Social media and new digital technologies bring a new layer of consideration, and, in some cases, complication to the call process and pastoral transition.

In this series of blog posts, I'll be reflecting in real time on issues related to digital media and transition as I conclude my ministry at Redeemer and begin my new call at Upper Dublin.

Much of the conversation around social media and pastoral transition revolves around whether and how to stay connected to former parishioners on social media. I am going to post about that in the future. However, I also want to highlight some of the other, less discussed, ways technology plays a role in pastoral transition.

One important step in pastoral transition is digital disentanglement - handing over access, control, and information about the congregation’s website and social media platforms to those that remain.

This can be a bigger job that we expect. Often, we don't appreciate how digitally integrated we have become in our ministry settings until its time for us to leave.

In this way, it very much like the rest of the pastoral transition process where we disentangle ourselves in several ways - relinquishing our leadership and the marks of our calling, notifying people and companies of your change of address, looking at all your stuff and figuring out what to keep, sell, donate, and trash, and tending to relationships and saying goodbyes in your leave taking.

Here are four things that have been important in my experience of digital disentanglement thus far:

One of the most common questions about social media in ministry — “How much time do you spend on Facebook?” — is quickly becoming an irrelevant one.

Today 46 percent of American adults own smart phones and nearly 20 percent of Americans use a tablet or e-reader. They manage multiple social networking profiles, spending upwards of 15 minutes a day on Facebook alone, and carry out many everyday tasks like shopping and banking online.

As the Internet goes mobile and we spend more time there, the line between our digital and face-to-face lives is rapidly blurring.

This integration of our digital and analog lives, whether we choose to embrace or resist it, is changing our lives and, therefore, the practice of ministry, in profound ways.

Today’s ministry leaders are called to be present and minister not only in person, by phone, snail mail and email, but also via text message and social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

I experienced this myself recently when one of my parishioners — I’ll call her Sally — had surgery to remove a tumor from the right side of her brain.

Member participation is absolutely crucial for effective digital ministry, and yet there is very little guidance out there for people in our congregations. Most of the advice focuses on the role of professional ministry leaders.

Member engagement helps puts the "social" in social media by extending the community, amplifying the Gospel message, and helping move away from a one-person one-message model of broadcast media.

Here are five ways members can participate in and extend the digital ministry of their congregations:

What are the core compentencies of digital ministry? What role do apps play in the life of faith? What are the benefits of blogging?

Professor Mark Vitalis Hoffman (website, blog), Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, takes up these questions as part of the LTSG spring blog tour. (More information and a listing of all the tour stops here.) In August, LTSG, in partnership with Luther Seminary, will launch of a new religion and media concentration in its MAR program. It's exciting to see our Lutheran seminaries providing formal training in this area - and that's where my questions begin:

1. As you've developed the MAR media concentration, what have you identified as the core competences that ministry leaders should have in digital social media?

Thanks for supporting this blog tour, Keith, and thanks also for your good questions.

“Religion and Media” is not only a very broad category, but it is also a constantly changing one. I can point to the outcomes we have defined:

• Demonstrate literacy in a variety of media, including:
  • an awareness of the range and rapidly changing landscape of global media
  • the capacity to discern differing levels of authority
  • the ability to assess varying forms of authenticity
  • and the ability to communicate effectively in a variety of media;
• Demonstrate an understanding of how social practices of story-telling, meaning-making, and the formation of identity and community are shaped by media;
• Be able to promote matters of faith in public life through media and provide leadership for doing so in their congregation or agency;
• Be able to support constructive discernment and spiritual formation in the midst of social media; and
• Reflect theologically on how media shapes the practices of their own theological tradition.

I'm excited to announce that I have been called to serve as pastor at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler, Pennsylvania, joining lead pastor, Dyan Lawlor, and the UDLC staff.

Here is the letter I shared with Redeemer today. My thanks to Martin Malzahn for helping find me just the right words.

The "bidding prayers" appointed for Good Friday liturgy include this prayer for Jews:

"Let us pray for the Jewish people, the first to hear the word of God. Almighty and eternal God, long ago you gave your promise to Abraham and your teaching to Moses. Hear our prayers that the people you called and elected as your own may receive the fulfillment of the covenant's promises. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen."

It may seem innocuous enough, but this prayer has a long and dark history in the Church.