Category: Pastoring in the Digital Parish

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Social Listening is one way that we can put our fingers on the pulse of what issues and ideas we can engage with our valuable spiritual perspectives.

Nelson Musonda felt this kind of empty space between the words of the church and the needs of the people. With a background in user experience and digital marketing, he developed Delmethod.com–a really helpful resource for thinking about evangelism and outreach through digital means.

Nelson is our adjunct professor for this session of Pastoring in the Digital Parish–your resource and connection for ministry in the digital realm.

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John Wimberly reminds us: work is changing. Church is changing. And it’s changing largely because our culture is shifting towards a digital mindset. 

So what do these cultural shifts in work mean for our work in the church? And how do we align our workflow and staffing decisions to reflect the importance of ministry in the digital realm?

John Wimberly is going to help us answer some of those questions in this session of Pastoring in the Digital Parish.

John served congregations for 38 years. John’s quest for continuing personal, spiritual and professional growth led him to complete a PhD in systematic theology and an Executive MBA program. The latter program generated a sense of call to highlight the need for good business practices in the business side of a congregation’s life. He wrote and leads seminars on his highly praised book, The Business of the Church: The Uncomfortable Truth that Faithful Ministry Requires Effective Management. He has also penned “Managing Congregations in a Virtual Age.”

02:55 What’s driving the demand for church staff consulting services?

04:02 How are churches staffing differently?

05:54 Losing the war for Sunday mornings

07:13 From staffing to content

09:00 How do we measure staff effectiveness?

11:07 What’s surprising churches today?

19:27 How does a hybrid model affect work?

24:15 How do we fight Zoom fatigue and get people participating?

27:49 What training should we look for?

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Ryan Panzer has formerly worked at innovative companies like Google and Zendesk, while also staying heavily involved in the church and faith development. He has brought these two spheres together as he pursues a call to build a bridge between tech and church, exploring what it means to do effective ministry in digital culture. ​

In this session, we’re going to explore the digital reformation that is overtaking our culture and, uh, infiltrating our churches. Ryan shares how the church can bridge the analog and the digital. As well as offers some speculation on the church of the future.

Ryan Panzer is also the author of “Grace and Gigabytes” and the upcoming “The Holy and the Hybrid”.

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Technology is scary–even for those of us knee-deep in digital ministry.

Shamika Klassen kept running up against tech anxieties and fears, too. And she saw them as opportunities to offer grace and spiritual nourishment. So she created the Tech Chaplaincy Institute.

Shamika is our adjunct professor on this session of Pastoring in the Digital Parish, and she’s going to share her story of becoming a Tech Chaplain while helping us see the ways in which we, too, can utilize conversations around technology to offer grace and raise people up in dignity.

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In a culture that is obsessed with innovation and individuality, what is the place of the Church and the spiritual? That’s what we’re getting into with Andrew Root in this culturally-context-obsessed session of Pastoring in the Digital Parish.

“The church must change or die…” These dire words get repeated about 100 times a day across the Twitterverse. We do need some creative ideas (like more digital ministries!), but  Andrew Root cautions that innovation is not explicitly our mission. Instead, we’ll seek to creatively draw people towards the ongoing mission of spiritual formation.

 Dr. Andrew Root’s most recent books are Churches and the Crisis of Decline, The Congregation in a Secular Age and the upcoming The Church after Innovation–which provided the platform for our conversation. Andy is the Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary, USA. He writes and researches in areas of theology, ministry, culture and younger generations.

 

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New sessions are starting on September 6!

We’ll continue to share stories of digital ministry while we explore our changing cultural contexts and how the digital impacts the analog experience (and vice versa).

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Rev. Abigail Browka, founder of the Everyday Sanctuary app, provides the story of starting an app-based ministry centered on contemplative practices. She provided the unique challenges and benefits of starting a faith community in a digital space as well as some insights on thinking innovatively in ministry.

Check out the Everyday Sanctuary community: https://everydaysanctuary.com/

This episode was part of a livestreamed podcast-a-thon from United Methodist Communications.

You can learn more about Pastoring in the Digital Parish at www.resourceumc.org/digital-parish

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Our television viewing habits have changed a lot over the past few decades, and so have our needs and models for ministry. This session of Pastoring in the Digital Parish shares some A-ha moments from this past season and begins to cast a picture of the future of ministry in the digital parish.

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Rev Nicole Reilley shares her experience in being a lead pastor and leader in the church’s digital ministry.

In many larger churches, online ministry is a delegated responsibility. So church leadership chooses and individual or team of individuals to lead an online ministry while senior leadership primarily focuses in different areas.

Not all of us have such an opportunity, though, do we? It may be the case that we don’t have someone to which we can delegate. OR, it might be that we are both the senior leader AND the person who is carrying the passion to see the church extend its ministry into a digital space. 

Rev. Nicole Reilley is going to provide us with ideas and stories from her own experience in being a senior pastor at a traditionally-based church and the chief cheerleader or ringleader for pastoring a digital parish.

Rev. Nicole Reilley has 30 years experience in full-time ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church (UMC). In 2012 she planted a series of house churches training laity and clergy. Nicole brings with her a passion for new ways of doing and being church to her work as a clergy coach, specializing in social media and clergy wellness. She’s been coaching since 2015 and recently wrote “Expanding the Expedition through Digital Ministry”.

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How have the emergence of digital-first culture and the cultural developments related to COVID-19 affected youth ministry? Are there ways we can utilize digital environments to safely and responsibly connect with young people? Chris Wilterdink joins Pastoring in the Digital Parish to share some ideas about youth ministry in digital space.

Chris Wilterdink is Director of Young People’s Ministries Development at UMC Discipleship Ministries. He has over 15 years of local-church youth ministry experience. Chris and Jeremy Steele co-host the Youth Worker Collective podcast.