Effects of Social Media to Church
Name
EDUC 3009 - Technology and Education
2022
Effects of Social Media to Church
According to Williams TC (2008) it seems that for many Christians working in ministry, every
new social media technology is a new mode of communication to leverage, a new tool of
connectivity and networking through which relationships can be deepened and the kingdom
expanded. Many of the apologists for the church’s usage of social media suggest that the best
reason to leverage things like Facebook and Twitter for ministry is the acknowledgment that
Christianity has always been about social networking.
According to Bolu CA (2011), Jesus was the social medium God used to influence the world,”
said Ariel Vergez and Dominic DeMaria in their presentation, “Jesus in Social Media,” a seminar
presented by L.A.’s Oasis Church as part of the 2010 Social Media Week. “Jesus knew how to
attract followers… he knew that grassroots marketing was the best way to go viral,” they added.
Later they suggested that Four square’s business model is “essentially the same” as that of Jesus:
“Generate as big a user base as possible and sell national brands and local merchants on the
possibilities of marketing to people as they congregate, ready to eat, to shop or to spend.
Bolu CA (2011), further asserts that the Episcopal Church is participating in a digital media
revolution as profound as Guttenberg’s printing press—and there’s no going back. Although
there are risks to engaging in online social media, there are also opportunities for religious
leaders who have the courage of their convictions.
According to Ukah AF (2003), Churches that will flourish in the world of social media are those
that understand that these are not just new tools for dumping information or pushing agendas.
Social media demands transparency, openness, and a willingness to be part of a conversation.
“This provides the church with a unique opportunity, given that our mission is to live beyond
reproach, in the light,” says Jan Butter, the director of communications for the Anglican
Communion Office in London. Richelle Thompson, the director of communications for the
Diocese of Southern Ohio agrees. “The most successful people in social media are those that are
open and engaging,” she says. “Jesus told us to go out to all members of the earth. Reaching out
in this other, more open and transparent way is much more challenging and thought provoking.
But more and more churches are rising to the challenge.”
According to Wyche P (2010), currently, social media are luxuries of higher-income households,
and fruitful future conversations could consider this income-disparity and its implications for
holistic mission. Additionally, broader technological advances occasion new possibilities in
public health, science, and education. Finally, with the addition of this prolegomena, there are
two women writing in this issue. This gender gap prompts us to wonder what voices and
concerns the current technology discussion promotes or silences, and pushes us to ask why. As
the church continues to encounter these changes, it will have a trove of opportunities to delve
deeper into technological exploration. Certainly the church’s work goes far beyond technological
engagement. If all church knitting committees were to abandon their needles for Twitter feeds,
many babies would go without warm blankets. At the same time, if all pastors banned social
networking, some communities may fall through the cracks.
According to Fogg S (2011), for today’s generation, churches no longer play most of these
social functions. We are now a massively pluralistic society living in an increasingly globalized
world. Every major world religion is represented among United States citizens. This
transformation has massive implications for ecclesiology. Take, for example, the question of
authority. In the frontier town, the Southern city, or the New England village there was the
authority of the law and the government. Many people were not very educated, so they did not
read much, and there was no radio or TV. The pastor of the church was not only the moral and
spiritual authority—the representative of the only true religion and its obviously true scriptures—
but also probably the most educated person in town. He (almost certainly it was a he) spoke with
authority on a wide variety of issues that were important to the society of his day.
Contrast that world with today’s situation. Rarely are pastors approached as figures of authority,
except (sometimes!) within their own congregations. Radio, television, and the internet are our
primary authorities for the information we need, with newspapers, advertisements, and movies
coming in a close second.
According Williams TC (2008) Daily Inspiration & Faith is a bigger authority on matters of
Christian belief and practice than any pastor. We love self-help books, so we are more likely to
read Spirituality for Dummies than to go to a group Bible study. Forty years ago people were
influenced in their judgments about religious matters not only by their pastor but also by the
editorials in the religion section of their local newspaper. Today the blogs one chooses to follow
are far more likely to influence her beliefs.
2.2.1 Facebook and the church
According to Fogg S (2011), Church has always been about social affiliation. You met your
friends, discussed your week, talked football, shared information about good schools, talked
local politics, got the scoop, and made social plans. But Millennials are in a different social
situation. They don’t need physical locations for social affiliation… Already connected
Millennials have the luxury to kick the church to the curb. This is the position of strength that
other generations did not have. We fussed about the church but, at the end of the day, you went
to stay connected. For us, church was Facebook!
Facebook is not the only popular social media platform churches are increasingly using to
enhance their ministry efforts. A growing number of churches are incorporating Twitter into
their services—churches like New York City’s Trinity Church, which once tweeted the Passion
play in 140-character bursts on Good Friday, or Charlotte’s Next Level Church, whose pastor
Todd Hahn prefaced his Easter Sunday sermon in 2009 by saying, “I hope many of you are
tweeting this morning about your experience with God.”10 Many pastors see Twitter as a useful
tool for building community and incorporating interaction in services, as well as providing a
quick and easy mechanism for information distribution, advertising and potentially viral
marketing, Cheon YC (2011).
According to According to Ukah AF (2003), Facebook and Twitter are, above all, forums of
public communication. Whereas in former eras we might never know who all of our friends’
friends were, where our pastors were, or what conversations our cousins or sisters or bosses were
having (and with whom) in real time, all of that is now the norm on social networking sites.
Private conversations are now out in the open, displayed on “walls” and Twitter profiles for all to
see, and we actually prefer it that way. As with Facebook, the whole culture of Twitter revolves
around and is sustained by public relationships and a type of communication that is between
individuals but observable by vast numbers of people. We love Facebook because we can spy on
acquaintances and research who they communicate with regularly, and in what manner. We love
it because if we want to “be seen” talking to someone, perhaps to make a point to someone else,
it is as easy as a quick wall post.
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