“We need to be more present on social media; that’ll get more people involved in the church. The youth will love it. It’s evangelization.”
—Excited Parishioners
It’s important to evangelize people. Pope Paul VI emphasized that “The Church exists in order to evangelize.” Evangelization is the vocation of the Church and all her members. The problem with social media is that it promises connection, but often delivers isolation. A quick Google search of “social media and mental health” shows that there is a strong correlation with social media usage and increases in anxiety, depression, and a whole host of other negative mental effects. This doesn’t mean that social media is from the devil (it probably is) it just means that it’s probably not the best tool for evangelization, especially if the parish doesn’t have a full time staff member dedicated to the art of social media communication.
In many cases, social media allows us to feel like we’re sharing the gospel without the follow up of discipleship. We can share a pro-life post or a devotional with the click of a button. We get very excited about clever hashtags and like-and-share campaigns. We share all of these things and in the end, never really share ourselves. It is in the sharing of ourselves in relationship that evangelization, leading to life change, occurs.
Parishes don’t need a stronger social media presence in order to evangelize better. Social media posts don’t disciple people. People disciple people. What would happen if we stopped trying to be clever on social media and started being sincere? We need to be willing to walk up to individuals and say, “Hi, can I pray with you?”
We need to empower our parishioners with the practical experience they need to pray effectively and share their faith with one another. This will have a deeper, longer-lasting impact in our churches than the wittiest of hashtags.
Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash
