texting – YoRocko!

I’ve blogged about texting with youth before. Here’s another experiment:

Feeling the need to hear the teenagers in our church better–to hear them and listen to them and so begin to see them clearly–I sent out an impromptu text message to them on Monday:

“What’s one thing you worry about?”

I promised confidentiality, and I don’t think it’s breaking it to share that school and grades (and failure at school and grades) are prominent worries. I would venture to say that the teenagers in our church’s demographic (upper middle class, mostly white, suburbs) worry more about academic performance than any generation of students since the inception of compulsory public education.

Of course, I sent the message at the beginning of finals week, but I’ve seen the worry in their faces and in their church attendance all year.

What to do about it? I’m working on it. First, though, I want to hear it rightly and give the teenagers a chance to see that I’ve heard it. That’d probably be a good start.

During Lent I’ve been texting our church’s junior high and high school students every day around 3:00 with a reminder to pray. I stole this idea from a colleague at another church who did something similar.

The texts have been simple:

“Pray. Now.”

“Take a moment and pray for a friend or family member. Later, tell them you did it.”

“Time to pray.”

As I’ve checked in with students each week, they’ve assured me that these texts are helpful to them.

Yesterday, I did something a little different. Mostly on a whim, I texted, “Who are you praying for today.” Three students answered. One was praying for everyone who didn’t have enough to eat; another for a teacher with a recent death in his family; another for her mother.

Getting these responses was surprisingly powerful for me. I somehow felt like a participant in the students’ prayers. To each of them I voiced my prayer with theirs in a simple reply: “Amen.”

Youth. Prayer. Texting. An alliance of technology and spirituality.

Makes me hopeful.