What does it mean for the church to learn from the past, live in the present, and step into the future? This is one of the foundational questions we are asking and exploring with the 2025 Convergence Digital Ministry Senior Fellows. Bringing together some of the leading practitioners in digital ministry, this cohort will develop and energize stronger, more confident leaders who will have the knowledge and skills to help their congregations (and the wider Church) thrive and find their way on this ever-changing digital landscape.
Who will we explore this essential work with this year? Meet the 2025 Convergence Digital Ministry Senior Fellows:
Rev. Natalie Renee Perkins serves as Executive Minister for Digital Church at Middle Collegiate Church in New York City, helping to build and hold its online church and community. She received her Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in 2015 where she was awarded the Karen Ziegler Feminist Preaching Prize. She became an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ denomination in 2020. Rev. Perkins also serves as a chaplain/spiritual life advisor for NYU Global Spiritual Life. As a theologian, she lectures and works with extracanonical texts.
In her work with extracanonical texts, she is also a composer and an author. Her album, Songs of Your Truth, is available on all major music platforms, and her first book, In Trembling Boldness: Wisdom for Today from Ancient Jesus People, published by Broadleaf in the summer of 2023, is available wherever books are sold.
In addition to her religious work, Rev. Perkins is a professional performer– seen in the national tours of “Hairspray” and “Rent,” as well as international performances with major cruise lines and the USO Show Troupe. She continues to sing with symphonies and in regional theaters across the country.
“I met my call to digital ministry while performing. It was challenging to find a church in every new city that also aligned with my needs and beliefs. I experienced firsthand the different Christianities practiced all over this nation and across the world. I was curious about how to bridge the gap between where I might be in the world and where I felt spiritually connected, and I knew I couldn’t be alone in that curiosity.”
Rev. Dr. Lawrence T. Richardson serves as the Associate Conference Minister for Church Vitality and Transitions in the Michigan Conference of the United Church of Christ. Before Conference Ministry, Lawrence served as a local church pastor, digital evangelist, social media director, new church start pastor, and media trainer. Lawrence is a writer, poet, avid reader, and loves trying different cuisines, traveling, spending time with loved ones, and empowering people to live life in wholeness, abundance, faith, intention, love, and gratitude.
“I am called to Digital Ministry because I am called to utilize every platform at my disposal to share the good news of the Christian faith, and the realities of living as a person of faith in the digital age. I also happen to be a black, queer, trans millennial and digital spaces are my primary tools for social engagement and community building.”
Rev. Colleen Darraugh has been active in congregational and denominational ministry for most of her life. Her journey began in the Salvation Army in Canada. After coming out, she found her way to Metropolitan Community Churches. Having worked as a music educator then as a professional trombonist, Colleen entered Emmanuel College, Toronto School of Theology, and her pastoral career, which now spans 40+ years. In 2003-04, she engaged in a hybrid ministry commuting between her home in North Texas and a congregation in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. From 2018-2022, she led Mobilizing Love Ministries, a primarily online community. Currently, she pastors Metropolitan Community Church of Knoxville and is engaged in her dissertation research and writing.
Worship development and resourcing have always been a passion of Colleen’s. She was the Liturgist/Worship Designer for four of MCC’s international conferences and has liturgies published in four collections. Colleen cares about going beyond livestreaming to engaging and connecting online congregants in worship and ministry as well as developing meaningful hybrid worship experiences. She is committed to equipping small churches and volunteers.
Colleen lives in a residential RV in East Tennessee on the shores of Douglas Lake at the foot of the Great Smokey Mountains with her wife, singer Shelly Torres-West, their dog, and two cats.
“We are called to share the Gospel. Our call is not to institutions or buildings. The world is now digital, and the church must be present and effectively active in digital spaces. While not neglecting the needs of those desiring so-called ‘traditional’ church, we must also adapt to new models utilizing emerging new tools. As a lifelong learner, I am interested in re-imagining church for this era. My dissertation explores the connections between our theological foundations for digital ministry, particularly missiology and ecclesiology, and online participant engagement and community.”
Rev. Dr. Jerry Maynard (he/they) is The People’s Priest; a spiritual renegade and social revolutionary. As a Two-Spirit Indigenous Person (Xochihua), Father Jerry strives to offer healing medicine at the intersections of church & society through pastoral care & public witness in Houston, TX. A respected leader in progressive Christian and interfaith circles, Father Jerry has played a crucial role in grassroots efforts to foster radical inclusion and social justice.
In addition to their direct ministry work, Father Jerry has a significant media presence online with their weekly “Monday Musings” show, which offers lessons in practical spirituality, and their “Artisans of the Horizon” show that showcases changemakers who are making a difference through creative resistance.
As a scholar and educator, Dr. Jerry has published books, essays, and articles that cover timely and timeless topics such as postmodernism, protest chaplaincy, digital ministry, queer hermeneutics, practical spirituality, and much more.
“I have felt called and equipped to engage with digital ministry because storytelling is a crucial part of indigenous identity. In the time we live, digital mechanisms help us to broadcast ourselves and curate sacred space where our stories can link up with other stories to craft a cosmic story. Digital ministry also allows me to actively work to democratize a sense of the sacred, so that the sacred is no longer solely found in the gold, gem-encrusted chalice on the altar, but in the “clicks and clacks” of the keyboard or the pinging of the Zoom room opening. Ultimately, for me, digital ministry is about abolishing the lines between the sanctuary, the streets, and the screens. Here and now, the Holy; it’s up to us to subscribe or not.”
The Rev. Dr. Sarah Townes is a pastor, teacher, and evangelist who shares the Good News of God’s love in person at Church of the Good Shepherd in Albuquerque, NM, and online @disorganized.religion. She helped found the #progressivechristian and #progressiveclergy digital communities and regularly reaches over 500K people each month on TikTok and Instagram. Pastor Sarah’s innovative use of technology in worship and digital spaces allows her to reach new audiences with the teachings of Jesus, enrich worship, and deepen her community’s connections to God and one another. You can read her doctoral work “Digital Ministry as Decolonial Praxis” at www.disorganizedreligion.fun.
“I was a reluctant convert to digital ministry but found a deep longing for spiritual connection and conversation in online spaces. I adopted digital tools to better facilitate accessible gatherings of diverse people that enrich my community’s connections to God and the wider Body of Christ.”
Our work to equip and empower digital ministry in the Church is a big dream: to empower leaders who can model what digital ministry could look like in various contexts, to equip and inspire faith leaders in varying contexts with different technological abilities to take their necessary next step in digital ministry, and to look forward to where this might be headed rather than perpetually looking back and wishing we could relive our “glory days” of the past.
Do you want to learn more about Digital Ministry with a cohort of other pastors and faith leaders? Click here to learn more about our upcoming Fall 2025 Digital Ministry cohort and keep an eye out for our next Digital Ministry online summit!
Comments
Congratulations, Lawrence! It’s an honor to know you!
I am so thankful for Colleen inviting me to participate in Mobilizing Love Ministries. It led me back into feeling a part of a congregation in a different part of the country and it led me forward to feeling excited again about the gospel of Jesus the Christ. Not getting out much I find myself reaching out in places I’d never dreamed I could minister – the grocery store and to those who knock on my door. Thank you, Colleen, for bringing this small sheep back into the fold and excited through digital ministry!