Twitter Starter List

One of the first questions I receive from colleagues who are are trying out Twitter is, "Who do I follow?" Ok, you've looked for people in your address book, connected with people you know in real life. What next? One piece of advice that is often given is to look through a friend's follow list. Ok, that can be helpful - kind of. But, for example, I (@rev_david) follow 800+ people. My tweeter stream moves pretty fast, and that can be overwhelming for someone new to the platform.

My first advice is, look at the profile of someone you like. Who do they talk to regularly? Who do they retweet? Those would probably be some good accounts for you to follow.

Even better, I have compiled a starter list of accounts for pastors new to twitter.  It is not everyone I follow (sorry if I left you off!!), but just a little manageable chunk for people to begin with. I have tried to indicate what people primarily tweet about -- but expect them to tweet about other stuff too, because the best accounts tweet about a little bit of everything. Also, as a caveat, this list does skew Lutheran and Texan. I am a Lutheran pastor, primarily addressing other Lutherans in Texas (besides, who wouldn't benefit from following more Texas Lutherans??)

Another criteria that I had was accounts that actually interacted with others. I'm not interested in the accounts with thousands of followers who don't really talk to much of anyone else. Thinking of the experience of people who are new to twitter, I am looking to make that first experience as rewarding as possible.

In our Synod
@rev_david – of course, you're going to want to follow me :)
@BreadTweet - Bishop Mike Rinehart, TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod
@markm1853 - Mark Mummert, worship, liturgy, church life
@claytonfaulkner - ministry, worship, social media

@mwecker - Faith & art reporter at Houston Chronicle
@HoustonBelief - The Houston Chronicle Belief Page
@Kateshellnutt - Reporter for the Chronicle Belief Page

A few good general ELCA accounts to plug into
@ELCA - the offical ELCA account
@ELCAnews - exactly what it says
@BethALewis - CEO, Augsburg Fortress

Examples of ELCA pastors using Twitter well
@prkanderson – Ministry, social media, lutheran
@Schnekloth – Ministry, social media, lutheran
@JasonKorthauer - Ministry, politics, lutheran
@asacredrebel - Ministry, theology, lutheran
@neilcf – ministry, youth ministry, lutheran
@youravgpastor - ministry, social media, lutheran

Talking about social media and the church:
@MeredithGould
@ChSocM
@adambowersmedia
@JustinWise
@tsudo

Others worth a follow

@AaronBillard - Ministry, theology

@AndAFool – Theology
@CharlotteElia – theology, liturgy

@derricklweston – theology

@expatminister – Ministry, theology
@jazzpastord - Ministry, theology

@JesusofNaz316 - humor, theology, church life

@JesusNeedsNewPR – Church life, theology

@KeepSetting – Christian Ed, theology

@kirkjeffrey – Ministry, coffee

@mayog – theology
@TwoFriars – theology
@Rev_Gene – Ministry
@SkyPilotofHope - Ministry, social media,
@theologybird – theology, ministry
@UnvirtuousAbbey – humor, prayer, faith

Dealing with Questions

Many of the readers of this blog have either been to graduate school or are currently in graduate school. Many others have encountered this same problem in colleges. The problem: the person in class who monopolizes all of the time with their questions, usually to prove to the prof and/or classmates how very smart they are (or who makes comments because they are sure that the prof was unaware of their very important factoid).

Of course, this doesn't apply to adult education in our churches, where often I wish people would ask more questions and make more comments in order to get discussion going. But it is a welcome relief for those grad school/college settings. I proudly present the "Question & Comment Evaluation Chart" (click for larger image). Feel free to print out and discreetly place on the desk of your classmate who needs it most.

Bach's Coffee Cantada

To honor the Fifth Evangelist - and in honor of a groggy morning, here is J.S. Bach's Coffee Cantata (Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht, BWV 211).

Written for and performed by Bach's Collegium Musicum, at Zimmerman's Coffee House in Leipzig. The libretto (text) was penned by Bach's frequent collaborator, Christian Friedrich Henrici.

Narrator (Recitative)

Be quiet, stop chattering, and pay attention to what's taking place: here comes Herr Schlendrian with his daughter Lieschen; he's growling like a honey bear. Hear for yourselves, what she has done to him!

Schlendrian (Aria)

Don't one's children cause one endless trials & tribulations! What I say each day to my daughter Lieschen falls on stony ground.

Schlendrian (Aria)

You wicked child, you disobedient girl, oh!

When will I get my way? Give up coffee!

Lieschen (Aria)

Father, don't be so severe!

If I can't drink my bowl of coffee three times daily, then in my torment I will shrivel up like a piece of roast goat.

Lieschen

Mm! how sweet the coffee tastes,

more delicious than a thousand kisses, mellower than muscatel wine.

Coffee, coffee I must have, and if someone wishes to give me a treat, ah, then pour me out some coffee!

Schlendrian (Recitative)

If you don't give up drinking coffee then you shan't go to any wedding feast, nor go out walking.

Oh! when will I get my way? Give up coffee!

Lieschen

Oh well! Just leave me my coffee!

Schlendrian

Now I've got the little minx! I won't get you a whalebone skirt in the latest fashion.

Lieschen

I can easily live with that.

Schlendrian

You're not to stand at the window and watch people pass by!

Lieschen

That as well, only I beg of you, leave me my coffee!

Schlendrian

Furthermore, you shan't be getting any silver or gold ribbon for your bonnet from me!

Lieschen

Yes, yes! only leave me to my pleasure!

Schlendrian

You disobedient Lieschen you, so you go along with it all!

Schlendrian (Aria)

Hard-hearted girls are not so easily won over.

Yet if one finds their weak spot, ah! then one comes away successful.

Schlendrian (Recitative)

Now take heed what your father says!

Lieschen

In everything but the coffee.

Schlendrian

Well then, you'll have to resign yourself to never taking a husband.

Lieschen

Oh yes! Father, a husband!

Schlendrian

I swear it won't happen.

Lieschen

Until I can forgo coffee?

From now on, coffee, remain forever untouched! Father, listen, I won't drink any.

Schlendrian

Then you shall have a husband at last!

Lieschen (Aria)

Today even dear father, see to it! Oh, a husband!

Really, that suits me splendidly!

If it could only happen soon that at last, before I go to bed, instead of coffee I were to get a proper lover!

Narrator (Aria)

Old Schlendrian goes off to see if he can find a husband forthwith for his daughter Lieschen;

but Lieschen secretly lets it be known:

no suitor is to come to my house unless he promises me, and it is also written into the marriage contract,

that I will be permitted to make myself coffee whenever I want.

Trio

A cat won't stop from catching mice, and maidens remain faithful to their coffee.

The mother holds her coffee dear.

The grandmother drank it also.

Who can thus rebuke the daughters?

(Translation found on Wikisource, and assumed to be public domain)

Social Media & the Church: Multiple Personalities

There is an epidemic among church leaders! As social media (facebook, twitter, google+, linkedin, etc) has grown in use, an ever increasing number of clergy and other leaders have developed multiple personalities. But wait, don't call in the American Psychological Association just yet. let me back up. As I pointed out in a previous post, the social media use of ministry leaders can be divided into five general groups:

1. Only for personal use, only connecting with friends and family
2. Only for professional use, everything they post related to their ministry, congregation, etc.
3. Separating personal from professional, with a personal account for friends and family, and a professional account for congregational members.
4. Integrating the personal & professional with one account
5. Not at all (more clergy than you might expect, or perhaps not, given the church’s record for adopting new things)

I am interesting in talking about those of us who use social media for ministry - groups 2-4. There are some very good arguments why ministries should engage social media, already addressed by many folks in many places. But for now, I am going to stick to those of us who agree that we should be using social media for ministry purposes. Let me be up front: I fall into group #4. I think there are some very compelling reasons to have an integrated online persona, and I will get into that a little bit later.

Those who fall into groups 2 and 3 can be lumped together - their social media use is more less identical from a ministry perspective. Group #3 may post cute pictures of their kids, or complain about their day, but it is separate from their ministry account, so people following their ministry will not see it.

There are some very good, and some less good, reasons for pastors and others in ministry to use social media this way. Most importantly, it provides very clear and well defined boundaries. Not everyone who follows the ministry of the congregation wants to see pictures of the Pastor's vacation (especially not pasty Lutheran pastors on the beach!). Sometimes pastors need space to be honest about the congregations they serve - to vent a little bit - and it may not be a good thing for the whole congregation to see that private venting. Occasionally, a pastor may worry that what is said or implied on facebook - even if it is entirely unrelated to ministry - will be used as a weapon in next week's Council meeting (certainly no one in your congregation would ever do that, but in some of those other congregations). In general, this social media practice allows for a bit of differentiation between the pastoral office and the ministry on one hand, and the person who holds that office on the other.

Let me be clear: Although it is not how I use social media, I respect this position. I have colleagues who have been burned by not having clear boundaries, and they now try to avoid those pitfalls. I get it. But I do think there are some very good reasons to use social media in a more integrated way. First, a story.

A couple of weeks ago, my satellite receiver started acting a little strange. As a hopeless TV addict, this was unacceptable, so I put a call in to DirectTV. After walking through all the automated steps, I was on the phone with Lisa. Lisa was exceptionally friendly - we talked about my TV problems, and also about her family that lives in Texas and what shows she watches with her toddler. Lisa was not just helpful, she was friendly and personable. She scheduled a maintenance call for me, and in a couple of days James stopped by my house. James and I commiserated about driving in and around Houston, and about this horrible summer we're having. After those experiences, DirectTV is not just some brand name to me - it is Lisa and James. People do not relate to brands; people relate to people.

And social media is ultimately about relating to people - it is about community. If your whole facebook feed is updates about your congregation's worship services, people will begin to tune it out. If all of your tweets are links to to the ministry website or blog, other users are not going to engage your twitter account. People relate to real people, who live real lives.

In addition to opening  up your social media following to a larger community, being personal also opens up a pastor's life so that parishioners can see him or her as more than just the person in the pulpit. As we share on social media sites, those who are involved in our ministries get to know us more and better -- and that draws us into more effective ministries in their lives.

Finally, I believe that it all eventually comes out. In the age of digital communication, there are no assurances that information will not get out. An email sent just to the congregational council can easily be forwarded on to someone outside the group. A status update posted to a private facebook account may be copied and pasted to someone else's profile. A protected tweet may be retweeted by someone else. It all comes out.

I live in a small town and if I am having lunch with someone downtown, there is a very good chance that anything I say may be overheard by an unintended audience. I treat social media like I do living here. Don't say things you wouldn't want everyone in your congregation or in the rest of your life to hear. Of course, this has been a great for my spirit as well -- If I wouldn't want someone to hear it, maybe I don't need to be saying it in the first place.

Ultimately, to quote someone much smarter than myself, I am who I am. I am the same person on Sunday morning as I am in downtown Brenham as I am on social media as I am in a small group Bible study. Pastor David is not a different person than just David.

Social Media & the Church: Who are Your Friends?

Over the last few months, I have been a part of numerous discussions about how the church generally and clergy specifically use social media – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. It has been a great discussion, and I have learned a great deal from my colleagues. There, however, one question where I find some disagreement (What?! Pastors disagree with one another?). I will come to that in a moment.

Generally, ministry leaders use social media in one of five ways.

1. Only for personal use, only connecting with friends and family
2. Only for professional use, everything they post related to their ministry, congregation, etc.
3. Separating personal from professional, with a personal account for friends and family, and a professional account for congregational members.
4. Integrating the personal & professional with one account
5. Not at all (more clergy than you might expect, or perhaps not, given the church’s record for adopting new things)

For what I think are very good reasons, my social media usage follows model 4 more than anything else (more about that at another time). But, if pastors and other church leaders are going to use social media in any way as an extension of their church or their ministry (models 2-4 above), one question comes up fairly quickly: Should you initiate contact with members on social media? That is, should you friend them first on Facebook, or wait for them to friend you? Should you follow them on Twitter before they have followed you? Should you add them to a circle on Google+ if they have not circled you?

To be clear: this is a new issue in ministry. These are not questions that anyone could have imagined asking ten years ago; we are treading new ground here. The “accepted wisdom” – insofar as there is any – is that it is unwise for pastors or other church leaders to initiate contact on social media. I am not sure that I agree.

I get the reasoning. There is a power imbalance between pastor and parishioner. Members of the congregation may feel uncomfortable declining a friend request from their pastor, even if they do not want “the pastor” to see what is said on their wall. Church leaders (pastors, other rostered leaders, deacons, youth ministers, etc), should maintain healthy boundaries, and not insert themselves into the online lives of their members.

Really???

I wonder why this line is being drawn at social media. If you join the congregation that I serve, I will ask for your email address, your home phone number, and your cell phone number – and I will give you mine. You are welcome to decline to give me that information, but I am going to ask for it. I hope you know that you can trust me – as your pastor – to use such information responsibly and as is appropriate to our shared ministry and my call.

As a pastor, if I hear that a member is sick or in the hospital – whether that member tells me or I hear it from someone else – I am going to invite myself into that members home or hospital room. If it is at home I will probably call before I come over (not always), but I am going to initiate the contact and invite myself (the member is welcome to say no, but I would hope that they would trust me – as their pastor – to know that the visit is a part of my ministry and my call).

As pastor of the congregation, I may invite members into my home. Often for an open house or another congregation-wide, but sometimes (less often now that I am a single pastor) to share a meal. Those members are welcome to decline the invitation, and some do, but I am going to initiate the contact because it is a part of my ministry and my call to the congregation.

As pastors, most of us would see no problem “initiating contact” in these ways. We would view it as a part of our ministry, a part of our call to the congregation.

These illustrations, while imperfect (all illustrations are), get at the issue for me. Pastors are called to care for the members of the congregation that they serve (and other ministry leaders as well, in other ways). We are called to be a part of their lives – to help them to see the Gospel in their lives and to “care for their souls.” By calling me as their pastor, the congregation has initiated the engagement that we will then live out together. By calling me their pastor, members of the congregation have initiated our engagement together.

Our call to serve the congregation is our friend request. Our call to serve the congregation is our follow request. Our call serve the congregation is our invitation to be a part of the lives of the congregation.

Ministry leaders should be involved in the social media lives of their members. But we should do so with the same sense of responsibility that we use with every other aspect of our members lives. Mindful that we are being trusted not to abuse that relationship, and to only use it insofar as it is appropriate to our ministry. What that looks like is different in various settings and ministries, and we should be wary of one-size-fits-all solutions to using social media.

What do you think? Should pastors friend members (or otherwise initiate social media engagement)?