Young pastor on the move: Social Media as a bridge to the church!

Young pastor on the move: Social Media as a bridge to the church!

The decline in membership in the churches and the falling number of prospective vicars raise questions about the future of the parish office. An example of a new generation of pastors is Morten Hennebichler from Cremlingen. He recently released a viral video on Instagram in which he shows his valley. Despite the temptations to take a career as a Christian influencer, Morten chose the classic way to the parish office, which includes several years of study, three state exams and a vicariate. Around 100 parish positions are currently vacant in the Hanover regional church, which indicates a drastic decline in the number of applicants, which has dropped by more than half in the past ten years. According to the Evangelical Church in Germany, there has been a decline in prospective vicars by 20 percent in the past five years.

The Shell Youth study 2024 shows that only 38 % of the Catholic and 35 % of the Protestant young people consider faith to be important. About half of the 12 to 25 year olds still belong to one of the large churches. In 2024, the churches lost around 1.1 million members, which is a historical decline. Morten himself grew up in a little religious parents and only found faith through a youth leisure. He takes the view that God can be found in the human gestures and emphasizes the meaning of doubts in faith.

new ways for the church

Saskia Schoof, a 33-year-old evangelical pastor from Oldenburg, also uses social media to communicate with people who have moved away from the church. With over 4,000 followers, she reaches a younger target group and also reflects on her own ways to form faith. Originally skeptically skeptical of the pastor's profession, she finally realized that her personality is a strength. However, she warns of Christian influencers who provide their messages with "hell threats" and sees this a dangerous radicalization.

The role of social media is seen as more important for the church. A study by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) shows that Christian influencers have a missionary potential on Instagram. About 12 % of the follower of these influencers are not members of churches and have no contact with parishes. The head of the study, Daniel Hörsch, describes over 10% as a "dream" for the missionary potential. It is also interesting that 58 % of Follower from Generation Z (20-29 years) and generation Y (30-39 years) come, while 38 % are 40 years or older.

authenticity and relevance of the content

The authenticity of the influencers is of great importance for 75 % of the respondents, and 66 % of followers find the content relevant to their spirituality. Contents must be exciting, current and innovative to reach the target groups that are often missing in traditional services. Additional investigations show that a high proportion of women of 85 % is in the follow -up of Christian influencers, which underlines the visibility of evangelical plurality on social media.

Morten and Saskia are examples of a new generation of clergymen who try to rethink the church and pursue innovative approaches. Inspired by the possibilities that social media offers, you would like to experience community donations and new forms of faith. Morten plans to work as a pastor in Braunschweig after his vicariate in Copenhagen. The renewal within the church is at the beginning, and it remains to be seen how these developments will shape the future offers of faith.

The developments in the church therefore show that the new generation of pastors is very different from its predecessors. Social media is viewed as an essential bridge to the church, both in order to get in touch with existing members as well as to reach new target groups that have so far had little or no contact with the church. The way to the future could not only be a challenge for the Church, but also a great opportunity.

The studies and reports can be viewed for further details on these topics: jesus.de about the future of the church , and HAW Hamburg on the church on social media.