If we took a poll, I imagine most of you would say you would never want to relive 2020. With all the COVID-19 restrictions, it has seemed like our lives were turned upside down: trying to work on Zoom, video school for students, ordering food delivery, and don’t get me started on trying to buy toilet paper.
As a church ministry, Berean Youth also had to find an entirely new way of reaching students. We used texting, email, and especially YouTube to stay connected with students and continue to provide them with biblical teaching. As we tried new methods, we opened our eyes to where our students had already been for years: online.
Last year YouTube had over 2 billion monthly users. In fact, 85% of teens say they watch videos on YouTube, which makes it the most-used social media site for that age group. Another emerging trend, or reemergence, is podcasts. Over the last three years, podcast listening has grown by 54%. As of 2020, almost half of all Americans age 12-30 listen to podcasts at least monthly.
So, what does this mean for us as a Youth Ministry? We're taking the truth of God’s word to where the students are. And that's why we created the Berean Youth Podcast. We offer it on the most popular podcast streaming sites (Apple, Spotify, Google), and we also post a video recording of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Every Friday we release a new episode that we hope not only attracts a student’s interest but also answers some of their deep theological and apologetic questions. We might talk about sports, current events, and our favorite fast-food restaurants. And we also have a segment called “Good Question.”
Students can anonymously submit their questions, and we will do our best to give them a biblical answer. Some questions we already tackled include “Can God create a rock so big He can’t move it?” and “If God knew Adam and Eve were going to sin, why did He put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden?”.
If you have a student that already watches videos on YouTube or listens to podcasts, which I assume is the majority of you, ask them to check out the Berean Youth Podcast. Maybe they will learn a little about God right where they are.
You can access the podcast here or search “Berean Youth Podcast” on Apple, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. Or watch the podcast episode on the Berean Youth Youtube channel.
