Was 2020 totally a bust?
We don’t think so.
In fact, it was reflecting on this in one of our recent Vlogmas videos that inspired us to reach out to a few folks who we believe made a positive impact in 2020.
The question?
What impact(s) are you celebrating from your personal or community social media influence in 2020?
Our hope was to be able to share with you ways church leaders made an impact through multiple social media platforms.
The below church leaders were impactful on:
- Instagram Stories
- Facebook Groups
- YouTube
- And more!
We hope their celebrations inspire you to seek out your own.
Most of us can agree that 2020 was pretty awful. Much of that was out of our control.
Whether or not we neglect to see the bright spots though?
That’s all on us.
Below are the answers some of the awesome folks we asked shared. For more about why we love each of them, check out the video version of this post here.
Rev. Jim Keat – Digital Minister of The Riverside Church NYC
Website: https://www.trcnyc.org/
Twitter: @RiversideNYC
YouTube: The Riverside Church
2020 has been a year where our entire community realized that the internet is an incredibly real way for our congregation and our wider (and the world at large) to connect and engage around our weekly worship service and social justice work. With our worship services being 100% online it has become more and more natural to see engagement emerging beyond our Sunday morning YouTube premiere and Virtual Coffee Hour on Zoom. On twitter we regularly post quotes from faith or justice leaders as well as questions for people to engage, some as simple as “How can we pray with you today?” We’ve seen these simple approaches to use social media as an engagement platform (rather than a broadcast platform) to lead to great conversations with congregants and people all over the world. We’re also celebrating this tweet from the Vice Presidential debate in October, because why not?!
Kendall Berry – Director of Communications at Linglestown Life
Website: https://linglestownlife.org/
Instagram: @linglestownlife
We are celebrating that through instagram stories we were able to give a behind the scenes look at our Sunday service and other ministries. This year we have been transitioning our social media to go beyond promotional posts and focus on engaging our community and providing helpful and inspirational content.
Rev. Lawrence T. Richardson – Lead Pastor, Linden Hills United Church of Christ
Websites:www.Ltrichardson.com & www.LHUCC.org
Instagrams: @Larry2_0 @LindenHillsUcc
2020 has certainly been a year! Our society and individual communities were challenged to be creative with our use of social and digital media as an alternative to physical gatherings in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. As a pastor, I found it especially meaningful to use social and digital media platforms to nurture the relationships and faith formation within my congregation. We have babies all the way to folks in their 90s, and even before this year we used social and digital media to stay connected. Now that the bulk of our ministry, events, and programs are online, it’s rewarding to engage people on these platforms and still feel a sense of community and spiritual connectedness. It is my firm belief that social and digital media are vital tools for ministry today.
Joy Vetterlein – #christianmisfit, Pastor, Writer,
Unconventional spirituality for people who love Jesus but don’t fit in at church
Website: joyvetterlein.com
My ministry is to people on the outskirts of Christianity, who love Jesus but have struggled to connect with institutional church. They’re easier to find online anyway (this is where they can be honest and not have all their socially acceptable masks on), and 2020 proved just how meaningful online community can be for those of us who struggle to connect in person even when it’s not a pandemic. As I’ve continued to find my people by naming their felt needs and offering paths forward to healing, I’ve been overwhelmed by the depth of one-on-one connections I’ve been able to make with the people I serve.
2020 has helped me shift my focus from seeing social media as a way to increase in numbers and followers to seeing it as a way to grow deeper in relationship and discipleship with the people I serve, which in turn helps me hone my understanding
Tracy Ensley – Admin of Christian YouTubers
Facebook Group: Christian YouTubers
YouTube: Joe Ensley
“I have been an active admin for a group of Christian Youtubers over the last… just about a year almost and it has made a huge impact. I think that it has really been a ministry of encouragement and I have enjoyed encouraging other Christian YouTubers and I think… we should let them speak for themselves:”
Some comments from those in Christian YouTubers Facebook group:
We hope these comments sparked some new ideas for ways you can be church online.
And if not, may this at least serve as a reminder that good things truly did happen in 2020, despite it all. We’d even bet that if you take a closer look into your own ministry, you’ll find them there too.
Thanks be to God.
Here’s to a whole new year.
