In my last post, I tried to hash out a quick argument for WHY the Church should engage social media in its mission, but I didn't really say much about HOW. Let me take as a way of categorizing these the purposes in Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life. Keep in mind that fundamentally, I see the value of the church engaging in social media as a means of providing believers with ways to surround themselves with messages that support them in their faith walk while exposing non-believers to the Christian message. My sense is that to date some church leaders have been enterprising in using social media, but mostly in non-social manner - as one-way broadcast media instead of as hosts of conversations. The latter requires some significant changes - not only do leaders need to be able to relinquish control of the agenda and engage others in dialogue, but believers who currently participate as passive receivers of messages need to develop their own voices.
Worship:
I don't believe you can conduct sacraments via social media, but couldn't we do more to prepare for them? Currently there are several outlets that post the readings for daily and Sunday mass, and that's certainly a start. Many churches post audio and video podcasts of worship services after the fact. But couldn't an enterprising church post video/audio of the songs to be sung at upcoming Sunday worship so parishioners can get familiar with them first? Couldn't there be chat sessions and other conversations using Twitter, Facebook, etc. on the themes of the readings?
Community:
This is the most natural function of social media, as parishioners can and should develop "friend lists" and groups to deepen the bonds of community established face-to-face and continue their church relationships throughout the week...just like they do with other friends. While I have seen several ministries use Facebook and Twitter to ask for prayer requests, I'm never quite sure who's doing the actual praying for those requests. It seems more in keeping with the local nature of church to engage smaller scale prayer boards with groups of participants who agree not only to submit requests but to pray for the intentions raised by others. As impressive as a Facebook thread with 750+ comments on it may be, it doesn't seem realistic to think that those 750 people are taking time to pray for the intentions of the other 749.
Discipleship:
"Distance learning" it used to be called. Education suing social media tools is not that new, but traditional educational institutions have been slow to embrace the possibilities this format brings. Unlike one-way educational platforms (including online "self-taught" classes), using social media engages the participants in teaching each other content. One attempt I've tried in this arena is a Facebook study group - between 25-75 people have registered and between 6-30 have very actively participated in studies on books (One Month to Live, Purpose Driven Life) and Bible studies. This format has the added benefit of building a sense of community while fostering spiritual growth.
Service:
Coordinating service projects and other service-related ministry, as well as promoting their work, seems to be something the faith community is adapting social media for already.
Witness:
One of the benefits of social media is that participants who are believers have a very easy time witnessing. It can be awkward to raise a faith conversation with a non-believer you know (or one you don't). Posting status updates that reflect your faith or tweeting about what you're doing at church are far less intimidating. There's also a dimension of witnessing via social media that I find charming: you never know who's going to respond. I'm by no means the best at this, but I continue to be surprised to draw a reaction from someone I didn't even consider when I posted my update.
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