Proclaiming & Living the Good News TodayPart 1: Why use Social Media ?
#LouisianaChurch
Rev. Laura Everett Massachusetts Council of Churches
@RevEverett & www.RevEverett.com
Part 1 – Monday 9/22 3:15-4:15pmLouisiana Interchurch Conference Fall Board Meeting
Sept. 22nd and 23rd, 2014 at the Lafayette Hilton
Boston.com Screen-Grab Monday April 15, 2013 10:50pm
MCC Facebook Monday April 15, 2013 4:43pm #MassChurches
Learning as sitting side by side
”29Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’ 30So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’
31He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’
And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.” ~ Acts 8: 29-32
Who are the “Digital Natives?”
Cohort Birth Years (by 2014)
Silent Generation 1925-45 (69-89)
Baby Boomers 1946-64 (50-68)
Generation X 1965-81 (33-49)
Millennials/ Digital Natives 1982-95 (19-32)
Adapted from The Social Media Gospel: Sharing the Good News in New Ways, by Meredith Gould (Liturgical Press: Collegeville MN, 2013)
What is Social Media?
“Social media are web-based tools for interaction that, in addition to conversation, allow users to share content such as photos, videos and links to resource.”
The Social Media Gospel: Sharing the Good News in New Ways, by Meredith Gould (Liturgical Press: Collegeville MN, 2013)
What was the first thing you read this morning?
Broadcast Media vs. Social Media
Broadcast Media• Static• Concrete• Authoritative• Single Direction
Examples:NewspaperNewsletter
Social Media• Evolving• Mutable• Participatory• Multi-directional
Examples:Facebook PostTwitter feed
Broadcast Media vs. Social Media
The Networked Church Acts 14: 19-28
But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, ‘It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.’ And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.
Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed. When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. And they stayed there with the disciples for some time.
Possibilities for proclaiming the Good News, together
• Social media provides common space
• No ‘Episcopal Facebook’ or ‘AME Twitter’
• Ability to ‘listen pastorally’ to others’ conversations
• Direct access to individuals and congregations
“Blacks (69%), Hispanics (66%), and whites (63%) participate at comparable levels in social media sites” ~Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible
People’s
If we choose to be absent from this space, we imply to 1,230,000,000 monthly active Facebook users:
“We don’t care about the conversations you are having here.
Your passions, questions, and everyday life is of no concern to us.”
Vemkar: A Moveable Altar
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.
Photo credit: George Martell/The Pilot Media GroupSt Teresa of Avila Prayer adaptation: Meredith Gould
Rev. Laura Everett Massachusetts Council of Churches
@RevEverett & www.RevEverett.com
Part 2 – Monday 9/22 4:30-5:30Louisiana Interchurch Conference Fall Board Meeting
Sept. 22nd and 23rd, 2014 at the Lafayette Hilton
Proclaiming & Living the Good News Today
Part 2: How to use Social Media faithfully#LouisianaChurch
Focus on the digital tools that work best for your church
• Short-form “micro-blog” in 140 characters• Allows for sharing of text, pictures & links• Optional use geo-location• #Hashtags allow for categorization• Good for real-time updates & breaking
news• Latinos and African Americans are 5x more
likely to use Twitter than white Americans• Very Public Conversation
New Tech Is… Digital Tools are…
• Difficult• Unreliable• Foreign• Scary
• Productivity enhancers• Communication
enhancers• Something to
learn and useSlide courtesy of Beth Lewis, President & CEOAugsburg FortressCopyright 2014 All Rights Reserved
- Use for individuals, products , causes or organizations
- Allows for sharing of “Status Updates,” links, event invites, and photos
- Allows for “Friends” and “Fans”- “Tagging” identifies others in a photo or post- Interfaces with games and applications- Churches can have “Groups” or “Pages”
(recommended)- Increasingly used as a search engine
• What do we want to happen as a result of using these tools?• Who do we most want to reach?• How will we know when we’ve
succeeded?
“We need to use social media because everyone else uses it” is not a strategy.
The Social Media Gospel: Sharing the Good News in New Ways, by Meredith Gould (Liturgical Press: Collegeville MN, 2013)
MCC Social Media Goals:• Cultivate broad ecumenical relationships across
state• Be the go-to source for local news on church
issues• Create opportunity for dialogue about church
in MA• Joyful, hopeful expression of the unified Church• Trendspotting• Strengthen in-person and donor relationships
Lessons from running the Massachusetts Council of Churches Facebook Page
• Clearly define your unique charism/filter:
• Christian Unity• Congregational Vitality• MA Church trends
Lessons from running the Massachusetts Council of Churches Facebook Page
• ADD value Don’t just pass through other people’s content without adding your own contribution. Why does this matter to your followers?
Regularly review who is following you to remind yourself who is your audience
Lessons from running the Massachusetts Council of Churches Facebook Page
• Connect people and organizations
Always tag and always praise
Lessons from running the Massachusetts Council of Churches Facebook Page
• Mix in original content people like to share photos!
Lessons from running the Massachusetts Council of Churches Facebook Page
• Invite people to prayer as appropriate, name people, institutions, events to lift up in prayer
Facebook feed as the prayers of the People
Lessons from running the Massachusetts Council of Churches Facebook Page
• LIKE Generously Spend twice as much time in your Facebook feed as you do on your own posts
“Like” is a way of saying “I see you,” “Bless you,” “You are not alone.”
Lessons from running the Massachusetts Council of Churches Facebook Page
• Mix the Ancient and the Modern
Share parts of your history that connect to the present
Examples: New England Yearly Meeting & Old South Church
Lessons from running the Massachusetts Council of Churches Facebook Page
• Show life and humor like liturgy, offer joy and awe without overbearing gravitas
• Identify the author ~ Rev. Laura helps fans know to whom they are responding when we ask a question
Lessons from running the Massachusetts Council of Churches Facebook Page
• Share (real time) Photos
images of the beautiful, holy, curious and scenes of church life
• Then Tag people!Best way we’ve seen to up the # of people who see and share
• Respond! if someone takes the time to comment, grant them the courtesy of a response
Lessons from running the Massachusetts Council of Churches Facebook Page
Creating your Social Media plan for your Facebook Page
Schedule of Social Media Ministry:
• Who will post?/ Who are the administrators? • How often?• Covenant to “like” & “share”• Coordinate with new website posts?• Time with Constant Contact?
Continuing (digital) formation
• Watch, follow, ‘friend,’ the people practicing excellence in Digital Ministry
• Borrow and praise• Experiment!• Fail! Mess Up! Ask Forgiveness!• Regular review of what’s working/fun • Read (see resource guide)• Listen #chsocm Twitter chat Tues 9pm. • Listen
#ClimateRevival 11,633 accounts reached with this hashtag
Lessons learned in Public Religious Leadership & Social Media
MBTA Says Carolers That Were Kicked Out of Station For Lack of Permit Can Come Back & Spread JoyPublished: December 17th 2012, 9:28pm +1 StreetCred
The MBTA's new general manager, Beverly Scott, is full of holiday cheer.
After a group of more than a dozen Christmas carolers were booted from the Forest Hills T station platform by Transit Police on Monday night, because they didn't have the proper permitting, Scott vowed to find a safe place for the group to perform to bring joyful tunes to T travelers.
According to a Tweet from Rev. Laura Everett, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, the choir set out to surprise riders at the bustling transit stop with some catchy tunes for the Christmas season.But after a brief time bringing in the holiday cheer, they were asked by Transit Police to move along.
Everett said she understood there are rules, and the cops seemed "none too happy about enforcing them," but she was surprised they did."This is the scandalous church lady life I live. Christmas caroling without a permit," she wrote.
When BostInno reached out to MBTA Spokesman Joe Pesaturo to ask about the alleged Transit Police Scrooges shooing the singers from their impromptu stage, he said they did not have the proper permits and were not in accordance with the "Subway Performers Program's rules."
Public Religious Leadership in Social Media
• Be a human, not a clergybot• No pontificating (unless you are @Pontifex) • No (emotional) fishing• Ask more questions• Your title will not save you• No outsourcing• Invite people to prayer/take requests• Authenticity & interactivity give you cred• Show Christ’s love for ALL the people• If there are only Church people on your FB or Twitter
feed, you’re doing it wrong.
• Short-form “micro-blog” in 140 characters• Allows for sharing of text, pictures & links• Optional use geo-location• #Hashtags allow for categorization• Good for real-time updates & breaking
news• Latinos and African Americans are 5x more
likely to use Twitter than white Americans• Very Public Conversation
FourSquare
• Geo-locating application• Interfaces with Facebook, Twitter and Google+• Allows you to “Check-in” at locations• Rewards usage with “Mayors” and Badges• Allows friends to see where you are• Works best with a Smart Phone• Competitor to Facebook’s own Check-in• Allows strangers to see reviews, photos, tips &
deals
WORDPRESS• Most popular Blogging platform and Content Management
System (CMS) • Allows for long-form writing• Free for www.RevEverett.wordpress.com or approx. $25
annually for www.RevEverett.com • Competitor with Blogger, Moveable Type, Posterous,
Tumblr, Type Pad, Google Sites• Free & for purchase templates allow for easy set up and
customization, but prohibit free form design• ‘Plug-ins’ allow for integration with other Social Media
platforms• Useful for building general websites w/o professional help• Broadcast in posting, Social Media in comments
TUMBLR
• Short-form writing, media & photo-sharing platform with scrolling content
• As of July 18, 2012, Tumblr has over 64.7 million blogs
• Newly capable of sharing music via Spotify• Allows for internal commenting, reposting, and
sharing from Tumbr to Tumblr• Users follow other Tumbr blogs• Integrates with other social media platforms• Great for project-specific blogs
PINERTREST
• Highly visual social media platform• Users share pictures and “Pin” to idea or
theme boards• Lots of design, craft, home & food content• High click-thru rate to purchasing sites• Predominately female users• Powerful for sharing evocative imagery• Potential for collaborative design for Church
• Photo-sharing mobile Ap• Photo filters & photo-editing tools allow for emotive
images• Smart phone ap, now with a website • Users tag, like, and comment on photos• Photos can be geo-located and categorized with
#hashtags• Interfaces with other social media, ex: Facebook,
Twitter, Tumbr.• Powerful tool for sharing beautiful, holy images
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