The YouTube Mission Field

 

By the Rev. Matthew Moretz

Recently, Google bet $1.65 billion that YouTube is the latest frontier of the global media landscape. I am making a similar wager that YouTube is the latest frontier for spreading the Good News. Since the summer of 2006, I have produced and distributed my own video blog series on YouTube from the comfort of my own
office. Entitled “Father Matthew Presents,” the weekly series is comprised of creative and short video pieces that feature the ministry of a newly ordained priest. Initially a side project, my cyberspace efforts were met with surprising results. “Father Matthew Presents” (www.youtube.com/fathermatthew) now acquires more virtual viewers online than the actual members of my congregation. It is my contention that YouTube
represents an unlikely, new mission field for the Episcopal Church.

As a relatively young priest, I have sought to raise awareness in my parish of the new trends in media. Many of today’s worshippers are unaware of the communications sea-change that YouTube has initiated. With the motto “Broadcast yourself” and millions of clips from which to choose, YouTube is fundamentally restructuring the way people receive media in their homes.

Begun in May 2005, YouTube is a hosting website (www.youtube.com) that allows anyone with a computer to share his or her home-made or recorded videos in a simplified format that is user-friendly. The website is not only easy to use, but also standsas one of the most popular websites on the Internet today. It is also participatory, with 65,000 videos posted on YouTube daily. Viewers can leave their comments or give a video
a rating, if they so choose. These YouTube videos run the gamut, from adorable kitten footage to compelling TV clips. And some particular videos acquire a mysterious “viral” quality, increasing their viewership to the millions.

Perhaps the most iconic genre of YouTube content is the video blog, a personal
journal that is recorded on a camcorder and posted on the internet. I was aware of the
countless text blogs penned by ordained ministers. (Indeed, in light of the rampant
gossip in Episcopalian blogs, the Bishop of Florida declared a moratorium on the reading
of such blogs. Few complied.) Yet I was surprised that there were no video blogs
authored by priests or ministers. Few had made the leap into this cutting-edge
medium, especially on a regular basis.

The week after my ordination to the priesthood, I began my first crude installments of “Father Matthew Presents.” The pieces involved conversations with the
viewer concerning the ministries of St. Paul’s and the ordained life. The series began as a
“talking-head” format, but soon shifted to a more suitable image and narrative-based
structure. My main goal is to share quirky, yet credible, insights into church life in a
short and creative format. In a sense, “Father Matthew Presents” is a virtual welcome mat
for the Body of Christ.

As of now, twenty short videos are featured on YouTube, and my church’s own
website (www.spcy.org) hosts these videos as well. One piece is a music video featuring
images of parishioners and the blessing of pets during a St. Francis Day festival. Another
explains the church’s campaign to support the UN Millennium Development Goals using
a candy bar. Other pieces explain arcane church terminology, discuss challenges of
parish ministry, or explore the lives of saints, such as Mary Magdalene. The most popular
piece, with more than a thousand viewers, is the “Scripture, Tradition, and Reason Puppet
Show,” a light-hearted romp through the traditional Episcopalian view of biblical
authority.

Since posting the videos, I have received a kind note at least every other day from all
over the country. My series will soon be featured on “The Geranium Farm,” a popular
e-ministry run by the Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton. And thanks to donations of
editing software and lighting from interested viewers, the production quality of “Father
Matthew Presents” has been slowly enhanced.
Yet, I believe that the video blog’s lack of polish adds to its charm, in a context
where authenticity and immediacy are paramount. The home-spun character of the
series does have its downside. After the scandal of Lonelygirl15 (a popular video blogger
that was exposed as an actress presenting a persona), I have had to assure a few
viewers that I am indeed a priest! I hope that, over time, YouTube ministry will rise
in credibility.

I encourage Episcopalians and those of other faiths to take advantage of this recent
shift in the world of high-tech relationships, with YouTube as their tool. I believe that
now is the time for the mainline churches to cultivate a presence upon this cheap and
accessible terrain, before more extremist voices do. Hard-line voices of faith have
dominated the airwaves for decades. But, for now, these voices seem absent in pluralistic
realms like YouTube. Perhaps these strident voices will shrink from the intense scrutiny
that this new marketplace of ideas invites. YouTube presents a new opportunity for
people of faith to dialogue rather than dominate.

Regardless of what develops in the new virtual land of YouTube, one missionary-
minded priest intends his church to have a home there.

BLOG SAMPLER Here is a list of Episcopalian/Anglican blogs for you to explore. Please e-mail us at eny@dioceseny.org to tell us about blogs you have found especially interesting. http://blog.edow.org/weblog/ - A blog about faith, culture, politics and the Episcopal Church brought to you by the Diocese of Washington http://revmikek.blogspot.com/ -The blog of the Rev. Mike Kinman, Executive Director of Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation http://sistermaryalternative.blogspot.com/ The blog of Jen Goodnow, who wrote the “Nuns in the Blogosphere” story in this issue. http://titusonenine.classicalanglican.net/ -A blog by the Canon Kendall Harmon, a priest from South Carolina.  Highly-trafficked and is considered required reading by many Episcopal Bloggers. www.thinkinganglicans.org – UK blog started by Simon Kershaw, Simon Sarmiento and Peter Owen to provide a thoughtful view to the proclamation of the gospel message.