Viewer Response

Now, the conference itself is not what impresses me the most.  Oh, it’s appreciated and I love the “firehose” of encouragement and advice, but the viewer response is what really makes me stop in my tracks.  By the time I came around to see what was going on, #thenines had already become a Trending Topic on Twitter (like group text messages for the Internet).

I can’t help but consider that there are some reasons why we might collectively flock to this sort of conference.

1. We need encouragement.

Selfishly, we thrive on encouragement.  Encouragement helps us to see long term goals in a more positive light.  Long term goals are critical for ministry because they allow us to formulate plans, set benchmarks, and most importantly keep out focus on the really important things.  This is because when we are encouraged, we think of the possibilities not the struggles.   When we lose our source of encouragement and our attitude starts to slip, so does our focus.  On a day that is otherwise a particularly frustrating day,  I can’t help but feel my spirits lift as I listen to these speakers while I go about my regular work.

2. We want to be better equipped.

Like many congregations, South Arlington has only recently put significant emphasis on equipping rather than simply teaching.  It’s your typical “give a guy a fish” scenario except applied to ministry instead of tradeskills.  This is the fundamental basis for most multiplication ministries, like our recently launched Life Group program.  I am a huge fan of the concepts behind programs like our Life Group program: train new teachers and encourage members introduce unconnected friends and family to their own home group.

Unfortunately, too many of us feel ill-equipped to even accomplish even these two tasks.  The problem as I see it, is not that we don’t know how to minister it’s that we area really unpracticed.  Ministry is not some elusive art known only to a handful of overtrained seminary students.   It’s real people, working, living their lives that are in the best position to spread the Word.  This concept is not lost on the speakers today, so I hope that many of today’s listeners are able to absorb a lot of these good suggestions being offered by experienced ministers.

3. We have to do more than just listen.

It’s easier to get excited about something that’s interactive.  If The Nines has been presented as a free DVD series, a day-long video series, or a collection of essays – I doubt we would have seen the same level of interest from the participants.  I would speculate that this is related to some underlying need to be more than just passive viewers.  Active listeners are better listeners, any teacher will validate that statement.

The use of social media, like Twitter, allows us to take otherwise passive activities and provide immediate feedback, as well as our own commentary (in 160 characters or less).   For The Nines, this feedback looks like a streaming commentary from viewers.  In home-based Bible studies, this feedback is the basis for excellent group discussion.

Conclusions

Seeing these things in action gives me some suggestions on ways that we can improve our ministry for the teenagers.   We need to appreciate ourselves as a group more often when we are successful.  If we are not being successful, we need to identify why and encourage one another to reach for the goal.  Somehow, we need to all learn that we are adequate just as we are… more than capable of doing the tasks God has called us to.   While there is always opportunity for growth, we should not feel as if we are incapable of action.  Finally, we need to find a way to involve everyone in important activities.  This is true for bystanders and parents, as well as teens.  We are all invested in the teenagers, just as they are involved as a part of the bigger congregation.  Mutual involvement will be a blessing to all sides.