This idea cannot be sent to Jira
Kids Good News YouTube Channel (JRev)
Our idea: Kids Good News YouTube channel
View it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rJCDkl2MCU&a...aGvY8HVyZfx7myx
Why?
In our everyday work of pointing Gen Z and Gen Alpha to Jesus, we know that children are already natives in the digital world, so we’ve engaged with them through the medium that they use the most – YOUTUBE! We’ve known for a long time that there’s a gap in the market for evangelical resources for children and their families so when COVID hit, we launched our JRev YouTube show as part of our strategy for not only staying connected to children and their families, but launching a new tool in our evangelical work.
What we’ve already done:
We started from our ongoing research into best practices in working with children:
- we leant on team’s skills and expertise in the fields of education and media
- we looked at the resources that already existed, especially those that are available on YouTube and are freely available from other churches and denominations
- we looked at the highest viewed children’s content on YouTube
- we looked at the research from the team at Orange about what works in different phases of a child’s life to help them experience Jesus.
From this, we developed and then built on our formula for a weekly children’s evangelistic YouTube native show. We now have a back catalogue of 20 episodes featuring either locally developed content or purchased assets such as SFX. We have been diligent in ensuring that we are abiding by copyright law and Chid Safe practices. Each episode can serve as a stand-alone resource – each episode includes the Good News of Jesus and doesn’t rely on any assumed knowledge about God, or prior knowledge from previous episodes. We’ve also set ourselves up well for the return of face-to-face programs by positioning this resource as the central piece for our primary school programming. We have created a wraparound lesson plan to complement our episode to extend the online experience. These individual lessons can also sit within 4 lesson ‘units’ to assist in planning and sequencing as required in local mission expressions or for camps/events in the future. We also built in “at-home” resources to support parents and caregivers to continue faith formation in their regular rhythms. We also partnered with our Rev (grade 6-12) program in our content creation so that we are able to offer a sequenced resource for families with older siblings.
Findings:
It works! We’ve received thousands of views on both YouTube and Facebook, and viewership from all over Australia, as well as the US and Canada. We’ve had submissions to our gallery from across Australia. We’ve had children make first time decisions from watching the video content and we know this because their parents have told us. We’ve extended our JRev community from the Northern suburbs of Adelaide (our favourite place in the world!) to a national community of children, parents and caregivers, and local leaders experiencing Jesus together.
We've found that families and households are watching the show together weekly. Some even have it written on their family calendars with a countdown! We've found it to be an incredible asset in helping parents and caregivers to have a starting point for ongoing faith-based conversations at home. Our children talk about JRev’s YouTube show with their friends at school and our reach is broader than we could ever reach in a face-to-face context initially but directs children and families back to our JRev community or for us to link them with a local church.
What we’d like to do:
In our current capacity, we will continue to write and produce our weekly in its current format. With greater funding, we would love to be in a position to create a preschool specific show to partner with our existing show, creating a truly 0-18 targeted and mapped out resource. We have a million ideas for segments and episode that require more time than we can give – more resourcing will allow us to explore those ideas. We also have the talent to create songs and creative projects for use across TSA to continue to engage children and their families, co-designed together with children and their families. We would also like to move towards some more sustainable rhythms for our team as more face-to-face programming opens up locally. Most of all, it’s our prayer that this online engagement would see more children and their families experience life changing transformation through meeting Jesus!
Mark Grainger 6 months ago
What a great idea. We've seen the impact and reach of this online space. I love the idea to continue this type of media and form as we gather back physically. The resources and run sheets provided to help facilitate the learning will allow for a more engaging experience.
This really expands on more than just watch and forget. It provides so much more depth to this medium.
Thanks for the idea and your continued interest in our kids spaces.
Reply
Deborah Elliott 6 months ago
Love J Rev so much, I can see this being an impacting curriculum for families and children to engage with.
Reply
Daniel Casey 6 months ago
Such an impacting resource! Appreciate what JRev has done for not only my family, but the community I live in.
Reply
Megan Casey 6 months ago
Love this idea so much. JRev has made such an impact on my children and grandchildren. We love watching it together as a family. We have also seen the young people from our social mission expressions watch and love this, helping to create faith pathways.
Reply
Han2812 6 months ago
I absolutely love all of the creative and engaging ways for the little people to connect with their community through familiar faces!
JREV TV is just phenomenal, we are very blessed to have such a fantastic idea come to life for the Good of God!!
Reply
Samuel Elms 6 months ago
J Rev TV is amazing. I can’t wait to see what you guys have planned for the future.
Entertaining, engaging and most importantly informing the next generation of the love of Jesus. And seriously Chris is so funny
Reply
Megan Casey 6 months ago
And their children and their children, and the children and the children.
Reply
Youth Outreach 6 months ago
JRev TV helped my family and me during some really tough times. We love this show, it is funny and helps teach our children about Jesus. It has really brought out family together. Everyone loves JRev times. They deserve this funding to keep this coming!!! Maybe even get some special guest like Bruno Mars!!! The next Christian Sesame Street. The sky is the limit!!! Come on JRev.
Reply
Renee Pickens 6 months ago
LOVE JRevTV! Would like to see how collaborations with other parts of our movement (KidZone, Mission Support, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ministries and other Corps expressions) could turn this grass-roots initiative into a truly national resource. This would require some significant investment, particularly in relation to human resources to make this happen to its full capacity!
Reply
Beth Twivey 6 months ago
Have been watching a few of these - and have been happy to share around FB. Great team effort.
Reply
Chris Ballantyne 6 months ago
This program is fun, engaging and healthy viewing for young kids. My grandies enjoyed it.
Reply
Jennifer Pendergrast 6 months ago
The best thing about Saturdays in our house (other than sleeping in) is the latest episode of JRev!!
Not just for miss 6 but for the whole family. We absolutely love watching JRev together. It's great to be able to sit and talk about it and practice the weekly memory verse.
Really appreciate the time and effort the team have put in to make these episodes every week .
Reply
Suzie Casey 6 months ago
Super fun. Engaging. Wholesome. Points to Jesus. Relevant. Funny! GOOD NEWS!!
Reply
Odir Galdamez 6 months ago
Elite Content!
What JREV are doing in this space is amazing. The content and message they deliver is aligned with what The Salvation Army promotes, encourages and envisions for the future generations.
Hopefully Netflix see what is happening with JREV TV and sign them up for a Netflix special! #elite #letgoandletgod
Reply
Duan Kereru 6 months ago
I love JREV TV! What a ministry! You guys rock! Awesome work Team J REV!
Reply
Matt Guelzow 6 months ago
Clearly JREV is a leader in the space of kids ministry in this modern age. Relevant, engaging and entertaining. This resource brings the gospel message to kids but to the living room of the home. The humour and stories engage not only with kids but with adults. And I have no doubt the gospel message has been received by mums dads and adults who have watched JREV. The Salvation Army needs this relevant resource to continue and grow. It is without comparison
Reply
Dean Clarke 6 months ago
Great activity that is right on the mark for the target group.
Reply
Jose Porcia 6 months ago
I think this is an interesting idea. I would like to understand the scope of the curriculum. Can you please provide more information.
Specifically, I want know if this platform would be able to impart Salvation Army values and Christian World Views to young people. Particularly, in many issues/idealogies affecting contemporary Australia directly opposed to Jesus teachings.
Reply
Emma Joy 6 months ago
I checked out the first episode and I reckon you're spot on with your presentation and engagement - my 6yo would love this!
Reply
Rebecca Cundasamy 6 months ago
I will definately watch an episode - looks like a great resource!!
Reply
Rosslyn Casey 5 months ago
Such a brilliant engaging, kids centred programme in sharing the love of Jesus with children- my grandkids included
Reply
Neri Morris 5 months ago
Status labels added: RDL, Kids Challenge 2020
Reply