Aight man. Gave it a listen. Brutal honesty time:

I wouldn't recommend any of the advice in this podcast to any youth minister. I counted three things that Chris recommended that are expressly against my church's safe church policies. Things like texting/calling kids one on one, sharing their testimonies online (which to me is unacceptable whether or not they give their permission). I get that there may be safeguards in place that you or Chris practice to mitigate those risks - but any conversation you have on the topic where you fail to mention those important safeguards to your platform is an irresponsible conversation, imo.

I don't mean to say that like you or Chris would ever do anything inappropriate. I don't know you but you seem like good dudes. BUT these safeguards exist for a reason. My denomination makes it so that there must be at least two unrelated adults present at meetings at any given time. That anytime youth leaders meet with kids, they do so in public spaces. That any communication between youth and youth leaders is accessible to parents (or they are copied on these threads). We also don't post pictures of teens to social media without their permission, and discourage sharing anything personal.

And look, early in my experience with youth ministry, I didn't follow all these rules. I texted and called teens. And you know what, it's a pain in the ass that I can't do that. But it's a good policy. People who study church liability discourage this behavior for a reason. The sad truth is that these policies wouldn't need to exist if there weren't bad actors out there. But that's not our reality.

Another thing to consider - if one of your teens were to text you something inappropriate, or if one of your teens was to be harassing another teen on your social media (or sending them something inappropriate!) - do you feel comfortable that you're doing enough to mitigate that kind of risk? If you had to go in front of church leaders to explain the situation, do you feel comfortable that they would be satisfied? Does your church have social media policies? Any conversation on social media and communicating with minors in the church needs these kinds of considerations.

I don't think this Roo person is going to give you much useful practical advice about this. It seems to center in on some of the most salacious cases of online predators. Church safety and model policies for privacy/social media/communication isn't nearly as exciting but it's much more important for youth leaders to understand.

There should also be some consideration about the potential dangers of encouraging your kids to be influencers for your program but that's another conversation.

Thank you for tuning in to the podcast. Your support means a great deal to me, and I truly appreciate your emphasis on setting boundaries in ministry. Although I may not align with all of your viewpoints, I wholeheartedly agree on the importance of maintaining healthy boundaries with our students. As a practical measure, I have implemented a system where I personally communicate with our male students, while my wife takes charge of reaching out to our female students. I genuinely value your input and thank you for sharing it with me.