Musings on Technology and Youth Ministry

Reflecting on my years in youth ministry, I marvel at how technology has changed the way I do various tasks. In my early years, there was cutting and pasting of clip art for our monthly newsletter. However the cutting was with scissors and the pasting was with a glue stick. Then the newsletter was sent to every youth via good old postal mail. When going on long trips, whether to a retreat or on our summer mission trip, we would caravan in vans. The drivers would stay in touch using CB radios. When the schedule changed for one of our activities, a phone tree was used to contact the youth. I would call our Youth Board with the information and they in turn would call their list of youth. This would often take hours. At our big events, we would take pictures to be put into a slide show. However, the 35 mm film would need to be rushed to a photo shop no later than 2:30 p.m. in order for us to have the slides by 6:00 p.m. Then we would have to sort through the slides, put them in a carousel, check to make sure they were right side up, and finally make sure the cassette tape player was working properly so music could be played with the slides.

Now, all the clip art is on a CD or an on-line subscription account. Cutting and pasting occurs with the click of a mouse. Newsletters are sent via e-mail, no more folding, stapling and sorting. Cell phones have replaced CB radios for communication between vehicles. E-mail makes communication instant. And digital cameras and computers make doing slide shows a breeze.

Yet, I wonder if something is lost with technology. When we put the newsletter together in the “olden days,” the newsletter committee of youth would gather in my office. One would work on formatting the text using an old word processing program, being sure to leave spaces for the pictures. A few others would scour the clip art books looking for appropriate pictures to put in that month’s edition; while a few more would be making copies of the pictures and cutting them out to be added to the text. When it came time for the mailing, again a number of youth would gather, music would play and we would do the mundane work of putting a mailing together. With both these activities, while the work was being done, it was a good time to build relationships and often an opportunity for “catechetical moments.” Today, youth contribute and edit the newsletters, but seldom are they together. The written articles are e-mailed to the editor, who may work with one or two others on formatting, picture selection, and placement. Then the finished product is sent electronically to the youth.

With CB radios, all occupants of the vehicles could be in on the conversation. Contests were held, songs were song and even whining was shared amongst all. Though you can be on speaker with a cell phone and perhaps two vehicles will be in touch and share like we had in the past with the CBs, the sense of shared experience for all is lost. And though e-mail is a quick and easy way to communicate, it can be impersonal and blunt. Often through our phone tree communications we would find out about what was going on with the young people of our parish (sickness, death in the family, new job or activity and the like) and it gave us an opportunity to be supportive. With e-mail, there is not necessarily a need for response from the receiver so the personal sharing is lost.

Technology is a blessing to youth ministry. It gives us the opportunity to connect with many young people in new and creative ways. Information can be shared instantaneously. Programs are made engaging and interactive. Yet… technology could be a curse for youth ministry—if it replaces the personal interaction of youth with youth, youth with adult leaders, and adult leaders with each other. The foundation of youth ministry is building relationships, relationship with God and with one another. We need to be vigilant in assessing if technology is being a blessing or curse to the building of these relationships.