If anyone has moved from one church to another in the past couple years, it seems there are even more additional questions about how to make that transition now that we live in a digital and social media age. There have been some folks who have been writing about it over the past few years, and I learned a few things when I left Asbury and started my position here in Ashland, and a lot of that has helped me as I prepare to leave Ashland and begin my second ordained call at Winnetka Presbyterian Church.
First, a few links to some posts I found to be really helpful as I began thinking about all of this. Bruce Reyes-Chow has written about his own experience with this in Pastoral Transitions in a Social Media World, and it’s definitely worth a read. About a year ago, Pastor Keith Anderson wrote a series of posts, as he transitioned to a new church himself. You can find his posts below:
- Digital Disentanglement: Social Media & Pastoral Transition, Part 1
- Social Media and the Call Process: Social Media & Pastoral Transition, Part 2
- Whose Sermons Are These, Anyway? Social Media & Pastoral Transition, Part 3
- Should Pastors Remain Facebook Friends with Former Parishioners? Social Media & Pastoral Transition, Part 4
I also commend Keith’s posts to anyone who is starting a new position, as many things would be made much easier if you follow certain advice from the beginning of your time at a new church.
I’m going to share some of my own tips over the next couple weeks, and I hope you’ll find some of them helpful. I’m certainly not an expert on this, and I’m sure I’ve made some mistakes that have hurt some folks along the way, but I do want to share a bit about my own process and what has worked well for me.
As I begin this series…what are some of your questions? What would you be interested in hearing about when it comes to pastoral transitions in the age of social media?
