How We Do Digital Ministry

Episode 33 of How We Do Digital Ministry features Bishop Megan Rohrer, Bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod (ELCA). The first openly transgender Bishop in a major Christian denomination, Megan is an award winning filmmaker, musician and historian as well. Bishop Megan and Christopher Harris discuss ways to make digital ministry approachable and accessible to all.

"The more you're able to have a public presence, the more you're able to shine a light on the many different ways that it's possible to be faithful. And that, in and of itself, sort of changes the world." - Bishop Megan Rohrer

Listen to the full episode as Bishop Megan talks about these topics:

(4:33) Choose your Background

You can connect with and find all the social accounts for Bishop Megan at https://www.revrohrer.com/

How We Do Digital Ministry is brought to you by Faith Growth, a small business dedicated to helping churches do digital ministry through coaching, consulting and website development. When you’re ready, sign up for a free consult at www.faithgrowth.com/call

For now, join pastors and church communications from around the world in our How We Do Digital Ministry Facebook group.  Thanks to Presbyterian Media Mission for spreading the word about How We Do Digital Ministry.

Episode 32 of How We Do Digital Ministry features Pastor Jennifer Shaw of St. John's Lutheran Church in Palm Desert, California. This episode is a Faith Growth client success story - Pastor Jen talks with Christopher Harris about how St. John's has further developed its digital ministries and how it has benefited from Faith Growth's guidance.

"Remember the mission and then when you're launching something new, keep in mind how this serves. And I do believe online is a mission field. A lot of people are on Facebook and YouTube and Instagram and Tik Tok and all those other places. So, if that's a mission field, how do we fulfill our mission?" - Pastor Jennifer Shaw

Listen to the full episode as Pastor Jen talks about these topics:

(3:50) Snowbirds

You can connect with Pastor Jen at https://stjohnslutheran.church; https://www.facebook.com/St.JohnsLutheranChurchPD and https://www.instagram.com/stjohnspalmdesert

How We Do Digital Ministry is brought to you by Faith Growth, a small business dedicated to helping churches do digital ministry through coaching, consulting and website development. When you’re ready, sign up for a free consult at www.faithgrowth.com/call

For now, join pastors and church communications from around the world in our How We Do Digital Ministry Facebook group.  Thanks to Presbyterian Media Mission for spreading the word about How We Do Digital Ministry.

Episode 31 of How We Do Digital Ministry features Pastor Charlotte Elia, Commissioned Pastor of Holmes Presbyterian Church in Cheriton, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Pastor Charlotte and Christopher Harris talk about digital ministry within a small, rural church and all of the challenges and yes, even some advantages that entails.

"We're comparing ourselves to churches with multiple staff and multi-million dollar budgets ... what's authentic for our context? That's not our context, and that's not who we are, either. So what is it, how do we define that?" - Pastor Charlotte Elia

Listen to the full episode as Pastor Charlotte talks about these topics:

(1:20) Rural challenges

You can connect with Pastor Charlotte at @charlotteelia on Twitter or on her church website at https://holmespresby.org/

How We Do Digital Ministry is brought to you by Faith Growth, a small business dedicated to helping churches do digital ministry through coaching, consulting and website development. When you’re ready, sign up for a free consult at www.faithgrowth.com/call

For now, join pastors and church communications from around the world in our How We Do Digital Ministry Facebook group.  Thanks to Presbyterian Media Mission for spreading the word about How We Do Digital Ministry.

Episode 30 of How We Do Digital Ministry features Rev. Jim Keat, Digital Minister at The Riverside Church in New York City and the Director of Online Innovation at the Convergence Network. He is also a Digital Consultant to various progressive faith agencies and organizations. Rev. Jim and Christopher Harris talk about what it means to be a digital minister at a large church, as well as how those practices can be applied to churches of any size.

"Digital ministry is not a vertical silo in the church. It's a horizontal slab that covers every single thing. What is the digital ministry of worship, of stewardship, of education, of pastoral care, of social justice? It can't stand separate from those, but it has to be embedded in all of those." - Rev. Jim Keat

Listen to the full episode as Rev. Jim talks about these topics:

(6:27) Real Connection

You can connect with Rev. Jim at www.jimkeat.com

Other links mentioned in this episode:

How We Do Digital Ministry is brought to you by Faith Growth, a small business dedicated to helping churches do digital ministry through coaching, consulting and website development. When you’re ready, sign up for a free consult at www.faithgrowth.com/call

For now, join pastors and church communications from around the world in our How We Do Digital Ministry Facebook group.  Thanks to Presbyterian Media Mission for spreading the word about How We Do Digital Ministry.

Episode 29 of How We Do Digital Ministry features Rev. Kyle Oliver, an Episcopal priest and an EdD student in the Communications, Media, and Learning Technologies Design Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Rev. Kyle and Christopher Harris talk about apps, leadership in digital communities, failures and much more in this episode.

"The convening of faith formation really needs to be rallied around passion and energy. How are we taking the pulse of the people we serve and helping to identify what are people genuinely excited about, passionate about, fed by -  right now?" - Rev. Kyle Oliver

Listen to the full episode as Rev. Kyle talks about these topics:

(1:57) Thoughtful apps

You can connect with Rev. Kyle on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kmoliver

Other links mentioned in this episode:

How We Do Digital Ministry is brought to you by Faith Growth, a small business dedicated to helping churches do digital ministry through coaching, consulting and website development. When you’re ready, sign up for a free consult at www.faithgrowth.com/call

For now, join pastors and church communications from around the world in our How We Do Digital Ministry Facebook group.  Thanks to Presbyterian Media Mission for spreading the word about How We Do Digital Ministry.

Episode 28 of How We Do Digital Ministry features Rev. Daniel Brereton, priest of St. John the Baptist Anglican Church (“St. John’s Dixie”) in Mississauga, Ontario. Rev. Daniel and Christopher Harris discuss Twitter ministry, setting boundaries and what the future of the church may look like.

"Digital ministry provides opportunities that you would never know are out there. There are people out there looking for you --  looking for exactly what you and your community offer  -- and digital ministry just allows you to put it out there for people to find you." - Rev. Daniel Brereton

Listen to the full episode as Rev. Daniel talks about these topics:

(2:02) Twitter ministry

You can connect with Rev. Daniel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RevDaniel

And his congregation’s YouTube account: https://t.co/vIzbQd5ixI?amp=1

How We Do Digital Ministry is brought to you by Faith Growth, a small business dedicated to helping churches do digital ministry through coaching, consulting and website development. When you’re ready, sign up for a free consult at www.faithgrowth.com/call

For now, join pastors and church communications from around the world in our How We Do Digital Ministry Facebook group.  Thanks to Presbyterian Media Mission for spreading the word about How We Do Digital Ministry.

Episode 27 of How We Do Digital Ministry features Shamika Klassen, founder and head tech chaplain at the Tech Chaplaincy Institute, which serves mission-driven and social justice oriented organizations and leaders by sharing the fruits of the spirit to bring joy, peace, and hope with their technological experiences.

"We have had centuries worth of time to cultivate the practices, traditions, and ways of liturgy that we have used up until today. And we've only had a couple of decades, maybe, to incorporate technology into our liturgy." - Shamika Klassen

Listen to the full episode as Shamika talks about these topics:

(2:43) God in breakout rooms

You can connect with Shamika via her website and social media, all found at https://linktr.ee/techchaplain.

How We Do Digital Ministry is brought to you by Faith Growth, a small business dedicated to helping churches do digital ministry through coaching, consulting and website development. When you’re ready, sign up for a free consult at www.faithgrowth.com/call

For now, join pastors and church communications from around the world in our How We Do Digital Ministry Facebook group.  Thanks to Presbyterian Media Mission for spreading the word about How We Do Digital Ministry.

Episode 26 of How We Do Digital Ministry features Pastor Danielle Miller, senior pastor at Advent Lutheran Church in New York City, and director of Pinecrest Lutheran Leadership Ministries. Pastor Danielle talks with Christopher Harris about who digital ministry is for, why it is real and necessary, and the end of Christendom.

"We're called to be fundamentally who God has called us to be. We're not called to be social clubs. We're not called to be convenient, or nice, or comfortable for folks.

We're called to be people rooted and grounded in the gospel, which means love, which means justice, which means speaking hard truths in love." - Pastor Danielle Miller

Listen to the full episode as Pastor Danielle talks about these topics:

(3:11) Who this message is for

Pastor Danielle can be found at https://www.adventnyc.org/ and https://www.pinecrestllm.org.

How We Do Digital Ministry is brought to you by Faith Growth, a small business dedicated to helping churches do digital ministry through coaching, consulting and website development. When you’re ready, sign up for a free consult at www.faithgrowth.com/call

For now, join pastors and church communications from around the world in our How We Do Digital Ministry Facebook group.  Thanks to Presbyterian Media Mission for spreading the word about How We Do Digital Ministry.

Episode 25 of How We Do Digital Ministry features Father Cathie Caimano, an Episcopal priest also known as the Free Range Priest. She is dedicated to helping clergy and congregations navigate the 21st century church - and world - through Creative, Sustainable, and Digital Ministry.

"We are going into the wilderness, my friends, we are creating new communities. We are on fire with the love of God and how we are sharing it. And those first disciples? They had to figure it out, right? There was no blueprint. There was no church planting guideline. There were no denominational oversights.

They were people who were sharing the love of God with the technology that they had available to them at the time. And we are doing exactly the same thing." - Father Cathie Caimano

Listen to the full episode as Father Cathie talks about these topics:

(1:24) Online is like Outside

Father Cathie can be found at https://www.freerangepriest.org/

How We Do Digital Ministry is brought to you by Faith Growth, a small business dedicated to helping churches do digital ministry through coaching, consulting and website development. When you’re ready, sign up for a free consult at www.faithgrowth.com/call

For now, join pastors and church communications from around the world in our How We Do Digital Ministry Facebook group.  Thanks to Presbyterian Media Mission for spreading the word about How We Do Digital Ministry.

Episode 24 of How We Do Digital Ministry features Julie Klock, who does Children & Family Faith Formation at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minnesota. Julie talks with Christopher Harris about reaching families and kids with authenticity and humility in the digital age.

"Just trust in the goodwill of the people to whom you're speaking. Don't don't feel like you have to be perfect. Don't feel like this is theater. Make it relational." - Julie Klock

Listen to the full episode as Julie talks about these topics:

(5:49) Digital children’s messages

Julie can be found on:

How We Do Digital Ministry is brought to you by Faith Growth, a small business dedicated to helping churches do digital ministry through coaching, consulting and website development. When you’re ready, sign up for a free consult at www.faithgrowth.com/call

For now, join pastors and church communications from around the world in our How We Do Digital Ministry Facebook group.  Thanks to Presbyterian Media Mission for spreading the word about How We Do Digital Ministry.