Faith Integration Paper

Kandi Barnett
EDUC 515
June 9, 2014
Social Media and the Presbyterian Church
The Presbyterian Church is rich in tradition and adheres to the religious thought
known as Reformed theology and a form of government that relies representational
leadership by both ministers and church members. In order to hear the word of God,
Presbyterians attend Sunday service that is delivered by the minister with church
elders participating. However, several Presbyterian Churches are moving toward a
more advanced way to get their message out to their members.
The Presbyterian Church is trying to capitalize on Americans fascination with
social media and bring itself to the 21
st
century. A church in the suburbs of Chicago
has experimented with social media. Sunday service was still held at the church in
the traditional fashion. In addition, social media interaction was available for those
who wanted to participate. The social media interaction began with a check in at the
Facebook page of the church. Shared prayers and the sermon were then discussed
on Twitter and Facebook.
The youth of the church staffed a help desk during the service to assist those
who wanted to participate via social media but were not as savvy with the
technology. This helped to bridge the two worlds, those that understand and utilize
social media in their everyday life with those that are curious but unsure on the
application of social media in their life.
Those that participated posted selfies to their social network sites and posted
comments and remarks from the service. This interaction brought the message of
the sermon far beyond the wall of the sanctuary in the church in the town outside of
Chicago. This form of evangelism has no boundaries as far as this church is
concerned.
With the assistance of the youth population, the church is hoping to use social
media to enhance the worship and engage worship in new ways. By exploring the
endless possibilities, the church hopes to increase the number of followers and use
technology to further spread Gods Word.