The past three weeks, we’ve had a scammer/spammer leave comments with trigger words on one of the social media pages I admin (I admin multiple groups and pages).

The first week I took the comment seriously as I’d hope any compassionate person would. I’ve also been trained how to respond to certain comments and the steps to take in order to tell if they are legit.

So rather than reply with gut instinct, I replied as I’d been taught to do.

I quickly realized this wasn’t real and took immediate steps to safeguard that page.

The second week, I wanted to still exhibit compassion- which should be our default- while also maintaining the integrity of the page and any other admins.

By the third week, I needed this spam scammer to go away. So I began the process of reporting these comments.

As I was in the process, unknowing church members began replying to the scammer.

Since then I’ve been getting tagged hundreds of times a day by accounts I’d never associate, tagging me in content I’d never associate with.

So today I took steps to be Meta Certified.

I had already gone through the community manager course (and passed!), but today I got the blue certification check next to my name.

It’s only $25/month, but that’s a small price to pay.

Jesus laid his life down for His bride – the church. I think I can spend $25/month to ensure she’s protected digitally.

Church Communications 💻 ⛪️
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Most of you know I have a full time job that I love + a small side gig that isn’t too time consuming.
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In addition to those, I serve our church in the ministry of Communications.
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At our church I’ve got a little more access to our digital platforms than some other church members. Not full unlimited access, but just enough to serve in the areas I need to serve in.
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This brings me to YouVersion. In addition to YouVersion for Churches, our church has a “regular” YouVersion account.
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YV for churches is awesome, but still missing some features. A regular church account has features we like and use.
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As a volunteer, a personal boundary I’ve always had is to serve using my laptop/browser tab.
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My phone is not my computer. My phone is for unplugging (yeah for real). My phone is my personal space. It’s for playing solitaire, Candy Crush, and connecting with friends and family. It’s for taking pictures that may never get seen, and family group texts. It’s also for my personal Bible reading.
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I’ve actually been known to ask some people to email me images and files rather than text them to help maintain this boundary.
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However, recently YouVersion removed the ability to manage Bible Reading plans or accept friend requests from a web browser tab. You can only do this via the mobile app.
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And our Pastor wants to start a new Bible reading plan. I’m NOT criticizing this decision. If anything, I wish we – the church – did them more often.
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So yesterday I logged out of YouVersion as me and logged in as an our church.
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At this point, you’re probably like, “yeah so what?” But for me, it felt like crossing a personal boundary.
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Definitely not major. Not any sort of deal breaker, but just felt weird.
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But then I reminded myself of why I do this. Communications is more than design, websites, graphics, databases, and livestreams. Those things are tools to help people know Jesus.

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And I didn’t create the tools. I simply use them.

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So if you see me break my personal streak on YouVersion or it looks like I’m behind on my personal reading, just remember things aren’t always what they seem.

4 years ago, while venturing into very unknown and uncharted territory , God made me a promise.

It was a moment that I heard His voice so incredibly clearly I was almost startled.

Since then I have searched for answers.
In my quiet time, I get the same answer.

In the busyness and when I’m tired and weary, I get the same answer.

In telling a very, very, few trusted friends, I get the same answer.

Recently I told a handful of people who don’t know me well. Opening your heart and sharing a promise that has been on your heart for years is terrifying but it needed to happen.

Now I pray.

And I trust in God.

I shared something with our own church’s communications team a few weeks ago and I hope this helps one of you as we finish out the year.
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Church communications is about more than a public platform to reach the unchurched or random strangers. It’s also about keeping your congregation informed and connected. It’s about supporting your staff as they lead the church. [I am a volunteer, and I was addressing other volunteers.]
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May we not just see these apps and programs we use — Subsplash, Planning Center, Facebook, Instagram, and MailChimp — as tools to use and something to do, but as gifts and platforms to share the Gospel.
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Because it’s about more than likes and clicks and shares. It’s about people and souls.
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🙏

Without giving exact dates, or too much detail, today I find myself wondering…

How many times you can say no to God.

You see, 3+ years ago He unquestionably told me my next step.

I chased down that next step for a few years and every door shut.

And I wondered if I misheard.

No, child, you heard correctly the what.

Now you must wait on the how, when, and where.

And thus began a season of complete and total obedience.

Trust. Faith. Belief.

And then out of the nowhere, the perfect door opened. But I said no.

And then another perfect door opened. And again I said no.

And now a third door has opened, but there are so many people blocking the way.

I see the entry — do I take the roof entrance?

I’m trying to not focus on the people, only this door.

But ultimately only on Jesus.

Several years ago I was serving as a next steps director at a church. I was primarily responsible for our guest services teams, assimilation/connections, and I was the Master Administrator of our church database.

That database — and its areas of public accessibility — launched me into church communications (I had a background in corporate marketing and design, as well.)

Fast forward several years — I am working with an international church media company and I had a side gig coaching/consulting with churches on team structure and sustainable growth practices.

Mostly through that side gig I got to track data and metrics on what was working and what wasn’t.

At the same time I was seeing growth in the church we attended and wondered if any of the areas I was seeing in the churches I worked with would be beneficial to our own church.

The first step was prayer. I needed to remove my agenda. I needed to remove me.

I had to hear from God.

I needed clarity. I needed wisdom. I just needed Him. Just Him.

Once I knew without a doubt what His answer was, I approached our church staff.

I mapped out the plan for a communications team that I wholeheartedly believed God had given me.

Our church staff listened and prayed.

A short time later they agreed that this team could be part of our church’s mission.

The first few months were rough. It seemed like forever that I was a team of one.

I kept asking God if I’d heard wrong, but He continued to promise me that He was there.

That’s the important thing His plan drove my vision and His promises never fail.

Today I was updating Planning Center (yes, I’m still in love with the church database) and I’ve got 15 people on this team.

What!?!? Thank you, God!

There’s still a lot I’m responsible for but there’s so much I haven’t been able to do that I can now do because I’ve got a team.

God said He would and He did!!

Now for next steps.

He’s made me another promise and this one is big. Like huge and I’m not ready to share what or who it’s about but I believe He’ll keep this promises.

Let me tell you what I love about serving in communications:

• I love that I see the back end numbers of who we are reaching. Church is more than Sunday morning in a building. I love that our content social media is reaching both our followers (our congregation and friends) and non-followers.
• I love to track which type of content reaches the most people. Seriously – if I tell you that your content isn’t right for a particular platform, it’s only because I want your content to reach the most people.
• I love that I get to provide a connection for someone who can’t— or maybe even won’t— come to a physical building.
• I love that I get opportunities to pray for those people online during the service.
• I love that I get to listen and watch the service sometimes several times over as I create shareable clips to post during the week.
• I love that I get to care for a team. It’s a small team, but they are dedicated, talented, and it’s growing.
• I love that God had given me a vision for growth in this ministry and that He gave me the heart to see it as a ministry rather than a task.
• I love that I get advance notice of what’s to come. I get to pray for how people will receive the words and sometimes get to promote what’s to come.
• I love connecting with my counterparts at other churches both globally and locally to strategically reach our communities and our world for Jesus through digital platforms.
• I love creating series art and sermon quote art — its not slapping words on an image— it’s the word of God coming to life visually.
• There are more things I love — too many to list.

Now let me tell you what I miss (because love does take sacrifice)

• I miss Sunday lunches and dinners with my family. Video editing can take a lot of time
• I miss praying with people or even talking to people at church. Most people don’t know I’m even there. The livestream starts early, ends late, and there’s gear to pack up. There have been times I needed prayer, but I push through it to serve others. I’ve served through sadness, grief, tiredness, and loss that no one ever knew about.
• I miss certain activities and events. Communications is not only device-centric but time sensitive. I need to be serving when most people are “off.”
• I miss a dedicated lunch break every Thursday to send our church email.
• I miss being part of a team that huddles and prays together.
• I miss mornings, evenings, weekends, and sleep. I serve when I’m not working my full-time job.

But….

I will always always always start with what I love. What I’m grateful for.

Every ministry…. EVERY MINISTRY takes sacrifices.

Ask people in ANY ministry what they give up to serve. Their lists are undoubtedly long.

This is NOT an “I give up more than you” comparison.

If we’re going to compare, let’s compare our lists to Jesus’.

Because He wins.

He missed a lot when He gave up His life.

You know those times you need one thing from the store? We no longer live in a time where you can borrow a cup of sugar from your neighbor. Unless you have our neighbors — they’re the best.

But sometimes in the middle of a mess, you really HAVE to run to the store.

You’ve had a hard day and it shows in how you look. And you pray that you won’t run into anyone you actually know.

And then you see everyone. Almost everyone.

So yesterday going to and at church…

Let me back up…

Last week was one of those weeks that I wished didn’t happen. A prayer that I’ve prayed for wasn’t answered as I’d hoped. A family we love is grieving the loss of someone way too young.

And yes, as Christ followers we know without a doubt where she is. But there is still heartbreak. This is not the outcome I prayed for.

The sadness hit heavy and hard.

But the show — or in this case the church service — must go on.

So I made it to church and took my place in the back. Behind the screen.

My little livestream corner.

I prepped some social media (really just resized slides to squares — 17 of them!), remembered that I hadn’t scheduled a push notification which has to be done manually each week, I checked a link which I had hoped would be ready ahead of schedule – but wasn’t, I prepped our sermon title thumbnails so all I would need post-service was a single image, and then I cried.

I cried more than I thought I would, could, or should.

The sermon was fantastic, but my tears were a response to the week.

Tired tears.

Sad tears.

Weary, exhausted, and heartbroken tears.

Fortunately no one turned around and saw the crying mess I was in the back of the room. And I even had the opportunity to pray with someone on the livestream. I do love it when people ask for prayer during our livestream.

And talk about great. Any morning that that sees four hands raised for Jesus, yields a Sunday afternoon cutting 12 sermon clips, a baptism recap video, and church members requesting digital copies of the service slides is undoubtedly a great morning.

But I definitely breathed a sigh of relief when I got home.

Relief that only Jesus saw – and relief that Jesus always sees and loves – the blotchy, swollen, puffy-eyed, runny-nosed, middle-of-the-mess me.

Never more grateful for a view from the back than yesterday.

A few Sundays ago, I was serving my church — doing what I often do on a Sunday: editing video.

This particular Sunday, there was a church event, so I had my laptop in front of me while precariously balancing a plate of hot dogs (I never did eat them) and a bag of popcorn.

The person across from me asked if I was working.

No.

I’m serving.

There’s a difference.

Do the lines get blurred?

In short — no. But I suppose they could.

To be fair, when I worked at a church, those lines did get blurred. Often and almost always.

But now. I work full time in church media.

I serve in a leadership role in church communications.

Media // Communications

There’s definitely potential for some lines to get blurred.

But they don’t.

Work is Monday-Friday 8am-5pm with a short break for lunch. I have some flexibility since I work from home. But my employer honors my time by paying me a fair living wage and providing benefits, so I will honor my time commitment to them.

It’s called: A JOB.

Serving our church comes before work, after work, and on weekends.

To the outsider it could appear that I’m working all the time.

I am not.

I’m blessed to have a job I truly enjoy, co-workers who are more like friends, and the knowledge that my work is making an impact for Jesus’ Bride — the church.

I’m equally blessed to serve our family church in a role that merges my ability, affinity, and affirmations.

I’m able to separate the two and draw boundaries.

Is it easy? No. But doable.

I’ll dive into how I do this in a later post. But for now – no blurry lines.