#MediaLit15 (https://www.dur.ac.uk/codec/about/events/medialit/), a session designed to give those in/about to go into ministry some thinking points and practical tips on the digital in ministry.

1. #DigiRev: Media for Ministry
Dr Bex Lewis, Research Fellow in Social Media
& Online Learning, CODEC, Durham University
Director, Digital Fingerprint
@drbexl
@digitalfprint
@bigbible
@digidisciple
#MediaLit15
Image Credit: Stockfresh
http://www.slideshare.net/drbexl/digirev-for-medialit15

2. Session Overview
 Minus the Twitterfall…
 Digitally Present
 Preaching in a Digital Age
 Toolbox Thoughts: Twitter, Facebook,
Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube
 Youth
 Evangelism
 Ethics, Morals & Values

3. Twitterfall: Aid or
Distraction?
 “Recent delegates indicated that practical
participation had opened their minds to what
was possible, watching as external Tweeters took
the thread of conversation elsewhere. With some
in two minds as to distraction versus contribution,
there was a clear feeling that the use of Twitter in
session quickly led to confidence in using the
tool, which subsequently improved the quality of
contributions, as users got used to new ways of
engaging multi-modally.”
 Lewis, B. ‘MediaLit: Engaging Faith and Media in
a Digital Age’, European Conference on Social
Media Proceedings, July 2015

4. "If you want to build a presence in the social media
platform, then you need to be present."
- @unmarketing

6. The Church Front Door?
For many churchgoing is no
longer the ‘cultural norm’. People
don’t actively ignore the church:
they don’t even think about it. …
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.
http://www.churchgrowthrd.org.uk/blog/churchgrowth/growing_churches_in_the_digital_age Image Credit: freeimages.com

8. We are not selling something to the
world that will make more people
like us, believe in our story, join our
churches. We are trying to be
something in the world that invites
connection and compassion,
encourages comfort and healing for
those in need, and challenges those
in power to use that power in the
service of justice and love
(Drescher, 2011, 127)

9. Source: Netcasters?

10. Networks of Networks

11. REAL/VIRTUAL
Image Credit: Stockfresh

12. The digital environment is not a parallel or
purely virtual world, but is part of the daily
experience of many people, especially the
young. Social networks are the result of
human interaction, but for their part they
also reshape the dynamics of
communication, which builds relationships: a
considered understanding of this
environment is therefore a prerequisite for a
significant presence there.
Pope Benedict XVI (2013)
@drbexl

13. @MurielSowden
If you have faith, then you
live that faith 24/7. Not
something that can be
switched off in differing
contexts.

14. INTERACTIVE
Image Credit: Stockfresh

15. Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
Social Media: More than
the cherry on the cake!

16. Preaching in a
Digital Age

17. John Wesley
“I look
upon
the
world
as my
parish.”
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jwesleysitting.JPG

18. Is Using an iPad in
preaching unholy?
…If I am a true priest, I can be so with a
telephone in my hand, with a Bible in the
other and I can be so with a newspaper
under my arm, because it isn’t these
instruments that speak alone, but our faith
which is made of flesh and which speaks to
the flesh; that is why my flesh will be the
true synthesis.
http://www.hprweb.com/2012/07/enter-the-digital-continent-of-preaching/
Fred Gaglia

19. Preaching/Blogging
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.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j-Iy8fP0Ek
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/08/22/car-salesmen-preachers-and-the-art-of-persuasion/
@problogger

20. Connecting via The
Feedback Loop
By posting my sermons online, I can get much more
feedback than I can after church on a Sunday
morning. People can leave comments on the sermon
blog itself (though, like most blogs, this is rare). I get
statistics about how many people read each post, so I
can tell what resonates. I also share my sermon on
both my Facebook profile and the church page. This is
where I get most of my feedback. The likes,
comments, and messages (or lack thereof) give me an
indication about how I’ve connected, or not.
http://pastorkeithanderson.net/item/six-ways-social-media-can-make-you-a-better-preacher
@prkanderson

21. Expect Challenge
The conspicuous and central Protestant
sermon is one of these. It made sense in a
education- and resource-poor (and frankly,
entertainment-poor) age, but if I held forth
for twenty minutes or more every Sunday, I
expect to be regularly challenged (perhaps
mentally, and in an unspoken way) by
people who would Google for facts during
my oratory.
http://boyinthebands.com/archives/new-church-small-sermon-long-sermon/
Scott Wells

22. It’s not just entertainment!
 It's a sermon, not a lecture. Cardinal Mahoney of Los
Angeles was praised for leaving the pulpit to "walk about
in front of the altar as he spoke, looking in all directions so
as to include everyone".
 That was fine, but too much departure from traditional
delivery into flat-out entertainment plays badly. One
pastor "came over more like a stand-up act than a
preacher", said an unhappy Mystery Worshipper. "Not that
I didn't appreciate his message, but in terms of content it
was light as air, like the froth on a cappuccino.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/dec/08/preaching-taking-pulse
@simonjenks

23. TALK LENGTH…
We also saw that, contrary to popular wisdom about
what goes viral, neither “difficult” subjects nor fact-
filled presentations scare people off. Nearly 20% of
the people who watched a deep dive into American
health care policy thought it was worth passing along
to their friends. A powerful historical video of a
teacher giving her young students a firsthand lesson
in bigotry was viewed more than 3 million times. And
four of the posts in the top 100 were about the
important (but thoroughly unsexy) topic of income
inequality.
http://blog.upworthy.com/post/72763554347/the-most-upworthy-topics-of-2013

24. "The digital age isn’t killing off preaching, but
what the survey suggests is that too much
preaching is doing too little to motivate people to
look at the world differently and therefore live in
it differently," said Paul Johns, a director at the
College of Preachers. "If that’s so, we have to
question what we preachers are actually saying
about the Bible and about contemporary issues,
and how well we’re engaging with our
congregations.” (2009)
http://ministrytodaymag.com/index.php/ministry-tools/main/18801-are-my-sermons-making-a-difference

25. Digital Preparation Tools:
 You Version (First pass reading)
 Evernote (Note-taking)
 iPhone (Note-taking whilst out and about)
 Things (To-do lists, including ‘future sermons’)
 Google Drive (Sermon ideas, shared with team)
 Bible Gateway (Bible Translations)
 Monergism (Directory of Theology)
http://www.benreed.net/index.php/2012/09/05/digital-sermon-prep/ @benreed

26. Resource Collection:
http://bundlr.com/b/preaching-in-a-digital-age

27. Thoughts on
preaching/publi
c speaking in a
digital age?

28. Toolbox

29. Twitter in Ministry
If you don’t know how to use Twitter, check
https://support.twitter.com/articles/215585

30. Twitter Spokesperson:
“Twitter brings you
closer to the things you
are passionate about -
and for millions of
people across the globe
that is faith.”
http://news.sky.com/story/1022800/senior-bishops-to-tweet-
christmas-sermons

31. Sermon Soundbites

32. http://bigbible.org.uk/2013/03/looking-for-an-opportunity-changingworship/
http://anglicanmemes.com/
2013/03/25/the-church-of-
england-goes-to-hollywood-
the-best-of-
churchofenglandfilms/

33. https://twitter.com/biblesummary
https://twitter.com/biblesummary

34. https://twitter.com/Natwivityhttps://twitter.com/Natwivity

35. Facebook in
Ministry
If you don’t know how to use Facebook, check
https://www.facebook.com/help/345121355559712/

36. Personal Profile

37. Sharing Settings

38. Pages

39. https://www.facebook.com/DigitalBibl
e/info
Page Rules

40. Reach?

41. Groups

42. Events

43. Pinterest in
Ministry
If you don’t know how to use Pinterest, check
http://help.pinterest.com/en/articles

44. https://www.pinterest.com/revmaryhawes/

45. Instagram in
Ministry
If you don’t know how to use Pinterest, check
https://help.instagram.com/

46. https://instagram.com/crosswaychurch/

47. http://www.stevefogg.com/2013/11/28/instagram-video-church/

48. YouTube in
Ministry
If you don’t know how to use YouTube, check
https://support.google.com/youtube/?hl=en-
GB#topic=4489102

49. Simple ideas for Video:
Think of the STORIES you have
to tell, and how you might tell
them –
 Events: Before/After
 Sermons: Quick
Overviews/Responses
 People & Their Lives
 What can you “How To”?
 Training videos

50. Create Playlists

51. http://youtu.be/FpmM02IE6oI
Multiple Voices

52. http://www.youtube.com/user/lansdownebaptist/featured
Livestream

53. Considerations
for Youth

54. Remember
1. Get consent/permissions
2. Use unambiguous language
3. Agree social media
‘guidelines’ with the youth
4. Have clear accountability to
your line manager
5. Define curfews
Ref: Paul Windo, Urban Saints

55. Evangelism in a
Digital Age
Image Credit: The Worship Cloud

56. What does this mean for us?
A Disciple is one who, by following
Jesus, grows in their faith in Christ
and in so doing models and
teaches Christians the precepts of
the Bible, prayer, doctrine,
relationship, Christian living,
service, and worship, to name the
main ones.
 http://www.discipleshiptools.org/pages.asp?pageid=65405
@bigbible
#digidisciple

57. 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.

58. How do you feel about these?

59. Cris Rogers
We need to
spend time
in his
presence
and then we
will have
something to
say.

60. Ethics, Morals &
Values
Image Credit: The Worship Cloud

61. Image Sources, e.g.
FREE
http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons
http://www.sxc.hu
http://rgbstock.com
http://www.freebibleimages.org
PAID
http://theworshipcloud.com (Christian)
http://stockfresh.com/
http://iStockPhoto.com
 See: http://bigbible.org.uk/about/policies/image-policy/ for more
Image Credit: Stockfresh

62. Human Beings
at machines,
not “are
machines”
Image Source: Stockfres

63. Who might read it?
God
Parents
‘The kids’
The newspaper
Your worst enemy
Image Credit: Stockfresh

64. H.A.L.T.
If you are Hungry,
Angry, Lonely or Tired,
step away from the
keyboard/keypad and
deal with that issue
first.
http://redcatco.com/communication/stop-posting-social-media/
@BenjaminEllis

65. What does it
mean to share
with grace, care
and love?

66. http://bigbible.org.uk/2012/10/evangelism-through-story/
Image Credit: Andrew Flynn

67. @drbexl @digitalfprint
http://www.slideshare.net/drbexl/
Image Credit: iStockPhoto