In June, I attended the Faith Lift conference – a conference to help church leaders turn their focus inward from their members to those outside the church (to become more missional). At the conference, Justin Wise of Lutheran Church of Hope and author of the Be Deviant blog, led a break-out session to assist church leaders in using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and blogging to reach their members and community in new ways.

I was astounded and somewhat saddened by the lack of understanding and use of social media by churches. I guess I had expected them to at least have heard of Facebook and Twitter even if they weren’t using them. It was eye-opening because I use social media daily and realize the value it provides in connecting with people. I realized there was a huge need to help them understand social networking and overcome the intimidation that I sensed from many. Justin also recognized the need and has answered the call to help.

Enter the BeDeviant Social Media Summit.

You can visit his blog for more details and background or visit the BeDeviant Social Media Summit page. Basically, the summit will give church leaders the opportunity to learn about and use social media. There will be speakers to help them see the bigger picture and value of social media, as well as hands-on time – something for churches using social media all the time and for those yet to embrace it.

The Social Media Shepherds in the Twin Cities will be helping Justin as much as we can. Since the conference is in Des Moines, we’re talking about chartering a bus to get people there. We may host a satellite location locally and pipe in the keynote sessions and facilitate hands-on time on site.

You can help, too. First and foremost by telling others. Tell your church leaders. Tell your friends to tell their church leaders. Also, pray for God to guide Justin, to bring together all of the details and to draw the leaders to attend.

Want to help further? Contact Justin to see how you can plugin. Or leave a comment here if you’d like to help with the Twin Cities’ efforts. You could also join us at the next Social Media Shepherds’ meeting where we’ll be discussing our involvement further. We will meet on Friday, Sept. 10 from 7:30-8:30 a.m. at Caribou across Snelling from Har Mar Mall.