Preaching the Social Media Gospel

July 15, 2013 by Greg Garrett

Continued from Page 1

But I also know from observation that each of these objections can be easily addressed—and The Social Media Gospel does so, thoughtfully and with pertinent examples from real life. In fact, what social media can accomplish is so powerful that it's worth noting, especially if you or your parish are among those still resistant to virtual life. As Meredith writes at one point, wisely used social media can help build community, deliver important news and announcements, gather feedback from the congregation, preach the Gospel, model the values the church teaches, and share stories that "deepen faith and inspire action" (37). It's a pretty amazing list of things churches really want to do.

In fact, there's really only one obvious thing that people still agree has to be done together at the same time, although it's central. Social media can be used to prepare people for the sacraments, but despite some experiments (Google "virtual Eucharist" or "virtual confession"), it's pretty clear that "virtual sacraments" are not spiritually efficacious (9).

And that's probably just fine. There's a reason people who take the sacraments should go to a physical building and interact with physical bodies and receive physical bread and wine.

But social media can help connect them to each other, the church, and to God during those 167 hours when they aren't together doing that.

For more conversation on The Social Media Gospel—and to read an excerpt—visit the Patheos Book Club here.

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About Greg Garrett

Greg Garrett is (according to BBC Radio) one of America's leading voices on religion and culture. He is the author or co-author of over twenty books of fiction, theology, cultural criticism, and spiritual autobiography. His most recent books are The Prodigal, written with the legendary Brennan Manning, Entertaining Judgment: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination, and My Church Is Not Dying: Episcopalians in the 21st Century. A contributor to Patheos since 2010, Greg also writes for the Huffington Post, Salon.com, OnFaith, The Tablet, Reform, and other web and print publications in the US and UK.

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