Sheila S. Lee is a self-published author and co-pastor of Powerhouse Church of Redemption in Elizabeth City, NC. Lee is also the host of the Morning Joy gospel broadcast on WRVS-FM radio. Although at the beginning, she says, friends and associates from her food pantry were well aware of her ministry, she still used other mediums to bring in new members weekly. Lee recalls the days when she and her husband advertised for their church by using flyers and putting their foot on the pavement.:

Quote from Pastor Sheila Lee

Young-Joo Lee, at the School of Economics, Political and Policy Sciences at Texas University at Dallas, published a research article in 2017 that connected a church congregation's Facebook presence with users of a particular membership size, age, location, or religious discipline.

Pastor Lee's social media presence follows this description and that of her supporters, who post or livestream their sermons and special events on Facebook or YouTube and have small congregations in rural parts of North Carolina. There is not much social media activity outside those platforms.

Suggesting that people of a specific generation use Facebook to broadcast their live Sunday services may appear ageist to some degree. However, Joo Lee's assessment is astute when considering the demographic of founding clergy members in an organization and their slow, if apparent, acceptance of emerging technologies in ministry. When asked if she misses going back to the old-time way, Pastor Lee quickly said, "No."

Social Media Influencers in the Church:

In some ways, social media helped churches and organizations expand their spiritual reach beyond their congregations. While the world slowly adapted to getting vaccinated and sheltering in place, the church developed strategies to market its services to affluent stakeholders outside of its organization and lobby for economic support to continue being a light to its communities. No example could be more outstanding than megachurches, whose attendance grew to 1,000 members per week.

In a 2021 study published in the Journal of Public Relations Research, researchers from Texas Christian University and Clemson University's Department of Communication interviewed 13 public relations professionals at US megachurches to gauge their understanding, use, and incorporation of social media and social media influencers in their organization-public relationship strategies (OPR). Since the Evangelical Crusade movement of the 1980s, these massive places of worship have housed some of the largest religious populations in the United States.

Megachurches are defined not solely by their population (some totaling as many as 15,000 regular attendees per week) but by their subtle abstinence from denominational labeling. According to a 2019 article in Encyclopedia.com, most Megachurches lean toward a more progressive or conservative platform. Most megachurches believe the traditional, strictly biblical teachings in a liberal society to be outdated in nature, challenging the often controversial issues of LGBTQ+ Rights, Abortion, and the sanctity of marriage, among other topics.

Writer Edward Martin of Business North Carolina spoke about Meyers Park Baptist Church, a Baptist ministry in Charlotte, NC. According to the article, Meyers considered leaning away from what it deems "branding," including strict gender assignments of bathroom facilities and the term "Baptist," which has for years identified its' connection to the denomination. Other churches have considered more extreme means of distinguishing themselves from the conventional norms to appeal to stakeholders and the mainstream audiences' financial support.

The premise of executing a successful PR outcome for churches in this generation, according to Golan et al., is to transform the mode of communication from single communication – advertising going out from the church itself – to a two-way, interactive model with influencers serving as a third party advertisement of the services, announcements, special events and access to exclusive content from the church in exchange for shares, likes, and comments about the church.

Ask Jaylen Webb, worship leader at The Mount Church in Elizabeth City, NC, and Digital Creator at Elizabeth City State University. Since she was four, Webb has learned how to be a voice for God in as many capacities as humanly possible. However, after she graduated from ECSU in May 2021, when many of her fellow graduates thought they would spend another year in isolation and robbed of a proper commencement, the video of her shouting for joy on stage went viral and catapulted both her public and spiritual reach into the digital stratosphere. That video, Webb explains, is responsible for her currently having over 3K followers on Instagram alone.

Quote from Jaylen Webb

Influencers don't have to be third-party entities who expand an audience on the church's behalf. Kelly Carr, writer and editing consultant of EditorofLife.com, published a story in Christianity Today about the rise of the fastest-growing church in Cincinnati, Crossroads Church, a non-denominational ministry with a self-proclaimed entrepreneurial focus that has helped them expand to over fourteen campuses across the country and counting.

Another example of successful social media influence comes from up North. Rasool Berry, associate pastor of The Bridge Church NYC in Brooklyn, NY., host of the Where Ya From podcast, and certified Christian Influencer, is also the writer, producer, and host of the award-winning documentary Juneteenth: Faith and Freedom, a project in partnership with the Public Broadcasting System and Our Daily Bread Ministries.

Berry has a healthy following on Instagram, with over 4K followers and counting. The Juneteenth host says that his influence happened “Quite organically,” as social media assisted the work he was already doing with the Impact Movement and their music ministry, Impact Music. While touring with different bands by invitation across America, a friend of his from Princeton University introduced him to Facebook:

Quote from Rasool

Most remember New York, one of the most condensed populations in the U.S., as one of the hardest-hit states in America during the pandemic. Pastor Berry explained that during quarantine, the sudden transition to online services was not as tricky for The Bridge Church NYC as for most other ministries. The church had already discussed using that option but put it aside until necessary.

Nevertheless, this author found it unfathomable that even with the advent of social media and its benefits, sideline attendance (the try-before-one-buys principle) remained in effect for many users—as Pastor Berry cheekily confirmed.

The Bouncing Back Debate:

Eric Downing is a deacon and long-standing member of New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, a sprawling corner church folded in the heart of Hertford County, NC. operates the camera, records his pastor's weekly messages on Facebook, and then returns home to watch them on social media. Downing has served his beloved church for 55 years.

For over 158 years, New Bethel, founded in 1866, has held its own, serving its community's needs and tending to its youth's development. Since adding social media to its mass-market reach efforts, New Bethel has enjoyed 1.2K likes and 1.4K followers on Facebook. Downing says that he appreciates the growth his sacred church's social media reach has had since Covid.

Nevertheless, Deac. Downing laments the recent additions of massive television screens and recording equipment, which present a "low-hanging fruit" option out of physical church attendance. On a partly cloudy day in July, Deac. Downing explained why New Bethel's weekly numbers have suffered because of it.

Deacon Eric Downing explains the benefits and problems with church attendance since COVID

Not all churches had the resources to achieve a successful turnaround. Smaller, more rural establishments faced another battle with their congregations that, as Covid restrictions eased, carried over into today, and many have suffered dearly for it, even seeing declining numbers of attendance, significantly shallow pews, or their churches closing for good. That was the case for Parker’s Grove United Methodist Church in Linden, NC, who, after one hundred and fifty years of service to their community, faced the hard decision to close their doors in 2020.

Writer Edward Martin explained that smaller churches have had to compete with megachurches which offer more in terms of community resources. Their location in urban areas alone means more social exposure to their communities, and direct access to third-party stakeholders, which means a greater potential to receive funds for non-religious projects like childcare, senior programs, food distribution and homeless outreach projects. They are also better suited for major community efforts like hurricane relief.

By comparison, smaller churches often reside in rural areas that are closer to residents, but in towns that are often overlooked or difficult to get to. The average age of the pastor is fifty-four or older, the clergy is generally small as is the congregation, and not very active on social media.

As Pastor Berry warns, the viewers should not focus on the size of the church but on the pastor's message.

Pastor Berry clarifies the disconnect between the spiritual versus self-promotion of "Christian Influencers"

As stated before, social media is a tool used by pastors to promote and project the message of Jesus Christ to millions of people worldwide. But in the age of mass misinformation, even preachers must be carefully vetted to ensure that it is indeed authentic. The Bible says in John 8 verse 32, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” When the algorithm makes it easier to see a surplus of ‘inspirational’ content daily, many are less thoughtful to scale that message back and wonder if the message posted is motivated by a desire to see souls saved.

Dr. Bishop William Downing of Open Door Outreach Ministries Inc., a relatively small ministry in Edenton, NC., joins a small conglomerate of ministers who are given to the traditional worship of God to the point of abstaining from social media use to promote his ministry and focusing on his existing congregation. One must understand that he is not entirely against using platforms like Facebook or YouTube. Bishop Downing believes that "social media does not have a place in the church."

Bishop Downing also believes that the world's post-Covid dependence on social media may lead to what the bible terms "The Great Falling Away," a prophetic happening described in 2 Thessalonians 2: 3-4 that the church has warned its members against for centuries. The prophecy foretells that the world will become so consumed with their desires that the most ungodly of them will openly and collectively turn their backs on God for the last time.

Dr. Bishop Downing explains the "Great Falling Away" and how social media dependence may connect to it

The "False Doctrine" Bishop Downing speaks of is the pastoral acceptance and subsequent promotion of the very sinful acts the Bible condemns in efforts to keep a population under their influence.

Pastor Anthony Bates, Jr. is from Chesapeake, VA, and has served in his online ministry for about four years. He says he lives by a 'come as you are' mentality that welcomes members at his church in Hampton Roads and his Anthony Bates, Jr. Ministries like family. That mentality is necessary in today's post-COVID generation, where many smart devices and apps have instrumentally divided humanity.