Brought to you by Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary
Cohort Commitment: Participants should plan to dedicate one hour for online content each week and one hour for the Zoom session.
Information:
Convened by the Rev. Stacy Williams-Duncan, Rector at Little Fork Church and Founder, Learning and Change Strategist at ForTE! Consulting, and Sarah Stonesifer, Manager of Operations and Digital Missioner of the Lifelong Learning Department at Virginia Theological Seminary.
This cohort aims for participants to engage in ministry leadership in a connected, digital world. Our end goal for the cohort members is that they have a plan and resources to recognize and implement digital literacies within their respective ministries.
During this cohort, you will be given the opportunity to:
- Develop a working competency with the Digital Literacies for Ministry, which will allow for self-assessment of one’s leadership abilities, knowledge, culturally informed blind spots, and personal preferences, resulting in the identification of individual strengths and areas for growth.
- Determine when to curate, adapt, or create resources from religious and secular sources to integrate theory and praxis and address contemporary issues and contexts.
- Experiment with a variety of digital media tools, so that participants can develop confidence, a spirit of “grit”, and grasp of wise practices with regard to digital ministry.
The Digital Literacies for Ministry, identified during research conducted by the VTS Lifelong Learning team, articulate the digital skills 21st-century ministers need:
- navigating hybrid and digital cultures
- convening hybrid and digital community
- maintaining a posture of experimentation
- cultivating a spiritually wise digital habitus
- presenting authentically and pastorally online
- connecting media theory and theological reflection
- creating and curating faith-based media artifacts