Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Social Media and the Churchfor URC West Midlands Synod
Dr Bex LewisSenior Lecturer in Digital Marketing, Manchester Metropolitan University
Director, Digital Fingerprint
Tweet @drbexl 120/06/17
http://bit.ly/URC_WM_Synod2
Does the church need digital communication?
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 2
For many churchgoing is no longer the ‘cultural norm’. People don’t actively ignore the church: they don’t even think about it. Matthew 5:13-16 calls us to be salt and light in the world …With literally billions in the digital spaces, the online social spaces presented by churches need to be appealing, welcoming, and not look like they are just an afterthought: they are now effectively the ‘front door’ to your church for digital users, and you ignore those spaces at your peril.
Tweet @drbexl 3
http://www.churchgrowthrd.org.uk/blog/churchgrowth/growing_churches_in_the_digital_ageImage: Flickr
20/06/17
Dr Sara Batts (2013)http://phdinprogress.wordpress.com
@drbexl
"If you want to build a presence in the social media
platform, then you need to be present."
- @unmarketing
@drbexl
Tweet @drbexl 620/06/17
How can the church be a leading light within our society, if we are seen as irrelevant, refusing to engage with the latest
technology? Can we lead by example, and show that we are not afraid to experiment, not afraid to fail? If we’re not in the digital
spaces, the latest ‘public square’, then we can’t offer an ‘example’ to influence the wider world. We need to be part of
people’s everyday conversations, and not just arriving when we have a message to ‘sell’. Sharing our everyday lives, in which stories of humour and vulnerability are particularly powerful,
allows us to connect – including with journalists, who find spaces such as Twitter a useful hunting ground for stories, and to build up trusted relationships with potential contributors to stories.
Lewis, B. (2017), ‘Social Media Fast for Lent? Not for Me!’, The Medianet, http://themedianet.org/social-media-fast-lent-not/
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 7
"Emails, text messages, social networks and chats can also be fully human forms of communication, … it is not technology which determines whether or not communication is authentic, but rather the human heart and our capacity to use wisely the means at our disposal.”
13/05/17 Tweet @drbexl 8
http://uk.businessinsider.com/pope-francis-the-internet-social-networks-and-text-messages-are-a-gift-of-god-2016-1
Pope Francis, Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Communications, 2016
@drbexl
The URC Digital Presence
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 10
20/06/17https://www.facebook.com/groups/333740013343
649/
Tweet @drbexl 14
20/06/17https://heatonmoorunitedchurch.org.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/heatonmooruc/
https://twitter.com/heatonmoorucTweet @drbexl 15
The Church Online?
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 16
20/06/17https://theconversation.com/how-social-media-is-changing-the-church-57405
Tweet @drbexl 17
20/06/17https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/21/o-click-all-ye-faithful-church-expands-online-in-paradigm-shift
Tweet @drbexl 18
Church: Broadcast Model
Image Source: RGBStock@drbexl
Image Source: Stockfresh@drbexl
New Opportunities
Image Source: Stockfresh@drbexl
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/08/22/car-salesmen-preachers-and-the-art-of-
persuasion/
Darren Rowse, @Problogger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j-Iy8fP0Ek
I loved working up a sermon in the lead up to giving it. Researching, looking at what others had to say on the topic, piecing together thoughts, looking for illustrations and examples (tangents) and then practicing giving it and making the last minute tweaks and additions in the day before Sunday arrived.
@drbexl
#DIGIDisciplethose who seek to live out their Biblically-informed Christian faith in the digital space, exploring both what it means to be a disciple in the digital age, and also how the digital age affects or alters discipleship.2010-2015
@drbexl
It’s something about the informality and distance; the ability to pause and think, which can be difficult in a conversation; and the way discussions can pick up where they left off several hours, days or weeks later.
Emma Major, BIGBible Post, 2012
@drbexl
Jesus often encountered people individually. Social media gives us the same personal access to people. This is an every-member ministry, and it’s exciting and inspiring.Rev Pam Smith, author, Online Mission & Ministry; Priest in Charge, iChurch
Tweet @drbexl 25
https://theconversation.com/how-social-media-is-changing-the-church-57405
20/06/17
Living Online?
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 26
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+12:1&version=MSG
27Tweet @drbexl20/06/17
I’m a passionate believer that we need to be ‘incarnational’ in the digital spaces, whether those are
specifically ‘Christian’ spaces or not, but that we need to understand how
to be ‘resident’ in those spaces, rather than merely ‘visiting’ to do a
‘bit of reaching out’.http://www.threadsuk.com/redeeming-culture-in-a-digital-age
Bex Lewis, May 2014
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 28
• I can't separate my faith from my actions, including those in public life. If people of faith are in public life faith is there too. @JennRiddlestone
• How can you separate faith from your public life? Is private faith true faith? @loulou_uberkirk
• If being a Christian is loving God and loving others, even if I don't announce why I'm doing something, my faith is unavoidably in *public.* @Hstanley_
Tweet @drbexl 2920/06/17
Tweet @drbexl 3020/06/17
Carl Medearis
Relax, enjoy your friends. Enjoy their company along with the company of Jesus. Point him out, freely, without fear or intimidation. You’re not responsible to sell him to them. You’re simply saying what you’ve seen. You're not the judge. You’re the witness.
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 31
[If we are…] means by which God communicates and reveals himself through his Spirit, then our blog posts, status updates, tweets, artistic images, and online comments should be products of a life transformed by Christ and indwelled by his Spirit. As restored image bearers, our online presence and activity should image the Triune God.
Byers, A. Theomedia(2013, 196)
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 32
Tweet @drbexl 3320/06/17Images via https://www.facebook.com/anglicanmemes/
Tweet @drbexl 34
20/06/17https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d5/20/c2/d520c2f7dfea2afa359221fd4c59c1e8.jpg
Posts that include images produce 650 percent higher engagement than text-only posts.
Posts with videos attract 3X more links than text-only posts.
35Tweet @drbexl20/06/17Facebook/Patheos Progressive Christian
Dr Bex Lewis
@drbexl
@vahva“.. People find it easy and more comfortable to ask questions about faith in a private space online… people on social media are directly contactable in a way that has not previously been so easy; paradoxically there is a distance offered by the online environment akin to the screen in the confessional box” (p18)
20/06/17
13/05/17 Tweet @drbexl 37
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 38
What do you stand FOR?
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 39
“Technology should not dictate our values or our methods. Rather, we must use technology out of our convictions and values.”
Dyer (2011: 5)
@drbexl
20/06/17http://biblia.com/verseoftheday/image/Ga5.22-23
Tweet @drbexl 41
24/7 Values? What do you stand FOR?
• Authentic – be a consistent ‘you’
• Transparent – be honest, where’s the source?
• Self-aware – note your ‘tone of voice’
• Integrity – own your own content
• Self-control – be aware of consequences
• Patience – hold the trigger finger before send
• Non-manipulative – ‘love Jesus’ = send this! No!
• Kindness – encourage others
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 42
Methodist Church Guidelines
• The principles applied to this are:• Be credible. Be accurate, fair, thorough and transparent.• Be consistent. Encourage constructive criticism and deliberation.• Be cordial, honest and professional at all times. Be responsive.
When you gain insight, share it where appropriate.• Be integrated. Wherever possible, align online participation with
other communications.• Be a good representative of the Methodist Church. Remember that
you are an ambassador for Christ, the Church and your part of it. Disclose your position as a member or officer of the Church, making it clear when speaking personally. Let Galatians 5:22-26 guide your behaviour.
• Be respectful: respect confidentiality. Respect the views of others even where you disagree.
20/06/17http://www.methodist.org.uk/ministers-and-office-holders/technology-and-church/social-media-guidelines
Tweet @drbexl 43
Social Media or Society?
Dr Bex Lewis
@drbexl
“If we don’t like what social media is presenting us [with], we should look at society instead, not just the tool they communicate with.”
Caroline Criado-Perez, 2013
Source: http://www.interhacktives.com/2013/12/04/5th-hackney-debate-social-media-blessing-curse/
Seeing Opportunities
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 45
Pokemon?
http://drbexl.co.uk/tag/pokemon/
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 46
20/06/17http://www.urc.org.uk/media-news/2174-joining-in-with-pokemission.html
Tweet @drbexl 47
20/06/17https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/213454-faith-and-social-media
Tweet @drbexl 49
What can YOU do?• Current church use?• Define personas?• Potential church use?• Underlying values?• Potential sermon topics?
20/06/17 Tweet @drbexl 50
Saint Teresa of Avila (adapted by Meredith Gould, 2010)
20/06/17http://churchsocmed.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/christ-has-no-online-presence-but-yours.html
Tweet @drbexl 51
Christ Has No Online Presence but Yours
Christ has no online presence but yours,
No blog, no Facebook page but yours,
Yours are the tweets through which love touches this world,
Yours are the posts through which the Gospel is shared,
Yours are the updates through which hope is revealed.
Christ has no online presence but yours,
No blog, no Facebook page but yours.
