Post on 19-Aug-2015
How can 3000 church workers learn to use the social media in
their work?
Terhi PaananenTraining coordinator
Spiritual life on the internet
Church WORK online -training
The goals are
* raised awareness of the possibilities of the social media for church work
* encouragement to take part in the social media and
* more skills to do take part in the discussion forums on the internet
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Why is this being done?
• To be where the people discuss things
• To encourage the parishioners to speak up as Christians on the internet
• To give correct information about the Christian faith and the church
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THE PLAN
• 2009-2010 150 instructors (15-20 / diocese) will be trained
• 2010-2012 3000 parish workers will participate in the workshops lead by the instructors
• Workshops are for 20-25 people
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Basic principles
• It’s all about communication and communication is a two way street
-> a lot of discussion
• Learning by doing
• Everybody is equal -> the instructors are more like coaches than lecturers
• The attitude makes a difference
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The content of the workshops
• Facebook: How to use for ministry purposes? What is public and what is private?
• Conversation Forums: Where to go and what to say?
• What is spiritual and/or Christian life on the internet? What do we promote?
• Why should we keep blogs? How to write a comment? How to use Twitter?
• Ethical questions raised by the social media
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Feedback from workshops
• A webropol questionnaire - so far • An emphasis is put in creating a positive
atmosphere in the group because it energizes people
• Feedback will be analyzed so that we can help the instructors to teach better
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Results in June 2010
• 120 instructors and 194 participants
• Already a change in the discussion forums
• New tools for groups in parishes, especially in the youth work
• Many new Facebook-groups and pages
• An increase in the counseling contacts with messenger and chat services
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Social media strategy
Three levels of strategical planning
1. Guidelines for the individual parish worker
2. The plan for a parish
3. The Evagelical-Lutheran Church in Finland as a whole
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Social media strategy for a parish
• Keeping it simple
• Questions to answer: What internet services are most important for our parish?
Who can represent the parish – the workers or the parishioners?
How to evaluate the work?
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Terhi PaananenSpiritual life on the internet / Training coordinator
e-mail: terhi.paananen @ evl.fi
Blog: terhip.vuodatus.net
Twitter: Terhi_P
www.slideshare.com/terhipaananen
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