Digital Storytelling for Church Communications Professionals

This event is brought to you by the department of Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary

This class will meet online every other Friday afternoon (2/18, 3/4, 3/18, and 4/1) for a total of four sessions from 2 - 4 p.m. eastern.

When church leaders and congregations engage in the practice of crafting a mission statement or narrative vision for their churches, oftentimes the people tasked with actually communicating that vision aren’t included in the development process nor are they church members or present for most church activities. As such, church digital communications tend to be heavy on times and dates and details, but light on narrative vision. Which is great for getting people to meetings on time, but not so good as an invitation to transformation!

In this course, designed for parish administrators and communicators, both paid and volunteer, we will expand our understanding of digital communications from an information-driven model to a relationally-based narrative model (that still manages to get all the details right!)

Participants should be presently engaged in the day-to-day work of church communications and have access to church media, such as the website, photos, calendar, newsletter, etc. As part of this course, participants will:

• Learn about digital storytelling and the power of narrative in forming the relationships that are at the heart of evangelism.

• Conduct a digital communications audit.

• Evaluate existing church digital platforms and publications.

• Redesign at least one platform or publication.

Please contact us if cost limits your participation.

As the Director of Digital Ministry for Membership Vision, Lisa Brown works with Episcopal organizations to map their ministries onto a digital landscape through dynamic, narrative-driven website design. An engaging workshop leader, she is passionate about digital storytelling, experiential learning, and collaborative art. During a decade of parish ministry at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, Lisa contributed to John Roberto’s book Faith Formation with a New Generation and her book, The Best VBS Workbook Ever!, was released in 2017. She is featured in the Embracing Evangelism curriculum developed by The Episcopal Church. A writer for Building Faith and InsideOut camp curriculum, and an active member of Forma, she thrives on supporting others in their ministries. She continues to grow in personal faith through Education for Ministry (EfM) and holds a certification in Leadership in Faith Formation from Virginia Theological Seminary. Lisa serves the Diocese of Pittsburgh on Standing Committee, as a Deputy to General Convention, and as a member of the General Convention Task Force for the Formation and Ministry of the Baptized.

Have questions? Email LifelongLearning@vts.edu.

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