Justin Wise - The Social Church: A Theology of Digital Communication

Justin Wise connects the power of social media with the potential for life-changing ministry in a completely fresh, easy-to-understand, and relevant way. His energy and wisdom bleed through the pages. He gets it. He totally gets it and now you can too. The Social Church is a must-read for all Christian leaders called to serve in this time and space.

Tami Heim, president and CEO of Christian Leadership Alliance, coauthor of @stickyJesus: How to Live Out Your Faith Online

The rumors are true: Justin Wise knows his stuff. Not only does he ask the right hard questions in The Social Church but he boldly challenges the status quo, encouraging churches to embrace digital communications with vision, strategy, and purpose.

Carrie Kintz, Digital Communication Strategist, Focus on the Family

Justin is a knowledgeable and accomplished practitioner of social media strategy and tactics as well as a practiced speaker on the subject. He consistently creates and publishes useful content that goes beyond mere thoughts and opinions to include the tools he uses for success and the tactics and techniques for others to become successful.

Chris Giovagnoni, Social Media Marketing Program Manager, Compassion International

Justin Wise is the real deal. He is passionate about local churches and assisting them in connecting with a new generation. He brings creative and innovative thinking to each training, but more than that, youll find in him a genuine heart of service with a purpose.

Haley Veturis, Social Media Manager, Saddleback Church

Justin has handled social media for both our SCORRE and Platform conferences in the last year and we couldnt be more pleased.

He understands the power of social media and the benefits that come when its used correctly. Most importantly, he accomplished our goal: people who werent at the event felt like they were and were encouraged to sign up for the next one.

Michael Hyatt, New York Times bestselling author, former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers

2014 by
JUSTIN WISE

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked THE MESSAGE are from The Message, copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Edited by Bailey Utecht
Interior design: Design Corps
Cover design and illustration: Connie Gabbert Design and Illustration

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wise, Justin.

The social church : a theology of digital communication / Justin Wise.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-8024-0987-4

1. CommunicationReligious aspectsChristianity. 2. Digital communications. 3. Telecommunication. 4. Digital mediaReligious aspectsChristianity. 5. Social media. I. Title.
BV652.95.W57 2014
261.52dc23

2013036285

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I HAD AN ASTRONOMY professor in college (UNI Fight!) who sat us down on the first day of class and bluntly stated, Theres something you need to know about me. He continued as he scribbled on the chalkboard. This is a u, this is an r, this is a v. He pointed to three letters that all looked exactly the same but were apparently not. This is the only time Im going to point this out this semester. Im not going to take class time to clarify, he declared. From now on, youll need to figure it out for yourself. Now, on to the first lesson.

Personable, he wasnt. (For instance, he once publicly chided me for not knowing where Ursa Minor was in the schools planetarium. Hell hath no fury like an astronomy professor scorned by a constellation-challenged college freshman.) But he understood the need to set ground rules for proper learning to take place. Had he not coached us and given us a context for his (dreadful) penmanship, we would have been lost all semesteror at least questioned his intelligence. But given his instruction, most of us could figure out it was planetary, not planetavy. Context was, as they say, king.

You need to know a few things as we get started. Think of it as setting expectations. I like knowing were on the same page, both literally and figuratively.

First, this is not a how to book. You will not learn how to set up a Facebook fan page or send your first tweet. You will not learn what Instagram is or how to use it. Were not going to look at how to use Pinterest for your church. You will not find the best times for updating your social networks, how to convince your senior pastor to blog, or what the Google is. (Dont laugh. Ive had that question come up in several workshops Ive led!) Those arent bad things to learn, but there are many, many books, blogs, and articles covering the basics. This book will not be one of them.