The arrival of the iPhone in 2007 redefined the template for the exploding markets of both mobile phones and PDAs. But it signalled something maybe even more significant: the expanding reach of the worldwide web. Since the early 90s, the web has operated primarily through home or work computers. But more recently, we see it penetrating into almost every aspect of life. Now it’s not uncommon to find the web in your car, your phone, your cafe, your school, your fridge and maybe even your parents’ home!
No subgroup is more influenced and mobilized by the internet than teenagers. So there is little need to argue for the importance of the internet to the future of youth ministry. While we don’t want to replace face-to-face preaching of the gospel, running small groups or the writing of real books, we do want to make the most of every communication opportunity that God blesses us with. Despite the negative impact of the internet, I do think that is how we should view it—as a blessing from God for the spread of the gospel.
But that creates a problem for me: I am not an internet nerd, and as I get older, the void between my skill set and the web becomes more exaggerated. That’s where Fervr steps in.
Fervr (http://fervr.net/) is an evangelical, interdenominational, worldwide project initiated by Sydney Anglican Youthworks that serves to help youth ministries effectively bring the gospel to youth through the web. Fervr works as a resource partner with churches, schools, camps and other similar ministries by providing a collection of regularly updated articles, reviews, videos and apologetics. Fervr also provides a service for each ministry to create their own webpage (thus enabling internal communication) and to add themselves to a database of ministries local to a particular area. All this is free. But how useful is the content and groups to youth ministers like me?
Fervr content
The Fervr home page is easily accessible. Anyone with internet has full access to the resource material that the team publishes. That fact alone is a highlight of the project—not simply because it’s generous, but also because it greatly increases the reach of the page.
The articles published are the main component of the content. One great thing about these is that they are updated regularly, obeying an important web rule. That means that those visiting the site are often returning youth seeking new material, not just one-off visitors. The articles are supported by great graphics and an easy-to-find format. They cover a very broad range of topics from simply explaining Bible passages to exploring issues, such as church, sex, peers and parents.
One of the best things about the articles is that they are nearly all written by younger people. I found articles by Bible college students, youth ministers, university students and even school students. This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the language, length and style of the articles are accessible to teenagers. The topics are relevant, and are explored from a youth perspective. The disadvantage is that the biblical and theological quality of the articles varies. On the whole, the articles are biblical, faithful and useful, but not all would fit into that category. I hope the editorial team can solve this problem.
The other four key resources—reviews, media, ‘Question and Answer’ and articles for leaders—are all very good. The reviews section (again, this is regularly updated) casts a probing eye over TV shows, music, movies, books and all kinds of Christian resources. The articles are well-written, but more importantly, they present a helpful Christian model for how to be critical of the world around us. The media section makes use of the growing world of internet video, and showed me many Christian video resources I wasn’t aware of. The ‘Question and Answer’ resource makes use of the Christianity.net.au page, and presents a selection of answers to key questions. These are generally very good, although I did find one or two that could have been answered better. The last section consists of a selection of helpful articles for youth leaders.
Overall, the content of Fervr provides a great resource, and the Fervr crew get full marks for providing Christian content of this calibre in a format that is contemporary, accessible and well-targeted.
Fervr groups
However, the groups section is where this resource has the most potential to revolutionize my youth ministry. I was struck by how well this page was presented and how easy it was to join. The ‘terms of service’ is 1943 words long (longer than this article), but I guess that’s a necessary evil. So I read the whole thing. Although I didn’t want to enter the year of my birth (various thoughts ran through my head about kids finding out how old I really am, and my fears were later realized when my profile became public to my group members), after a few minutes, I was a member.
As a member, I have two options: I can join a group or create a new one. The ‘find a group’ feature is a brilliant ministry tool: it has a map where you type in your postcode or the area you are looking for, and it brings up results showing local youth groups. This is fantastic: not only does it allow kids looking for a local youth group to find me with a very easy-to-use system, but when youth move to a different area, it allows me to give them wise pastoral advice about what group to join in their new neighbourhood.
Starting a new group is also a simple process. The Fervr team need to approve each application for a new group before it is operational in order to verify the legitimacy of the leader and group. The group leader then has control of the look, functionality and membership of their page.
Once the group has been started, the page is then ready for customization by the leader. At first I found this stage frustrating and a little technical. There are also still a few bugs that the team is working through. But after a while, this was very liberating: once I worked out how to do things, I was able to write my own description of our group, post videos and photos, put in diary dates, upload the permission form for our outing, plus there was potential to do so much more. All Fervr group pages have simple links to the Fervr content automatically included as part of their page. So even if I don’t have time to make weekly updates to my youth group page, Fervr will do it for me.
Fervr supports youth leadership teams by providing very well-designed printed posters, postcards and business cards—again, all for free. This enables the leader to advertise and promote the group through conventional channels.
Fervr has enormous potential to become a living online community for a youth ministry. At present, group comments can be made by anyone to the whole group, but there are exciting future possibilities for messaging, individual chat, questions, answers and pastoral support.
That brings me to a growing concern for any youth minister and the internet: child safety. In my group, I have a policy that no leader is to contact a group member via any online chat services, such as Facebook or MSN. We did have a Facebook youth leaders’ page, of which youth were members, but I never felt comfortable about it. Once I discovered Fervr, I was able to shut down that page and say that online contact can only happen at Fervr, or through emails where I am copied in. The reason for this is that Fervr records all communication in a database for the purpose of child protection. The team is also exploring communication possibilities regarding individual chat, but if implemented, this would be done in a safe, recorded environment, thus enabling leaders to talk to youth with a clear conscience.
The group leader also has control over who is granted membership of their group. If someone is not a member of a group, they can see the public group information and even the photos, but they can’t view individual profiles or contribute to the group.
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I can honestly say that I am very excited about Fervr. After nearly two decades of involvement in youth ministry, I can’t think of a resource that benefits me as much as this one. The older I get, the more useful I’m sure Fervr will be to my ministry. If the team could add a feature that keeps me up-to-date with what shoes are actually cool, then I’ll be a perfect youth minister. As far as I can tell, Fervr is the only resource of this type in the world. So full credit to all the people involved in planning for and setting it up. I thoroughly recommend any ministry involving youth to make the most of this free resource.
To find out more about Fervr, visit fervr.net.
