voice within a specific content area. Generally speaking, these well-known individuals maintain a social media presence that frequently engages their fan base and they mainly become successful through the production of creative content that stands out from the crowd. Celebrities on the other hand typically find their success not through a consistent engagement with fans, but through the successful completion of projects, events, competitions, or other milestones. Not many fans would notice if celebrities aren’t on social media for weeks, whereas the absence of a high profile social media influencer may be noticeable within 24 hours.

While being an influencer hasn’t always been married to the upkeep of a social media presence, it is a necessary reality in the midst of our technology-driven world. We trust individuals more as we build a relationship with them and we build relationships with individuals as we spend more time with them. Since it is no secret that today’s youth spend a startling amount of time on social media, it is easy to see why we are called to go to our youth and interact with them on the social media platforms that they reside on.

Youth Pastor: Influencer or Celebrity?
Engaging with their students may be what determines if a youth pastor is acting with a celebrity or influencer mentality. For example, does your youth pastor connect with and minister to their students on social media throughout the week? While a broadcasted weekly youth service is wonderful, a youth ministry doesn’t stand out in a student’s social media feed if it relies solely on this type of outreach. If this is the only method used by the youth pastor to connect with their students, they are exhibiting characteristics of a celebrity youth pastor who tries to build their ministry through event-like youth services. However, creatively interacting with their students in a consistent manner through direct messages, goofy snapchats, frequent spontaneous livestreams, quick texts, supplemental resources, or even thoughtful small group discussions can help towards transitioning the youth pastor from celebrity to influencer mentality.

Trust is the Key
Encouraging students to trust their youth leader(s) and youth pastor is key. Until they know our desire to become better acquainted or how much we care about them, students may be cautious about freely extending their trust. Such barriers can be gently chipped away through time that is spent together. If looking to build additional trust with your students, consider utilizing the principles of social media influencers, where frequent touchpoints are incorporated within the student-pastor relationship.  




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Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Fear Not, God's Resources are En Route


Fear can be a powerful emotion. Fear can cause us to stop in our tracks from moving forward, or it can be a motivating force that inspires us to lead and take action. It is said that the Bible unapologetically explores the entire gamut of human emotions, and fear is no exception to this. But what can we do when we encounter fear? Let us refer to examples found in Scripture to see not only what Moses, David, and the disciples did, but also the Lord’s actions within each of their respective situations.

Moses
Following the scene of the burning bush in Exodus 3, God outlines the calling that He has for Moses. After giving excuses in 3:11, 3:13, 4:1, and 4:10, Moses tries one last time to dodge his assignment and asks the Lord to send someone else to help rescue the people of God from the clutches of Pharaoh. Not missing a beat, God responds in 4:14 by saying, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you.” Moses was afraid of his circumstances and he was convinced that he was not able to fulfill the task at hand with the skill set he possessed. Nevertheless, God helped Moses overcome his circumstances by recruiting Aaron, who ended up using his strengths to help Moses succeed in the journey that lay ahead.

David
in 1 Chronicles 13, we see David and the people of Israel moving the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. In 13:9-10, a man named Uzzah places his hand upon the ark to steady it, and perishes as a result of touching the ark. Here we see David becomes fearful of the incredible power of God, and from this point onward he understands that the transportation of the ark is to be deeply respected. He places it in a temporary location until the Levites are able to secure the ark and escort it the remainder of the way (15:13-15).

Disciples
The death of Jesus was an earth-shattering experience for the disciples. After all, the teacher who they believed was the Messiah had been killed right before their eyes. In John 20:19, we see the disciples are hiding due to their fear of the Jewish leaders. Only something as profoundly miraculous as Jesus being resurrected to life could have transformed the devastated hearts of the disciples, reshaping them into passionate ambassadors of the gospel. Indeed, it was here that a visit from the resurrected Jesus successfully rekindled the faith of the disciples and started to prepare them for the arrival of the coming Holy Spirit.

Circumstances have the potential to strike fear in our hearts. In each of the aforementioned scenarios, the individuals were unsure of how they could resolve the issue at hand. As a result, they stood rooted in their fear, unable to move forward. Yet even in the midst of fear, the Lord provided resources for each situation. For Moses, God positioned Aaron to perfectly fill in the gaps that Moses said he couldn’t address. For David, the Lord made available the Levites who were perfectly suited to be caretakers of the Ark of the Covenant and who could safely transport it back to Jerusalem. For the disciples, Jesus visited them personally so that His presence might breathe life back into His followers’ faith. Whether fear is being stirred in your heart from this Covid-19 season or from other circumstances that are occurring in your life, be encouraged. Through the Scriptures, the Lord has shown time after time that He will provide the required resources we need at the perfect time in order to address the challenges we encounter in our lives. To God be the glory, forever and ever. Amen.




Let's Connect! Follow on Twitter: @SeanBuono