The final day of our class! It's been a whirlwind of learning and reflection...and I know I'll miss this class ending...
The last post for this particular class is regarding some of my thoughts on Click 2 Save by Elizabeth Drescher and Keith Anderson. Keith Anderson is an avid blogger (pastorkeithanderson.net) and both have very active Twitter accounts: @edrecsherphd and @prkanderson. They have written a 'Digital Ministry Bible' - a very hands-on book on how to navigate social media in ministry.
I appreciated how the book emphasized the positive ways in which social media could affect your ministry, as well as giving good (but flexible) guidelines for tricky issues (such as 'friending a parishioner', and 'how much to divulge'). I was especially struck by the way in which you can see digital ministry as 'an art' you can practice. Digital media can allow you to practice hospitality, do pastoral care, discipleship, create community, and be a public witness - all of which are required to approach as an 'art' with no set formulas to make it happen, and leave much room for flexibility and creativity to flourish.
This book made me reflect on my own online presence - which is currently not very strong. I have Facebook, Twitter and LinkdIn accounts (and others) that I maintain regularly by reading most posts, responding occasionally, and posting events. However, if I wish to really 'do ministry' online, I need to think of social media as less of a 'broadcast media' and more as a social tool to personally connect, to show care, and really be 'present' (pp. 34-40).
It's not that I didn't know about these things, per se, but this book made me realize how much more important it is for effective ministry in the future. This means that I have a lot of work to do - to shift my focus and time toward using social media so that I can be more intentional about seeing social media as an integral tool to 'do ministry'. Our world and ways of communicating and doing ministry are changing rapidly...I hope I can keep up with this new art form!
The last post for this particular class is regarding some of my thoughts on Click 2 Save by Elizabeth Drescher and Keith Anderson. Keith Anderson is an avid blogger (pastorkeithanderson.net) and both have very active Twitter accounts: @edrecsherphd and @prkanderson. They have written a 'Digital Ministry Bible' - a very hands-on book on how to navigate social media in ministry.
I appreciated how the book emphasized the positive ways in which social media could affect your ministry, as well as giving good (but flexible) guidelines for tricky issues (such as 'friending a parishioner', and 'how much to divulge'). I was especially struck by the way in which you can see digital ministry as 'an art' you can practice. Digital media can allow you to practice hospitality, do pastoral care, discipleship, create community, and be a public witness - all of which are required to approach as an 'art' with no set formulas to make it happen, and leave much room for flexibility and creativity to flourish.
This book made me reflect on my own online presence - which is currently not very strong. I have Facebook, Twitter and LinkdIn accounts (and others) that I maintain regularly by reading most posts, responding occasionally, and posting events. However, if I wish to really 'do ministry' online, I need to think of social media as less of a 'broadcast media' and more as a social tool to personally connect, to show care, and really be 'present' (pp. 34-40).
It's not that I didn't know about these things, per se, but this book made me realize how much more important it is for effective ministry in the future. This means that I have a lot of work to do - to shift my focus and time toward using social media so that I can be more intentional about seeing social media as an integral tool to 'do ministry'. Our world and ways of communicating and doing ministry are changing rapidly...I hope I can keep up with this new art form!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment