Prior to taking this course, I had thought in a different way about being “in the world but not of it.”  I had—mistakenly I think—shunned many of the trappings of modern culture, thinking that this was the best way to be “not of” the world.  I only got “with it” in terms of technology out of a need, particularly a need related to youth ministry.  I was one of the first people in my age group to have a MySpace page, then a Facebook page, then to begin texting.  I did all of these things—reluctantly really—in order to keep up by communicating in a platform in which I could reach kids.  I not-so-secretly hoped, though, that I could convince the kids that these communication tools were unnecessary.  And I did—but only for a week out of every year when we went to Cincinnati, Ohio for our youth mission trips with the Franciscans for the Poor.

In Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Jesus’ community with his disciples was all-encompassing, extending to all areas of life.  The individual’s entire life was lived within this community of disciples.  And this community is a living witness to the bodily humanity of the Son of God.  The bodily presence of the Son of God demands the bodily commitment to him and with him throughout one’s daily life.  With all our bodily living existence, we belong to him who took on a human body for our sake.” (232)  Since technology is so much a part of my daily life—it’s the primary platform of my theological education, after all—I found myself rethinking these trappings of the world.  As a disciple, Jesus goes with me into my daily life and calls me into the world, and let’s face it, daily life in 21^st Century America is immersed in technology.

As I began reading my first book, Click-2-Save: A Digital Ministry Bible by Elizabeth Drescher & Keith Anderson, for one of my summer intensive courses, Media & Technology in Parish Education, taught by Professor Mary Hess, I had a fresh, new, open attitude about technology.  It is an excellent resource for helping those in ministry to be in the world.  The authors state, “Our perspective is that new social networking platforms enable us to extend the love of God to others in ways that make our mainline Christian traditions more authentically present in the world.” (9)  The authors are also quick to differentiate between digital ministry and digital marketing, emphasizing that the Gospel “invites us to live in the light of God’s grace in relation to one another…That is, in relationships of mutual respect and caring.  In communication.” (175)  The authors argue that digital ministry, if it is indeed ministry rather than marketing, is relational and incarnational.   I think I might have disagreed with this statement before taking the Life Together class—did I already mention that this was my favorite class EVER!?!?  I can see now, though, that digital ministry fits into the idea that Christianity “is a road trip, not a building.  It is relational and networked.  And, certainly, it is mobile.” (Drescher and Anderson, 176).  Digital engagement is indeed a reality of human experience, and it does “what broadcast media could never do: connect us more deeply to those we know already, and extend real and meaningful relationship to those we may know only indirectly—only as links in the helixed DNA of the Body of Christ.” (177)

So do I think I could spend less time on Facebook?  Absolutely.  Do I think that people Tweet some really trivial things?  Of course.  Do I get tired of having social media platforms become obsolete so quickly—what’s MySpace anyway?  You bet.  Do I wish people would stop texting so much and look at each other for an actual conversation more often?  Yep.  But am I called to engage with the world?  YES!  If I want to do that, I have to go into the world; I cannot expect the world to come to my church building.  It is my hope and prayer, though, that as I engage with the world, others will see that the church is not a building, but the body of Christ in the world.

As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.—Jesus (John 17:18)

We are in a new Digital age, and that is NO April Fool’s joke.   The picture above was taken in 2005 during the events of Pope John Paul II’s funeral.  The picture on the bottom was taken last month when Pope Francis was announced as the new leader of the Roman Catholic church.  Quite a difference!

I can send out a pastoral letter, and it matters not whether it is printed and mailed (like an old-fashioned newsletter) or whether it is printed and distributed in a worship bulletin (remember, those paper things that they hand out in church?) and get less response from 800 mailings than I can get within 24 hours from a blog post.  If that same post is perceived as a “negative” post, then I can get 3 times the response, and it can travel around the world and back again.

So how can the church harness this digital art?  What are the implications for a pastor?

What changes will the “digital age” bring to ministry, and what will remain the same?

I enjoy reading Pastor Keith Anderson’s tentative answers to these questions.  I’ve never met him.  I haven’t read his book either.  But if he went to college in High Point, NC, he has to be one OK dude, right?  At least he has tasted REAL BBQ (that would be pork, for all you Texans!) before he went off to Harvard and Memorial Church to get further educated and shaped as a pastor.  I’ve been reading his blog for a couple of years and I commend it to you.  He’s got some spot on observations and poignant challenges (for pastors, certainly, and perhaps for you as well).

You can find his blog here:  Keith Anderson: The Art of Digital Ministry

The Internet, and in particular its manifestation in social media, is the new Roman Road (a parallel I am shamelessly drawing from Andrew Careaga’s book eMinistry [2009]).  That Roman road system that the apostle Paul traveled on, the one that made it possible for him to spread the gospel, found churches, and stay in touch with them in absentia.  Sure, that wasn’t all the Roman road did–by connecting the Roman territories, it facilitated commerce.  In much the same way that you can buy lobsters from Amazon (thanks, Big Bang Theory) or porn from any of the willing marketers in my spam box, the Roman road made it possible to purchase anything from dyed cloth from Lydia in Thyatira to a human being from a conquered territory.  The road systems wasn’t evil, but evil sure as sugar found travel easier thanks to it.  But you know what?  Without the Roman road, the church as we know it just wouldn’t exist today.  Paul wouldn’t have traveled as extensively, certainly not as much to inland cities like Derbe, Lystra, and Antioch (Galatia).

So, dude.  We know, the Internet makes it easier to access porn, to get addicted to online gaming, to create an existence in which you never actually need to leave your apartment.  But it is ALSO the native language of a significant chunk of the populaton, and it is more accessible than ever because it is just so darn portable.

“For people my age (in their 40s), technology is a tool. For kids, technology is the air they breathe. It’s social glue.”

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Quoted in Amy C.Thoren. 2010. “The pastor on Facebook: boldly going where everyone else goes.” Word & World 30, no. 3: 272-280.

So when you tell members of your congregation, especially youth, that their smartphones don’t belong in church, you are effectively telling them that they will need to culturally commute in order to come to your church.  And if that’s the overriding impression that they have–that their culture doesn’t have a home in your church–then what are you saying about them?

But introducing social media into the life of your church need not be scary.  It need not be overwhelming.  It need not involve installing a large white screen that will block your beautiful stained glass.  Here are 7 really easy ways to incorporate the gifts of social media into the life of your church:

1. Use your Facebook news feed to form a prayer list every morning.  If your church has a Facebook page, then invite people to post prayer concerns there, and encourage the community to pray over them daily.  (If your church does not have a Facebook page, for the love of tennis shoes, get one.  My three-year old nephew has figured out how to upload videos to Youtube.  You can do this.)
2. Get acquainted with Twitter, a social media platform that invites short “tweets” to create a news feed.  You can create Twitter handles (labels that will group tweets from different users under a single feed) for special events, and invite people to post updates in real time using that handle.  The ELCA started doing this with synodical meetings and with the National Youth Gathering this past year, and it was very enjoyable for those of us at home.  Possible idea to get your youth involved in your preaching?  Invite them to tweet about your sermon as you preach.
3. Create a blog for your church that integrates scripture with contemporary media (news stories, songs and videos on Youtube, articles suddenly becoming popular on Facebook).  Invite members of your church to post reflections there.  Use those reflections to feed bible studies, retreats, worship services and so on.  Here’s a great example of a congregational blog from a youth-focused congregation in New Hampshire.
4. Try doing a midweek compline with your congregation using Google Hangout or Skype, letting you all connect from your homes just before you hit the hay.
5. Sign up at prayerontwitter.net to receive tweeted prayers on the hour, taken from the Book of Common Prayer and other sources.
6. Use Pinterest, an online bulletin board that will let you pin images/articles/etc. from just about anywhere on the Web, to create a board where people can pin images that remind them of God.  Great for a Bible study.
7. Ask youth to send you their favorite Christian song/your choir to send you their favorite hymns/your Bible group to send you their favorite verses and use them to create a Wordle.  This is a Wordle on 1 Cor. 4-8:

Curious about more possibilities offered by social media?  Check out this great article (and blog) by Lutheran pastor Keith Anderson.  Also take a gander at the Best of Breed tools for learning put together by this incredibly helpful website.  It will introduce you to some of the more popular electronic platforms for doing all kinds of different things, from storing your files in the cloud (online, where they can’t crash along with your computer), to using an online whiteboard.  While accessing the detailed information on each listing will require a subscription, I find simply seeing the popular tools broken down by section really helpful.

Got more ideas on how to integrate social media into church life?  Please share in the comments section!!

And without further ado, I present this week’s cabinet of curiosities:

The Ideal Bookshelf: Art Prints

One Ms. Jane Mount has undertaken to illustrate people’s ideal bookshelves, with themes including travel (@ right), Jane Austen, cookbooks, etc. The prints are just to die for. Or to kill for. Depending on your proclivities. You can also commission a painting of your OWN favorite books. Which would make a lovely, extraordinary, wonderful and generous gift for, you know, someone.

Visit the Ideal Bookshelf shop for details.

Listening Love:

I discovered (via Band Camp) the extraordinary Lower Lights Hymn Revival, who play and sing toe tippin’, hand slappin’, booty-swingin’ renditions of traditional hymns. Glorious. Wonderful. Addictive. Praise the Lord.

“The Lower Lights convened in fall 2009 for five days of diving into the hymns – familiar hymns, overlooked hymns, Hank Williams hymns, and more. The hope was to connect with these beautiful old songs of testimony on a deeper level, to have a new and personal experience with them. Drawing equal parts reverence and celebration from the rich mine of hymns, we ended the week with 30-plus songs that feel part-revival, part-vigil. We hope our time with the hymns can help others reconnect and have their own personal experience with these songs as well.” (From their lil’ bio page on vimeo)

Digital Ministry

Duke’s Faith and Leadership blog has had some great articles lately on using social media and the web as an integral part of ministry. Here’s Keith Anderson, author of “Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible”: “It’s about building relationships. Some of those, hopefully, will evolve into people joining your church, but it’s mostly a matter of offering grace in this digital world of Facebook and Twitter. Digital ministry is networked, relational and incarnational, so it’s developing relationships over time and pointing to how God is at work in our daily lives. And in the midst of that, we’re developing relationships online and then hopefully extending offline and then back online again.” (Read the whole article)

Aaaaand: another great article on Facebook and Faith.

Help Ink: Art worth supporting

Help Ink is a collaborative project of designers and artists who develop prints and posters on behalf of specific charities, and the proceeds of the sales go to those organizations. It’s a great idea, and the artwork is truly amazing.  The one pictured (my personal fav) is by artist Jacqui Oakley and supports Smile Train

                                                                             Internet Evangelism Day is set for 29 April, as the culmination of Digital Outreach Month. IE Day is both an annual focus day and year-round resource guide for digital outreach. It has always been our suggestion that churches (or other Christian groups) build a digital evangelism focus into their events or service sheets on or near that day. In previous years, although this could be an eye-opening challenge, actual involvement in digital evangelism or ministry was not something that many church members were likely to take up. The options were somewhat limited, time-consuming, and needed technical or writing gifts.

No longer! Social networking enables any online Christian to naturally share resources that explain some aspect of the good news, and start conversations with those they are already linked with. So at last, an IE Day presentation can suggest practical ideas and opportunities that most church members can use right now. There is a hugely significant three-fold intertwined cord of social networking, video shorts and mobile phones.

However, we must understand the nature of social networking to use it effectively. If we think of it as one-way publicity, we are will be ineffective and irritating. Social networking is people and two-way relationships. Think ‘cafe’, not ‘pulpit’.

14 digital ideas to share with your church on IE Day

1. Announce or publish a short item about IE Day in newsletters/service sheets. There are free photos you can use.
2. Download and project a short testimony demonstrating the effectiveness of the Web for outreach, eg. Kimberley’s Story | more videos.
3. Download and project a video about social networking evangelism on Facebook, and consider also this dramatic overview of the current state of social networking.
4. Demonstrate live on screen how to post video clips from eg. YesHEIs.com | Global Short Film Network | God: New Evidence directly into a Facebook page.
5. Showcase live the new Talking About Jesus iPhone app (you can plug an audio jack into the phone for a clear audio feed) and discuss/demonstrate other ways that mobile phones can be used to share the good news.
6. Start a discussion on whether your church could appoint a Digital Advocate to resource the fellowship, if you do not already have someone fulfilling this role.
7. Recognize and honor any in your fellowship who are already involved in some area of digital ministry, including the church website, and ask them to share their stories. Pray for them publicly.
8. Project a live online demonstration of using a Pinterest account and add content to it including appropriate evangelistic/conversation-starting material.
9. Encourage small home-groups to discuss and investigate various digital evangelism opportunities.
10. Suggest to the youth group the possibility of creating some evangelistic YouTube shorts.
11. Tell your church about IE Day’s free ebooks and key book recommendations.
12. If you only have time for a 5-10 minute spot using one or two of the above suggestions, consider regular brief spots on different days. Or even create an entire service, youth group or home meeting around digital evangelism, and integrate some music and a short drama.
13. Encourage the leadership team to consider digital outreach initiatives that might be implemented this year, such as using social media to connect the fellowship with the community, and testing the outsider-friendliness of the church website.
14. If you have never done this, consider explaining the crucial issue of how members can stay safe and accountable online, and also highlight protection software for children. And why not create a few ongoing classes on how to use some of these 14 options, or even some basic web training for online newcomers?

We need you! Internet Evangelism Day has no publicity budget and can only be made known more widely by word of mouth. Please help leverage these incredible opportunities for evangelism by tweeting, Facebook, blogging etc. or republishing this article in any way you wish.

Related articles

• -Resources for Digital Ministry (bloggingministry.com)
• Jesus.net Japan Launches Outreach to Bring Hope to Nation Still Hurting from March 2011 Disaster (faithinspires.wordpress.com)
• International Church Chooses Tracky to Tie its World Together (faithinspires.wordpress.com)

Thanks to all who have worked to create, nurture and growth the various lab communities on Facebook!

Here are the labs listed in launch order.

• UU Growth Lab
• UU Social Media Lab
• UU Young Adult Growth Lab
• UU Spirit In Practice Lab
• UU Growing Church Models Lab
• UU Adult Religious Education
• UU Worship Lab
• UU Evangelists Lab
• UU Stewardship Lab
• UU Ministers Growth Lab
• UU Website Lab

Thanks to all who have worked to create, nurture and growth the various lab communities on Facebook!

Here are the labs listed in launch order.

• UU Growth Lab
• UU Social Media Lab
• UU Young Adult Growth Lab
• UU Spirit In Practice Lab
• UU Growing Church Models Lab
• UU Adult Religious Education
• UU Worship Lab
• UU Evangelists Lab
• UU Stewardship Lab
• UU Ministers Growth Lab
• UU Website Lab

http://secondlife.com/destination/library-of-world-religions

Friends, an exciting accomplishment for the developers of the Unitarian Universalist region in Second Life known as UUTopia.  This last week the Library of World Religions in UUTopia was added to the top of the Second Life Spirituality & Belief destination guide!   In addition to the library, the UUTopia region also features a sanctuary where the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Second Life holds regular services.  See www.fuucsl.org.

I’ve attended a number of services this month as I prepared to lead a workshop on social media, technology and the future of UU faith formation.  I was excited to discover that these services are attended by people from across the world, including those using language translation tools.  There are also regular participants who attend services in Second Life due to accessibility issues.  In terms of Unitarian Universalist outreach and digital ministry, Unitarian Universalism isn’t just on the map, we’re at the top of the destination guide.  Well done to my new UU friends and colleagues in Second Life!

Second Life is free to join and explore.  Money is only needed to buy land and purchase virtual goods. Learn more at secondlife.com.  Search for more Unitarian Universalist destinations in Second Life.

http://secondlife.com/destination/library-of-world-religions

Friends, an exciting accomplishment for the developers of the Unitarian Universalist region in Second Life known as UUTopia.  This last week the Library of World Religions in UUTopia was added to the top of the Second Life Spirituality & Belief destination guide!   In addition to the library, the UUTopia region also features a sanctuary where the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Second Life holds regular services.  See www.fuucsl.org.

I’ve attended a number of services this month as I prepared to lead a workshop on social media, technology and the future of UU faith formation.  I was excited to discover that these services are attended by people from across the world, including those using language translation tools.  There are also regular participants who attend services in Second Life due to accessibility issues.  In terms of Unitarian Universalist outreach and digital ministry, Unitarian Universalism isn’t just on the map, we’re at the top of the destination guide.  Well done to my new UU friends and colleagues in Second Life!

Second Life is free to join and explore.  Money is only needed to buy land and purchase virtual goods. Learn more at secondlife.com.  Search for more Unitarian Universalist destinations in Second Life.

Digital is exploding,

It is a phenomenon which most corporates don’t understand, but they know they should have a Facebook page, or a Twitter account, but how it translates into sales, what impact they are making on their consumers, they can’t measure for sure.

It is an interesting arena to be playing in. Many don’t know much, yet they know one thing – its important to be a part of it.

If you are one of the few who is interested, but still doesn’t quite understand what digital is doing, add the below pages to your bookmarks and have a read once in a while on what is happening in the digital sphere. Some of the findings will blow your mind and I guarantee you will start to understand a little bit deeper what this whole digital globalization is about:

http://digitalministry.com/AU/home  (there is also a UK and Ireland site)

http://mumbrella.com.au/ (Australian digital news)

http://www.socialnomics.net/ (From creative writers such as E. Qualman, author of “Socialnomics”)

Some interesting facts to take into account and to gage the scope of Social Media impact on the World to date:

• By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
• Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
• Years to Reach 50 millions Users:  Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
• If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia (note that Facebook is now creeping up – recently announced 300 million users)

And these are just the top 5! By the time I finish writing this post, there will probably be 50+ more  facts about Social Media which are revolutionary and challenging to comprehend at the start. All I can say at the moment is ” WOOOW”

Here is a great post that was written for people new to Twitter, but also a nice refresher for those who have been using it awhile.

Take my advice when it comes to social media!  People follow people!  Pay attention to tip #7 about getting a good picture of yourself as your avatar.

If you are interested in getting deeper into social media for your ministry of group, you might want to check out developing a Gravatar.  A gravatar is a globally recognized avatar that “graphically” speaks out who you are.  It can be a cartoon you, you in a movie, you at work, you with someone famous, etc.  But, it needs to be you!  People will think your kids are cute, but they might never see the pictures if they have no idea whose avatar it is!  I also do not recommend changing your avatar/profile picture to support a cause.  Shout out, tweet up, post all about it!  But, once again, if someone has no idea who you are, they might not listen!

Listen up, my tweeps!  Rule #1 for social media is like the answer on how to get to Carnegie Hall.  Practice, practice, practice!  Try something new!  Post it a different way!  Catch people’s eye!

If I can use the inspiration of the Lord in the NDV (New Doug Version):

Repost online always. I will say it again: Repost! (found in SocialMinistry 4:4)

My “blasphemy” aside, be consistent!  Share yourself!  More importantly, share who Jesus is through you!

Can I get a “retweet”?  Holla!

Here is a great post that was written for people new to Twitter, but also a nice refresher for those who have been using it awhile.

Take my advice when it comes to social media!  People follow people!  Pay attention to tip #7 about getting a good picture of yourself as your avatar.

If you are interested in getting deeper into social media for your ministry of group, you might want to check out developing a Gravatar.  A gravatar is a globally recognized avatar that “graphically” speaks out who you are.  It can be a cartoon you, you in a movie, you at work, you with someone famous, etc.  But, it needs to be you!  People will think your kids are cute, but they might never see the pictures if they have no idea whose avatar it is!  I also do not recommend changing your avatar/profile picture to support a cause.  Shout out, tweet up, post all about it!  But, once again, if someone has no idea who you are, they might not listen!

Listen up, my tweeps!  Rule #1 for social media is like the answer on how to get to Carnegie Hall.  Practice, practice, practice!  Try something new!  Post it a different way!  Catch people’s eye!

If I can use the inspiration of the Lord in the NDV (New Doug Version):

Repost online always. I will say it again: Repost! (found in SocialMinistry 4:4)

My “blasphemy” aside, be consistent!  Share yourself!  More importantly, share who Jesus is through you!

Can I get a “retweet”?  Holla!

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told the bloggers that while Pope Benedict XVI “is a person who does not Tweet or have a personal blog, he is very attentive and knows well what is happening in the world” and supports Catholic media efforts, as seen by his Good Friday television interview and by his book-length interview with the German writer Peter Seewald.

It appears as though the Vatican “presented plans for a news portal to the bloggers, which is expected to launch at http://www.news.va.”; This will certainly help disseminate documents and news from the Holy See at much speedier rate. However, I imagine that organizations like ZENIT and “insiders” like Rocco Palma might lament such access because currently they are the largest ‘retailers’ of church-related information and news online.

One thing is for sure, blogging and church engagement with social media is not disappearing anytime soon. So, those naysayers out there in ministry and church-related organizations, brace yourselves: this looks like an increasingly non-negotiable part of what it means to respond to today’s “signs of the time.”

Photo: AP