Safeguarding in Digital Space

In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, much of ministry has moved online. Though this shift offers great opportunities for fun and innovation, as well as a chance to highlight the expertise and abilities of those not traditionally in positions of leadership, there have been a lot of questions about how to adapt the model policies for safeguarding our children to digital media. The world of livestreamed services, Zoom meetings, and group chats has different strengths than the “analog” version of youth ministry that most of us are used to, but it also has blind spots, vulnerabilities, and areas of confusion. It’s likely to take us a long time to figure out how to best do youth ministry remotely.

However, there are already a few great resources out there. Sarah Stonesifer Boylan from Lifelong Learning at VTS has made a short video with best practices for Zoom meetings. The Diocese of California’s creating church online page also has some important reminders about safety in online ministry, as well as some livestreaming and liturgy resources.

These resources have been incredibly valuable and informative for us, and we highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with them. However, if you don’t have the time to read through all of them, or just need something quick to pass on to mentors or parents, most of our best practices can be boiled down to two guidelines. 

The spirit of all safeguarding rules still apply. In particular, note: 

1. Follow the Rule of Three, and do not meet one-on-one with a young person if you cannot be observed by a third party. This includes Zoom meetings, text conversations, and phone calls.

2. Do not publish images of minors along with their full names, and obtain written consent from a parent or guardian before publishing images at all. “Publishing,” in this context, includes any sort of livestreaming.  It also includes posting those fun “Brady Bunch” screenshots of your virtual youth group meeting. 

Be deliberate about how you use Zoom and other videoconferencing technologies

1. There are many adjustments that can be made in Zoom that will help keep all participants safe: enabling a “Waiting Room” in your meeting can prevent you from ending up in an accidental one-on-one, turning off screen-sharing for anyone but the host ensures that no one can accidentally or intentionally share inappropriate or embarrassing content— the list goes on and on. 

2. Take time to familiarize yourself with privacy and sharing settings, and be deliberate in the choices you make with these settings.

Finally, discussing these measures openly with young people, and making it clear why we are taking these steps, is a great way to invite them to take ownership of their own safety online.

Thank you for working to ensure the safety of our young people as we adapt to this new way of being. If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out to the the Rev. H. Mark Smith.

Connected Together from DioATL

In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, youth workers and other church leaders are scrambling to find ways of staying connected, and bringing comfort and community to those who are sick, isolated, and anxious.

Today, we’d like to highlight the Diocese of Atlanta’s Connected Together page, a hub of useful information for online gathering, broken into categories for Online Worship, Children and Youth Formation, Individual Prayer, Online Stewardship, and Communication and Connection.

Some of these resources are specific to the Diocese of Atlanta, and may be less relevant to you. However, many (particularly on the Children and Youth Formation list) are directly helpful, and all the lists are well-curated, concise, and relevant.

We hope these resources will be of use to you in this time of uncertainty and adjustment.

Thinking About Grief: Tips and Resources from the Dougy Center

This month, we’re highlighting The Dougy Center, a nonprofit that focuses on supporting grieving young people and their families. Some of the resources they provide include simple and accessible tip sheets (including ones  for young people who are grieving and for their friends and the adults in their lives), self-care tips for young people, and a Bill of Rights of Grieving Teens written by young people participating in programs at the Dougy Center. We hope these resources will help you to meet young people where they are and accompany them through a time of grief.

Thinking About Ash Wednesday and Lent

Though the New Year has just begun, Ash Wednesday is right around the corner (February 26th!) and it’s already time to start planning for Lent. Here are a few ideas that may be helpful in planning your Lenten curriculum and programming. 

Lent and Ash Wednesday are a great time to focus on bringing young people into a more full participation in worship. Because Ash Wednesday and many Holy Week services fall outside the standard church schedule, young people and families might not be expected show up at all. However, as the Reverend Rebecca Kirkpatrick writes in a thoughtful and moving article on the topic, “I continue to believe … that when we include children in these unique ritual moments they form a stronger connection with the community, with their tradition and with their own faith. It is by hearing, touching, tasting and experiencing these signs of grace and love that they are able to identify them as their own.” 

Though there is certainly a time and place to give children, teenagers, and young adults their own spaces to talk about for faith and community formation, the period from Ash Wednesday through Lent and Holy Week are central to our faith and offer the opportunity to grieve and celebrate together as an entire community. In fact, as Cindy Spencer writes  for episocpalchurch.org, “we do Lent [together] because our children deserve to practice hard things. Not alone, always together.  But that in doing so, we are equipping them with the Gospel message of hope and resilience. We are trusting them with the story, even the hard parts. And together, through the journey of Lent, we are able to travel on to Easter joy.”  

One helpful resource for inviting young people into full participation is the blog Worshipping With Children, which does tend to be geared toward much younger children. However, many of the featured ideas offer opportunities to get middle and high school-aged young people involved, whether in decorating the sanctuary or telling the stories that are so central to this season. As usual, we also recommend Virginia Theological Seminary’s BuildFaith.org, which has plenty of creative resources for the season. 

You may also have started hearing conversations about what people are “giving up for Lent.” Lenten disciplines are fairly common practice, and fasting, sacrifice, and self-denial can be powerful spiritual tools. However, focusing a discipline around “giving something up” without space for reflection can lead to feelings of inadequacy, frustration, and anxiety.

 It is also important to be aware of the ways in which diet-focused Lenten disciplines can have subtle ties to diet culture and disordered eating, particularly for young people. This is not to say that young people should be discouraged from committing to a Lenten discipline, simply that there should be care, thought, and support for them every step of the way. Discuss alternate forms of fasting, such as reducing social media, making time to journal or meditate, or committing to a certain amount of volunteer work. For more support, check out Lisa Brown’s  list of questions to talk through with young people in preparing for Lent, and familiarize yourself with the warning signs of eating disorders. 

There is a balance to strike here, between trusting young people to handle the difficult themes of suffering and death that we find during Lent and Holy Week, and supporting them through the entire process. Finding that balance can be difficult work, but we hope that the work will bring your congregation to Easter morning as an even stronger community. 

Thinking About Advent

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

It seems like only yesterday we blessing backpacks at the start of the school year. And yet already the days are getting shorter, and it’s time to start making highways in deserts as we look toward Christmas. As we move into Advent, here are a few resources to help you and your young people explore this time of expectation, preparation, and incarnation.

Perennial favorites like the social media-based AdventWord (available this year in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole) and Thomas Mousin’s beautiful and simple calendar can help to engage parishes and enrich worship.

Musically-inclined young people, for instance, may enjoy Charlotte Greeson’ lesson plan for teaching Advent with hymns. And while you are there, check out the other Advent resources offered by the Virginia Theological Seminary’s Finding Faith.

Getting hands-on with Advent crafts is a powerful and meaningful way to engage with the season. Advent wreathes are a popular choice, and there are plenty of tutorials available, from the basic to the “gourmet.” Use this guide to help your young people organize a wreath-making workshop for the whole congregation. Putting some focus on the liturgy of the advent wreath—either by spending some time talking about the meaning of each candle or writing prayers to use when lighting the candles--can help young people engage with a recognizable symbol in a new, personal way.

Finally, some groups may want to engage with the idea of Advent in the context of the world and the present moment. Many of the advent readings (the first, second, third, and fourth Sundays are compiled on episcopalchurch.org) lend themselves well to discussions of current events. Prepare a list of questions surrounding the reading you choose, but allow the young people in the group to guide the conversation as you explore these Advent texts.

For example , the reading from Isaiah (week one) describes a future in which the word of the Lord has brought about a time of peace, when tools of war become tools of agriculture and violence between nations comes to an end. Talk about what kind of world your young people imagine. What specific things would be different, and why? What hopes do they have for the world?

In week four, the story of the Annunciation offers a great opportunity for young people to talk about what it means to be part of God’s dream for the world. The Annunciation is often accompanied by Canticle 3, the song of Mary, which highlights issues of injustice and inequality, and looks to God as an agent of desperately-needed change, a common theme in many of the Advent readings. Make space for the young people in your group to articulate the ways they see issues of power and oppression in their world.

Finally, since Advent is a time of expectation and imagination, remember to make space to “look East” yourself and imagine what a better world might look like.

Sacred Ground: A Film-Based Dialogue on Race and Faith

Photo by Erez Attias on Unsplash

Sacred Ground is a film- and reading-based dialogue series on race and faith. Participants will walk together through America’s history of race and racism, while weaving in the threads of family story, economic class, and political and regional identity. It’s an invitation for small groups to gather to learn, share, and prepare to become Beloved Community.

“Sacred Ground is a time and opportunity to hear the story of our past with regard to race, to hear our stories of our pasts,” said The Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church. “By listening to those stories and hearing them, and then telling our own stories together, and then looking possibly at the stories of our very faith, somehow, from the travail and the reality of all of those stories may emerge hope for a new day.”

Built around a curriculum of powerful documentary films, videos, and readings, this 10-part series considers some of the major chapters of the United States of America’s history of race and racism. It focuses on Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian American histories as they intersect with European American histories. Participants are invited to peel away the layers that have contributed to challenges and divides in the present day – all with a deep foundation in faith and love.

While not specifically written for young people and youth groups, the material is accessible and relevant and can easily be adapted for your young people.

Created by Katrina Browne, producer and director of the documentary Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North, this small group resource is part of Becoming Beloved Community, The Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society. Sacred Ground is especially targeted to help white people talk with each other about racism past and present, their own racial identity, and the interwoven issues of class, region, and ideology.

Faith Lens: A Weekly Online Bible Study

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Every week during the academic year, our colleagues at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America publish a lesson plan based on the weekly lectionary readings and connecting the themes of those lessons with the events and issues our young people are dealing with each and every day.

Some weeks the connection is to a specific event, such as the fire last spring in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Other weeks, broader issues, such as climate change, gun violence, and rebuilding efforts in Iraq, are the focus. Always, the lessons encourage participants to look at scripture through the lens of our daily life--and to consider our daily lives with the help of scripture.

Each lesson includes a warm-up question, a story for context, discussion questions, links to the lectionary texts, a study of the Gospel lesson, suggested activities, and even a link to a weekly comic strip based on the readings. Many include links to YouTube videos and other resources to supplement the lesson.

The lessons are designed to be suggestive rather than prescriptive, yet detailed enough to not require extensive preparation ahead of the lesson. Definitely worth checking out--or have some of your young people check out some of last year's postings , and advise you on whether they feel the lessons appropriate and relevant to your group.

Dismantling Racism Youth Curriculum

Dismantling racism is the work of a lifetime, and no single course of study will "fix" things. However, a well-designed curriculum with solid theology, good pedagogy, and useful materials can help jumpstart a conversation within a youth group and a church. This resource is one such opportunity.

The Office of Youth Ministry of the Diocese of Atlanta in partnership with The Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing have designed, printed and piloted a groundbreaking six-week Dismantling Racism for Youth Curriculum for grades 6 through 12. The first draft of the curriculum was completed in July of 2017 and piloted during the 17-18 school year in 8 parishes with over 100 youth in participation. After receiving feedback, course refinements were made and now, they are now ready to share our work with anyone and everyone.

In order to receive the curriculum, one must complete their "train the trainer" course, a one-day training by the curriculum writers and others experienced with the course.

We would be happy to bring the training to this diocese if there is sufficient interest in bringing the training here. To express interest in this possibility, contact the Rev. H. Mark Smith, Diocesan Youth Missioner.

Let us continue to be Christians that address tough issues

choosing love over all else.

-Easton Davis, Youth and Young Adult Missioner, Diocese of Atlanta

#MeToo Story-Gathering and Resources

In recent years, the #MeToo movement has attempted to open up conversations about sexual misconduct and the effect it has on all aspects of modern life. The church is by no means exempt from this conversation, so the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has created a place for those who have experienced, witnessed, or perpetrated sexual harassment or abuse to share their story. This form, open to people of all ages, along with procedures for reporting sexual misconduct can be found at diomass.org/MeToo. The #MeToo task force has also provided informational posters intended for display in bathrooms, offices, youth rooms, and parish halls. Copies of these posters in English and Spanish can be found on the website.

You may want to use the diocesan #MeToo resources to introduce the topic of sexual harassment in your  Youth Group (or when the topic comes up even if you don’t plan on it). Additional resources that may be helpful include the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s series on preventing sexual harassment in schools, particularly the article on teaching consent at every age. In 2018, the House of Deputies published a Lenten series of reflections on #MeToo written by women in the church. The Litany of Penance for Ash Wednesday, which begins the series, is compelling and thought provoking, and could become a springboard for robust discussion (What is the misconduct here? What is wrong with this statement or action? What do you do when this happens?). However, please note the other reflections in the series deal with personal experiences of harassment and abuse, which may be difficult for young people to engage with in a safe and helpful way.

Most importantly, remember to listen to the young people around you when this issue comes up. Meet them where they are, and answer their questions with honesty and compassion. These are difficult conversations for everyone, but a culture of sexual misconduct hurts us all. An adult’s awkwardness about these conversations can encourage silence among our young people, and silence only upholds the status quo.

Finally, please ensure that all adult volunteers and employees in your Youth Ministry have access to the updated Model Policy for the Protection of Children and Youth and have completed all necessary Safe Church training.

Confirmation Resources

Confirmation Resources

My Faith, My Life: A Teen’s Guide to the Episcopal  Church, by Jenifer Gamber  

The Five Marks of Mission and what it means to be a disciple of Christ are a focus of this new version, which also models student-centered learning as opposed to teacher driven instruction. For teen study and confirmation preparation, this book can serve as a curriculum for helping teens discover Scripture, church history, sacraments, the meaning and practice of prayer, and what ministry means in the lives of real teens today. A framework for small-group gatherings for each chapter is included as a new section in the back of the book. To help in teaching, there is a fabulous website, www.myfaithmylife.org, which contains helps for leaders as well as pages for youth and parents with a special focus on spiritual practices.  A separate revised leader's guide is also available. 

Confirm not Conform (CnC), (youth and adult versions)       

This curriculum for the Episcopal Church discribes itself as “a confirmation program that emphasizes giving youth a choice and a voice and  giving adults a safe space to explore their questions and choices.” The program is divided into 16 lessons covering a variety of topics and also includes plans for field trips and a weekend retreat.  Although teachers are needed for the class, the youth program also includes mentors, parents, and the entire congregation in the faith journey of those seeking confirmation.  Pricing is on a sliding scale based on parish attendance.  Please note that there is a confirmation service included in the program which will need to be adapted for use in a deanery-wide confirmation setting.
 
I Will, With God’s Help, by Mary Lee Wile

I Will With God’s Help for youth and adults is based on the Baptismal Covenant. It offers meditative, prayerful sessions that invite participants to share their own faith journeys in the light of Episcopal tradition. A leader’s guide, adult journal and youth journal for grades 8-12 are available.  A “mentor’s guide” helps in a program designed for more one-on-one mentoring rather than large classes. The sessions in the Leader's Guide can be completed in a traditional six- to twelve-week program, or adapted to contemporary innovations, such as an intense confirmation retreat or conference. Those using longer two- or three-year preparation programs will also find I Will, With God's Help ideal for immediate preparation for the sacrament. The activities are flexible and can be used for youth, adult, or intergenerational preparation programs. I will, With God's Help encourages ongoing support from the whole parish community and includes creative suggestions for congregational involvement. (Amy Cook says, "My experience is that this curriculum usually works best with older youth, and would need to be adapted for most junior high groups.")

Living Water: Baptism as a Way of Life, by Klara Tammany                       

"A must-have book for every parish priest!" This book is divided into eight sessions around baptism and the baptismal promises with plenty of extra material on how best to use the sessions. “Sessions” are so full of prayers, scripture, readings, and activities that it can be used as reference material only or as the basis for a complete lesson.  Loaded with resources, Living Water can be used in preparation for baptism, confirmation/reception, or reaffirmation of faith (although it is “not intended as a complete program of preparation for confirmation/reception.") Though written initially for adults, with some adaptation the sessions can be used in an intergenerational setting, or with children and/or youth.  Resource lists help link books, movies, and other media and ideas to each of the chapters.  The emphasis is on spiritual formation rather than academic knowledge. An excellent resource!

Confirmation Curriculum for Jr. High Young People, Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, 2005 (An adult curriculum is also available)

The Diocese of Alabama has offered the church a great gift in their FREE confirmation curriculum that they share on their website. These 21 lessons cover the areas of Christian Faith, Episcopal Identity, and Responding to God’s Love. They are well written and easy to use. There is a version for adults as well. 

Other Resources for Confirmation:
Resources at Forma:  https://www.forma.church/youth/

Do a search in www.buildfaith.org and there are several articles:  https://www.buildfaith.org/?s=confirmation

Special Note: these resources are provided and updated by Amy Cook, formerly of the Diocese of Massachussetts and now Working Group Head for Faith Formation in the Episcopal Diocese of California. 

Nurturing Young Prophets: A lesson plan based on the July 8, 2018 sermon at the General Convention Eucharist.

On Sunday, July 8, 2018, 18-year-old Andrés González-Bonillas preached at the General Convention Eucharist in Austin, TX. Sharing this 15-minute video can serve as an excellent discussion-starter for your youth group this summer or in the fall. In addition to a video of the sermon, the text is also available, in both English and Español.

Sharing this video with your youth group could be the springboard for an interesting discussion. What do they think about the preacher’s remarks? In what ways can they relate to his experience? In what ways is his experience different? This can lead to a discussion, or a whole curriculum, on cultural competency and dismantling racism. The sermon connects scripture and faith with the current events of the day. Does the church have any business getting into these matters? In the sermon, he lists reasons why he stays in the church. Why do your young people stay? And if they had the chance to preach to General Convention, what would they say? If they preached to your congregation, what would they say?

For more ideas, check out a lesson plan based on this video, written with the help of the preacher, Andrés González-Bonillas.

Thinking About Mission: Trip-Planning Manual

Launched in 2014, this terrific on-line resource is a joint project of the Episcopal Church Office of Youth Ministry and the Inspiring Mission.  The guide contains all the background information you need to get started planning your next mission experience. The guide is framed within an Episcopal/Anglican context and are grounded in valuing "doing with" and "being with" mission, not the traditional "doing to" or "building for" types of experiences.  The guide also include a good balance of theological and practical guidance, including setting up a timeline and budget, communications planning, and bible study suggestions.

The entire publication is available for free on-line and can be downloaded in sections.

Faithfully Facebook: A Lesson Plan and Social Strategy for Youth Ministries

Facebook is and will be for a while, the dominant social network in Youth Ministry. It can be a great tool to communicate with teenagers and to collaborate on teams.  However, with anything there can also be pitfalls.  We have seen rampant hacking of Facebook accounts, cyberbullying through Facebook, and many people who posted something that they intended to be seen by only a few people.  

This lesson was developed by Randall Curtis, Ministry Developer for Young Adults and Youth for the Diocese of Arkansas, and a national leader in using social media as a tool for ministry. The lesson serves as a tool to help you talk with your young people about issues around Facebook and faith, and it offers a set of suggested practices for youth ministers who use Facebook.

Video Discussion Starter: Youth Voice and Engagement in the Church

Two interviews from a recent General Convention are great tools to start a dialogue within your church--among your young people and between youth and adults--about the extent to which young people and their full involvement may be encouraged and discouraged in your parish.

Megan Lightcap (St. Paul's, Natick) and Michelle St. Francis (Trinity Church, Concord) attended General Convention as observers thanks to support from the Mass. chapter of Episcopal Church Women (ECW).  While there, they maintained a video blog, and two of their entries included interviews with the two youngest deputies from the Massachuetts delegation:  Sarah Neumann (20, from Church of the Redeemer, Lexington) and Sam Gould (26, from St. Paul's, Brookline).

In the interviews, Sarah and Sam talk from their experience as young leaders seeking and finding their voice in the church today.

The interviews are included in a video available free online>> 

After viewing the two videos with your youth group, have a discussion:

• To what extent are Sarah's and Sam's experiences in wanting to be involved in the church governing bodies similar and dissimilar from your own?

• To what extent are their experiences with being taken seriously by others in the church similar and dissimilar from your own?

• What lessons have Sarah and Sam learned about what it takes to be heard as a young person in the church?

• In what ways does our parish encourage young people to "step up" and share the work and responsibility of our life together?

• In what ways does our parish discourage young people's voice?

• What advice might Sarah and Sam have for our young people? For our vestry?

• What suggestions do you have for how we can do better as a youth group and as a parish to encourage more youth voice and engagement in the church?

This could be a great discussion at your youth group meeting.  Could also be a great start to having a broader conversation between young people and your vestry, or perhaps as a format for a Sunday forum open to the entire congregation.

Thinking About Race: 10 Ways Well-Meaning White Teachers Bring Racism Into Our Schools [and Churches!]

Originally written for classroom teachers, this important article addresses an issue that is just as important for youth workers, youth ministers, Christian educators, and others working with young people in church.

The author, Jamie Utt, says in his introduction, "most White teachers mean well and have no intention of being racist. Yet as people who are inscribed with Whiteness, it is possible for us to act in racist ways no matter our intentions. Uprooting racism from our daily actions takes a lifetime of work." The article goes on to identify common ways White adults working with young people of color can shut down communications with them and, as importantly, things that can be done to more fully embody the wide and inclusive love of Christ in our work with all young people.

This thought provoking article is a fertile source for personal reflection and prayer. It could also be used as the centerpiece of an important meeting topic among a team of youth workers, or between youth workers and young people or parish leadership and parents.

It's an important resource for all who interact with youth in places of learning. Read the whole article here.

Our Favorite Sites for Youth Workers, Youth Leaders, and Families

cultureandyouth.org
This website, the result of an ongoing partnership between Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Boston's Emmanuel Gospel Center, seeks to serve youth ministers, mentors, and other youth workers at the grass-roots level and hopes to encourage discussion of rather than division over complex and sometimes controversial issues.

Among the resources on the site is a vast "Infopedia" of articles on everything from depression and immigration to sexting and white privilege.  The articles include information on a given topic plus discussion questions and implications for action.  The site also includes links to other regional, national, and international organizations and informational clearinghouses.

Working with Youth on the Autism Spectrum 
The Rev. Rebecca Black has developed some training materials through her work with Rhythms of Grace.  Her hope is to help prepare churches to work with youth on the Autism spectrum.  For a sample of the materials available check out at the "Tips for Youth Group Leaders" and "What Churches Can Do".

BuildFaith

Buildfaith.org, a product of Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary, contains a wealth of articles and resources on Christian education and formation for children, young people, and adults. Articles are written by ministers, lay and ordained, in a variety of settings, and are thoughtful, helpful, and well-organized.

Youth Specialties
A website designed for predominantly evangelical/ large church Youth Ministers, it hosts a huge amount of information-- some of which will be applicable to Episcopal Churches, and some of which will not be. However, there is some good information out there, especially if you have a large church youth group.

Episcopal Church Resources

New Model Policy for Safeguarding our Children & Young People
In April 2018, a task force of the Episcopal Church released an updated "Model Policy for the Protection of Children and Youth" . The group also wrote a " Model Policy for the Protection of Vulnerable Adults ." This work was launched in 2015 by a resolution of General Convention, and over the next 2 and a half years, experts and practitioners from around the country worked on the update.

Digital Communication and Social Media Guidelines
Published by the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and updated in 2017, this document provides guidance to clergy and congregational leadership in their use of digital/electronic technology and social media.

TED Talk Lenten Study
This curriculum was developed by the Diocese of Massachusetts Office of Youth Ministry and isn't just for Lent, but instead can be used during any 5-session program in which you want to use engaging TED Talks and Scripture to invite youth (and adults) to wonder about what God is asking from them.  Download HERE.

Episcopal Church Youth Ministry
Information, resources and news about youth from the denomination (formerly known as the 'National Church').

d365.org
Daily devotions set to music, with reflections and questions suitable for youth and adults!

My Faith, My Life
A guide to the Episcopal Church for teens and their families and mentors. Great resources, reflections and information about upcoming workshops-- the basis for the website is the book, My Faith, My Life, which has been used for Confirmation curricula.