Top Digital Ministers for 2018

Seventeen years ago, Mark Horvath felt invisible. He was homeless, living on Hollywood Blvd. with nowhere to go. Now, he has made it a mission to make the invisible people visible again. Through the lens of a video camera, Horvath shares the stories of homeless people who feel invisible. He shares their stories on his website and through other social media sites, including YouTube, Instagram, and Flickr. Horvath launched Invisible People in November of 2008, and has been influencing people’s perceptions about homelessness around the globe ever since.

The Reverend M Barclay is a pastor and is currently serving as the director of enfleshed, dedicated to advocating for queer and trans inclusion in the United Methodist Church. According to the about page, “enfleshed seeks to provide liturgy, devotionals, curriculum, preaching, training, and pastoral care that addresses honestly, tenderly, and directly, the beauty and pain of living enfleshed lives.” Barclay has been featured in the Huffington Post, the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) and more.

Reverend Jeremy Smith is a pastor for the United Methodist church who set out to “Hack Christianity.” Through his website and blog, Smith hopes to use “the tenets of hacking to debug and update contemporary expressions of Christianity so that the faith operates more smoothly, holistically, and justly today,” according to the About page. Smith seeks to find the intersections between faith, technology, and ‘geek culture.’ He also is a popular blogger about ministries, people, and politics within his own denomination. Using contemporary language, Smith always encourages readers of his blog to think outside the box.

In a world where Digital Ministry is a rising field of importance, Katie Allred teaches and connects churches who wish to improve their communications ministries and digital presence. Her website, Church Communications, provides resources and ideas to church communicators plus interactive content, including podcasting and blogging. Church Communications, the facebook group she co-founded, is the largest community of church communicators online, with over 17,000 members. Recently, she was hired as the assistant professor of software development and digital media at University of Mobile. She also is the director of the student-run marketing agency in the School of Business that provides churches with a lower cost alternative to a traditional marketing agency.

Sister Rose Pacatte has set out to find the intersections between film and religion. Sister Pacatte was ahead of most media studies when she founded the Pauline Center for Media Studies (PCMS) all the way back in 1995. Through PCMS, Sister Pacatte works to fulfill the mission statement of the organization: “To develop and encourage Media Mindfulness within the context of culture, education, and faith formation.” Her ultimate goal is for people of faith to consider media mindfulness within the context of faith. Sister Rose also produces film reviews focused on faith undertones within a film’s context.

A self-identified “God nerd,” Christian Piatt has written, edited and contributed to more than a dozen books. His most recent series, “Surviving the Bible,” offers weekly lectionary-based devotionals in plain language for people trying to access scripture in new and relevant ways. He is the founder and cohost of the “Homebrewed CultureCast” (voted best religious podcast of 2018 by the Associated Church Press) for the last six years. Square Core Media, his podcast production company, produces podcasts like “Three Sides” for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Piatt is President/CEO of BookPros, a publishing company that brings revolutionary ideas and  technology to the publishing world. In all of his work, Piatt displays a passion for re-imagining faith communities and how they interact.

Rev. Cameron Trimble founded the Center for Progressive Renewal (CPR) with the goal of both renewing and progressing the ideas taught by the protestant church. Its goal is “…to renew Christianity by training entrepreneurial leaders, supporting the birth of new congregations, renewing and strengthening existing churches, and growing a network of progressive ministries that support and nourish each other and bring about a more just and generous world.” CPR proclaims to progressive congregations that “your church’s best days are ahead.” In addition, Rev. Trimble is the CEO of Convergence, a company which is “…about the dream of a just and generous world for all people.” Their goal is to create ways for digital ministers to “know and be known.” Rev. Trimble also serves as an adjunct professor teaching church planting and renewal with the Pacific School of Religion and Chicago Theological Seminary.

Rev. David Hansen is an ELCA pastor serving at Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church in The Woodlands, Texas. Rev. Hansen has made it his mission to help congregations learn to make use of the digital world to expand the ministry and share the message of Jesus Christ. His goal is to focus on building community in today’s digital age. Rev. Hansen is also the Director of Communications and Innovation for Living Everyday As Disciples (LEAD), a Christian nonprofit that, according to its statement of theology page, focuses “on empowering Christian leaders, transforming faith communities and influencing the world.”

In 2010, Sister Caroline Cerveny and her friend Claudia McIvor decided to find a way to train congregations how to use technology comfortably. By working together, they founded the Digital Discipleship Network (DDN) and created the Digital Discipleship Boot Camp (DDBC) that has now included over 500 participants from every level of ministry. Sister Cerveny says she likes to ask the same question as Pope Francis: “How can we be ‘neighborly’ in our use of the communications media and in the new environment created by digital technology?” Her about page explains her belief that by exploring this question and putting a digital spin on spreading Gospel news, Sister Cerveny continues to make it her mission to create disciples who are “a neighbor and friend with others.”

Father Tim Schenck is an avid blogger, discussing difficult topics and ideas, proclaiming his hope of “Finding God in Daily Chaos.” Father Schenck has been writing his Blog, Clergy Confidential, since 2007. He has also written several books, including “Dust Bunnies in the Basket: Finding God in Lent and Easter” and “Father Tim’s Church Survival Guide.” He is also the creator of ‘Lent Madness,‘ a unique spin on traditional ‘March Madness,’ using a crossover between sports and faith. In essence, it is a bracket of traditional saints placed head-to-head to win the ultimate prize, “the coveted Golden Halo.” It encourages togetherness and has formed a unique online community who, according to the about page, “are passionate about taking their faith but not themselves too seriously.” Father Tim also serves as rector of the Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist in Hingham, Massachusetts.