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This presentation was a keynote address that I gave for the annual Episcopal Church in-house meeting. It explains the current converged relationship between faith in the "real world" and in the digital space. I also address issue of brand hijacking and content marketing.
Citation preview
Converging faith on- and off-line: What the church can learn from the “real
world” to aid in missionary work
Episcopal In-House Meeting January 15, 2014 Mara Einstein, PhD Queens College, City University of New York
“And Jesus said to Peter…”
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Today: No separation between media & religion
Religion and the media seem to be ever more connected as we move further into the twenty-first century. It is through the media that much of contemporary religion and spirituality is known….The realms of ‘religion’ and ‘media’ can no longer be easily separated.
-- Stewart Hoover,
Center for Media, Religion and Culture
University of Colorado, Boulder
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Agenda
Changing relationship between media and religion
Special impact of digital media in changing relationships between producers and audiences
Case studies integrating media and religion
Best practices – What sacred can learn from the secular
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Convergence of Media and Religion
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Convergence of Media and Religion
Religion Media
• Advertising, websites and social media are used to communicate with followers
Media Religion • Remains a popular topic across media platforms
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Non-Fiction/Reality Series
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Digital Media Has Changed the Relationship between Producer
and Audience
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Digital media impact
Digital natives move fluidly from online to offline
Need to find a way to fit into people’s lives, not disrupt it
Millennials expect to “come as you are”
How is church going to help me live my life?
Content producers—sacred or secular—no longer control the message (“brand hijacking”)
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#Fitchthehomeless
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I'm Joy. I'm The 2008 Longboard Champion, Love Jesus Christ & I am a Mormon
Video
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Mormon response: More content, more online missionaries
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Video – Spiritual Technology
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But….
None of these insert themselves into people’s lives
The perspective is from the POV of the institution, not the audience served
Producer-to-audience mentality
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Online Communities
Create ways for people to come together
People spend time with things they love and care about
And, they tell others
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Nutella
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Media as Competition, or is it?
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Media is Pervasive
1.19 billion monthly active users on Facebook
73% of American adult Internet users use at least one social networking service 42% use multiple sites, including FB, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest
and LinkedIn
78% watch videos online
1-2 hours/day one mobile devices*
* Little agreement about exact figures 27
(Religious) Media as Competition
Convenient
Provides choice
Anonymity
Democratized
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Questions to consider:
What are religious institutions doing or not doing that makes people turn elsewhere for this content?
If religious institutions can present their message via a converged media-religion hybrid is that necessarily a bad thing?
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78% of Protestant churches have a website, less than half use them for interactive purposes (Lifeway, 2011)
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Case Study
LifeChurch.tv
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LifeChurch.tv
LifeChurch.tv, also called Life Covenant Church or "Life Church“
Multi-site evangelical church (14 + Second Life)
32,000 members
Stream services over 50 times each week (audience: 80,000 unique computers).
Shares content with 52,000 other churches (open.lifechurch.tv).
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LifeChurch and Media
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LifeChurch.tv on Second Life
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YouVersion—Bible App
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Case Study
Hillsong
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HillsongNYC
Pentecostal megachurch started in Australian
NYC “satellite” church founded 3 years ago
Approximately 6000 weekly attendees over 6 services
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From presentation to practice
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Best Practices
On and off line are not mutually exclusive. Find ways to enable this rather than fight against it.
Find ways to engage current members and prospective congregants instead of talking at them
If members become online missionaries, support them in their passions.
Stick to your knitting; find out what your provide that no one else does and do it—really, really well.
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Questions to ask:
Who are you?
Who do you want to be?
Who do you want to join you?
How can you reach them?
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The question of marketing
Little separation between media and marketing (branded video and branded journalism are the biggest trend for 2014)
Are marketing and branding consistent with religious values?
YES – Marketing = Evangelizing
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Book: Brands of Faith: Marketing religion in a commercial age
Email: mara.einstein@gmail.com
Twitter: @MaraEinstein
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THANK YOU
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