Is God on MySpace?

One of the hottest Internet sites, with more than 100 million accounts and a demographic dominated by teens and 20-somethings, MySpace and its cousin Facebook have been discovered by youth ministers as ways to connect with youth. The social networking websites allow users to publish personal profiles and communicate with other users. Many leaders see them as places where students can open up to them.

Facebook attracts high schoolers, allowing users to see only profiles of people in their networks. MySpace is more open to a wider age spread. While both sites allow ministers to advertise activities and chat with students, MySpace users can be bombarded with pornography and predators. FaceBook can blur the lines between friendship and authority, intimacy and privacy.
"Youth ministry by its very nature approaches boundary questions," says Rita Powell, youth minister at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in New Canaan, Conn. "You have to be available and involved with students' lives. But it can be invasive."

Powell has discussed the Internet with her students and says few if any in her church use MySpace, but they do use FaceBook. She checks the site regularly. She does not have her own profile posted, however, and stays away from instant messaging, a popular communications tool among teens.

"I know I've made 'appearances' there," says Powell, who also coaches girls' cross country at New Canaan High School. "There was even a 'Rita Powell Fan Club.'"

"It's important for youth ministers to enter students' social world and know what's going on. But I'm not one of them, and they don't want me to be. I'm an adult. I need some shred of authority."

A fast connection
Others see advantages to MySpace. Lara Blackwood, youth minister at First Christian Church of Fayetteville, Arkansas, signs on to MySpace every morning.

"Any time they post a new blog, I get a message in my e-mail and cell phone," she says. "If the title says, 'Gosh, prom was fun,' I'll read it within a couple days. If it says, 'I hate my life, I want to die' -- which I've read some similar to that -- I'm on immediately."

Blackwood keeps in touch with former students on MySpace more than any other way. She is building a roster of "friends" to receive announcements of upcoming events.

"They'll get the word faster if I post it as a MySpace message than if I try to call them," she says. "Most check their profiles many times each day."

Social networking is essential to being a teen, says Kenda Creasy Dean, associate professor of youth, church and culture and director of the Tennent School of Christian Education at Princeton Theological Seminary.

"For people in their 40s, technology is a tool. For kids, technology is the air they breathe. It's social glue."

Some Catholic youth workers approach MySpace with caution.

"I would encourage our youth ministers to set up their own websites connected with their parishes but also to monitor MySpace," says Sister Eileen McCann, a consultant for youth and young adult ministries at the U.S. Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops. "I would advise them to get on MySpace for information but not communication."

Some youth ministers serve as watchdogs and scan students' sites, which can reveal full names, personal calendars and photos.

"They do it without thinking," says Blackwood. "They don't say they go to a particular high school, but if they post a picture and they're wearing a letter jacket, you can figure it out."

Powell, who sees her kids every day at school, says she finds other ways to be close to them.

"Ours is a sacramental church. Real, live contact trumps anything else. I see and talk with the kids face to face."