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Download Brochure and registration PDF.
Friends, Followers, and Faith: Relational Communication in the Digital Reformation
with Elizabeth Drescher, PhD
Author of Tweet If You Heart Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation
Episcopal Diocese of Missouri Communications Conference
Emmanuel Episcopal Church Webster Groves, Missouri
October 1, 2011 | 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM
Workshop participants limited to 50. Workshop fee $50.
Have you Googled yourself or your church lately? Today, before almost anyone steps across the threshold of a church, they have researched online, visiting websites, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and YouTube channels. Because of this, churches large and small, dioceses, and other religious organizations have begun to develop at least some sort of social media presence. But it’s not always clear how best to participate in digital social networking communities in ways that clearly enrich the spiritual lives of believers and seekers, and extend the Good News to wider circles within and beyond local church communities. And, for mainline churches that have had limited success with broadcast media ministries, developing a voice in the digital domain that is at once authentic and engaging can be a challenge—especially in 140 characters.
This is, nonetheless, the core challenge facing religious communicators of all stripes in the Digital Age. In this workshop, we will explore the major social media platforms in light of the uniqueness of mainline Christian identity and practice and with attentiveness to the populations we are likely to find on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Drawing on research from her recent book Tweet If You Heart Jesus and new research from her forthcoming book with ELCA Pastor Keith Anderson, Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible, Dr. Elizabeth Drescher will help participants to develop a draft social media communications strategy which they can continue to refine in ongoing social media conversations.
Elizabeth Drescher is a regular contributor to Religion Dispatches on new media, culture, and religion, and her work has been highlighted by Atlantic Monthly, the BBC, the Guardian, NPR and the Utne Reader. She holds a PhD in Christian Spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union and an MA in Systematic Theology from Duquesne University, and teaches in the undergraduate program in Religious Studies and the graduate program in Pastoral Ministry at Santa Clara University.
Designed for both lay and clergy, the communications conference offers intensive learning and networking, and is limited to 50 participants. If they have not already done so, participants are encouraged to create a Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn profile before the workshop.
“Maybe all of this technology and the change it is creating seems overwhelming,” Elizabeth Drescher writes, “but at the end of the day, we’re people of the Resurrection…Our traditional belief in transformation…both calls us to and prepares us for life in this period of profound renewal in the church.”
Download Brochure and registration PDF.
Workshop Agenda
- Registration
- The Ministry of Communications
- Introduction: The Reformation Will Not BeTelevised- Exploring the shift from mass communication to relational communication.
- Open the Door and See All the People: Who’s where on social network sites and how do they engage your church or religious organization?
- Lunch
- I Love to Tell the Story: What combination of social media platforms will enable your church or organization to best tell your story to current and prospective members as well as to the wider community, church, and world?
- Altar Call! Exploring the art of missional, relational communication practice in the Digital Reformation.
- The Faithful Community of Practice: Conference wrap-up
- Book signing with Elizabeth Drescher
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