COVID-19: A chance to do less, well

Let’s face it kids, as youth workers we’re incredibly trigger happy when it comes to projects. I’m not sure if it’s our attention-deficient-riddled brains, or just too many years hooked on the out-of-date tuckshop sugar highs, but we start more projects than we have hot dinners. We just can’t help ourselves.

In my first youth work job there was already twenty-two projects, clubs and events that I oversaw, so what did I do in the four years in post? I added seventeen more! That’s more than inexperience, that’s an addiction. We just love to do new things, more things, bigger things, more things, superfluous things, and more things.

For years we’ve seen the meme-dressed statistics that say young people spend around thirty hours a week in school, fifty hours with family, and only two-four hours with us as youth workers. The lesson this should have taught us is to spend more time supporting both schools and parents, and make the  few things we do the best they can be. Did we learn that? Nope. Instead we just added more stuff!

We just can’t help ourselves, right? No wonder we’re always strapped for resources, begging for leaders, and befuddled as to why young people have such shallow, sporadic relationships with us.

We just keep doing more stuff.

There’s a flip side to this too. Going back to that first job I was aware of a pretty constant stream of gossip that said, ‘what is Tim actually doing?’ Because people didn’t see the prep, the prayers, or the presence, all they had to go on was the church calendar. To counter the gossip (without actually addressing it – rookie mistake), I just added more stuff.

This means I was stretched, strained, stressed, and scuppered! You can’t do effective ministry from a straitjacket.

Enter, stage left: COVID-19

Like a horrible, tragic miracle, a few weeks ago that all changed. Or at least it should have done.

Not for one-unintentional moment do I want to make light of the desperately sad and scary situation that COVID-19 has plunged us all into. This ‘new normal’ for us still comes with too many unsettling unknowns and very real fears about homes, businesses, and those that we love. So, stay in, stay safe, and wash your hands!

This also, however, came with an interesting curve ball for us in youth work: all of our stuff just suddenly – and perfectly excusably – stopped.

Everything closed. Our projects, church services, events, festivals, one-to-ones, clubs, communities, drops-ins, detached times, and schools work shut down. Everything. Just. Stopped.

Or at least it looked that way… for about fifteen minutes.

Enter, stage right: Zoom

Two days after we announced our project closures, we did our first simulcast live stream – followed by another the next night. A day later, we had our first video conference with team, and a day after that, one with young people too.

In the first week of lockdown I think I worked more hours than I ever have before during this job. I read, I watched tutorials, I rewrote policies, I took legal advice, I bought new lighting, I started creating new content. I was suddenly working ever hour of the day, without a break to ‘come home’ (because I was home), and with very little real human contact.

And that’s just weird!

We’ve suddenly become digital masterminds. YouTube channels are popping up everywhere (I just launched mine!), and everyone can suddenly debate the finer points of mic-placements and backlighting.

Now, I’m not a parent, but when you add to this newly found home-school duties, and maybe care for vulnerable family members too, youth workers have simply become very suddenly – and unexpectedly – swamped.

Are we missing a trick here?

Missing the point

We were never meant to oversaturate young people in our presence, but to support and equip them – in their families – to encounter the presence of God.

We were never meant to project young people into the Kingdom of God (digital or otherwise), but to help them discover it for themselves.

We were never meant to own a young person’s faith, but to help them take their own responsibility for it.

Are we missing a blessing in disguise here?

A few days ago, I spent some time on zoom with a class of third year theology students, and at some point, towards the end I remember telling them to do less, well. My encouragement to them was not to see their calendar as a thing to fill with projects, but a thing with organic space to develop and facilitate real ministry.

My book, Rebooted, is all about this; youth workers becoming facilitators for youth ministry rather than simply the de facto deliverers of it. I believe the youth worker’s primary function should be to enable a movement of the gospel to young people through the mechanisms of church, family, and each other. You were never meant to be the show-runner superstar! You can still run a project or two, but most of your time should be supporting, enabling, and empowering others to do that.

When we cancelled all our projects two weeks ago, did we just pull the plug and let all things digital flow into that space instead? We absolutely can (and should) be doing digital work right now, but if we’re busier now than we were before trying to reinvent and replace our projects under a different medium, then I think that we’re just missing a trick. And if our video projects are just adding to our superhero complex cult of personality, that’s probably not doing us any favours either!

We have time and space now. Right now.

Stop. Pray. Think.

Re-learn what it means to be in the presence of God while being present to yourselves. Re-evaluate what really matters in youth ministry and what would have the most lasting effect.

Do some digital projects and do them well, but don’t come out of this the same youth worker you were when you came into it.

Let me say that again: Don’t come out of this the same youth worker you were when you came into it.

Sure, explore digital mediums – we should – but even more than this – rediscover presence.

Do less. And do it well.

 

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