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Advance Praise for Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible
Just as 500 years ago the Gutenberg printing press made the dissemination of information inexpensive and easy, galvanizing the public opinion that fueled the Reformation, so the internet and the explosion of digital media have connected people as never before. Elizabeth Drescher and Keith Anderson have created a kind of digital-media-for-dummies guide. They have invited us to see digital social media as an opportunity for ministry and the proclamation of the gospel. They explain the basics for novices, and offer strategies for veterans. For any who want to proclaim a message of hope to those young and old, churched and unchurched, near and far in this digital age, these tools are going to be indispensable.
—Bishop Michael Rinehart
Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Drescher and Anderson have pulled social media in the church back from the cliffs of marketing and positioned it as a tool for doing ministry well. In the language of faith, they have found the “incarnational” in the rush of electrons that deliver the ever growing number of virtual messages. Social media will never “save” the church, but as Drescher and Anderson show, it might just teach us a thing or two about building relationships as Jesus would.
—Martin Davis
Director, The Congregational Resource Guide
The Alban Institute
In Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible, Drescher and Anderson guide readers in creating and implementing a digital ministry strategy that will help build and sustain community online and face-to-face. The idea of using social media can still seem a bit strange and daunting to novices, but reading this book is like having two kind friends stop by for a chat. As the authors share their own and others’ stories about the use of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, they invite even the most tentative digital minister to join in a vibrant, global conversation on faith and spirituality today.
—Patricia Carr
Author of Implementing Culture Change Assistant Professor of Organizational Learning & Leadership Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania
Read this book immediately to discover a humanizing approach to unleash the “social” in digital social media.
—Robert V. Taylor
Author of A New Way to Be Human: 7 Spiritual Pathways to Becoming Fully Alive
As an aging baby-boomer ministering in the midst of a major university, I often find myself literally at sea in the waves of social media. Keith Anderson and Elizabeth Drescher have done an exceptional job of delineating the digital landscape, explaining why it is important to understand and master, and providing useful tools to accomplish that essential task. It is simply a gift to ministers of all generations who wish to understand, enter, and explore this brave new world.
—The Rev. Dr. Wendel “Tad” Meyer
The Memorial Church
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
This is the must-read book on social media ministry. All church leaders will benefit from its clarity, organization, and practicality. Readers will appreciate the theological and pastoral sensitivities the authors bring as they frame social media inextricably within the revitalization of the church’s mission.
—Lovett H. Weems, Jr.
Director, Lewis Center for Church Leadership
Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC
Skillfully interweaving real stories and sage advice with hands-on tools, these gifted writers have produced a work that will greatly benefit clergy and congregations moving into the new digital world. I am grateful that they share their wisdom and experience with the rest of us—both digital natives and those dipping their toes into social media for the first time. That they nuance their recommendations with pastoral vision and theological insight is a significant bonus.
—Verity A. Jones
Director, New Media Project
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Click 2 Save cuts through the marketing jargon and technical detail to give you what you really need to make sense of this rapidly changing world of digital ministry. This invaluable resource is both a “why-to” and a “how-to” for all who minister in the twenty-first century. The Message remains the message, but Drescher and Anderson help us understand how that message is measured online in likes, views, follows and transformed communities.
—Bob Carlton
Blogger and consultant on digital publishing and ministry
Click 2 Save is a lifesaver for those in ministry who know they need to learn about social media but all too often only find advertising experts who know nothing of the needs of clergy. At last there is a resource written for Christian leaders looking to use social media, written with references to theologians and pastors who are using social media in their daily lives. Click 2 Save is relevant to those who know nothing about social media, and those like me who use social media but are grateful for a resource both mindful and spiritual.
—Bob Craigue
Director, The Media Center
Andover-Newton Theological School, Newton Centre, Massachusetts
Copyright © 2012 by Elizabeth Drescher and Keith Anderson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Morehouse Publishing, 4775 Linglestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112
Morehouse Publishing, 445 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Morehouse Publishing is an imprint of Church Publishing Incorporated. www.churchpublishing.org
Cover design by Laurie Klein Westhafer
Illustrations by Angelo Lopez © 2012. Used by permission.
Typeset by Rose Design
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Drescher, Elizabeth.
