Social Media in the Ministry

Today I was able to talk with Julie Williquette, a secretary working at Baptist World Mission. Baptist World Mission is a well-known mission agency serving over 300 missionaries worldwide. Julie's main job is to assist two field directors serving missionaries in Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East, and much of Europe. She uses Social Media everyday and enjoys getting to connect with people all over the world. I got to ask Julie a few questions about her uses of Social Media in the ministry.

Q: How do YOU use Social Media and technology for religious purposes?
A: "I use Facebook every day as a means of sharing prayer requests with missionaries around the world. The missionary friends share their requests with me and I write them down in my prayer journal and pray over the requests every week. I then Facebook message the missionaries for request updates from time to time. I also use Social Media for my administrator at work (who does not have his own Facebook, but desires to know missionaries’ “happenings). I am in the process of setting up a  Facebook account for my church’s young married Sunday school class, so that we can a means of communicating and keeping up with each other, activities, prayer requests, etc."

Q: How is Social Media a good thing when used for religious organizations?

A. "Religious organizations can definitely use Social Media for sharing prayer requests, organizational activities/projects, and other general information with one another. It’s fast and easy, rather than trying to look up phone numbers and taking the time to call each other."

Q: How could Social Media be a bad thing for an organization promoting the Gospel?

A: "Wrong things could be written and shared socially…things like unkind opinions, rudeness and lack of respect for other’s thoughts/posts, and plain gossip. These things can harm the testimony of Christ and His church."

Q: How Can Social Media potentially help a religious organization generate higher traffic on a website or blog?
A: "By allowing others in to see the website or blog, word can spread and others may want to share it as well. This may cause higher traffic (more popularity)."