Church work online in Finland

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

Hengellinen elämä verkossa

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



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


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


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



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


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


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


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?


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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