like a fire

What Web 2.0 Means for Your Church

What a great article on the future online status of the church. If you don’t know what Web 2.0 means then you’re not alone. It is a phrase more slippery than postmodernism, yet is is the most searched phrase on the net and was featured in newsweek. There is a lot of speculation on what Web 2.0 means for the church. There is even an interesting article on Church 2.0 and even Worship 2.0. Just to sum up a lot of conversations and research on my own, Web 2.0 is about building online community through interaction. Sites like myspace, flickr, squidoo, webshots, myheavy, stickam, etc. The thoughts in the article from Church Marketing Sucks focus on how the internet can be a place of service for the church. How can the church provide services to it’s community through the internet.

I am of the mindset that Youth Ministry usually leads the way of the rest of the church. They are the first to engage culture and find effective ways to reach people through the culture. So what does youth ministry do with Web 2.0? How can a Youth Minsitries presence online be a service to people, build community, and be more interactive? I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I am sure that some people are thinking about it. Here are some ideas I have had or heard of.

What if teens could contribute content?
I’m not talking about an article here or there, but if they were the primary source of content from movie reviews to faith stories to new ideas for events. What if you could develop ideas in the site in the style of backpack

What about teens offering services to the community?
What kinds of services? How about a babysitting service where teens list themselves and available times for sitting? They could even rate themselves and their peers or parents and pay scales.

What about helping other teens?
Would it be feasible to rate teachers from the schools on how hard their classes are and how easy it is to learn from different teaching styles. For young teens, how about a carpooling service where teens say, “hey, I’m going to youth group tonight and am coming from this neighborhood, would anyone like a ride?”

These are just some ideas, but I know that there are tons of better ones out there. If you are in ministry then you are probably getting lots of questions right about now. If you try these ideas or more, then IT WILL GET MESSY. Can you imagine what the schools would think if they knew your site rated the teachers in the school and some were not favorable? What about a teen getting a ride from another from the opposite sex (gasp) or a wreckless driver? This is not for those who like control. And that is the main attraction of Web 2.0. It is giving control away to gain ownership of the site and its service(s).

My own thought on this is very similar to the idea of Process Ministry. To actually grow disciples, we will have to give up control and trust our teens and God to do the work that is important. The process of training is infinitely more important than the outcomes conceivable for youth ministry, or church, on the whole.