Last week, I strayed from my series on Ecclesiastes to share a topic we do not often speak of much. It is the topic of what to do with ministers specifically, after a divorce. Certainly these questions are handled by presbyteries, of which I have had the honor to serve on.
Nonetheless, I was grateful for Joel Triska’s public openness. I asked if I could share his article.
Joel said he is honored to share on Patheos
To read his article, click below:
Furthermore, Joel asked some questions about the actual performance of his article. I will try to share a little information.
I will not share my stats in comparison with others, because I truly do not know how some of these Evangelical Columnists perform on a regular basis.
It will be more about method than about numbers. What I will offer can be reproduced by you or your congregations. All of these social platforms have a free option, except for Patheos (a contracted author position).
It is important to consider how many people we are reaching with a particular message. With this very crucial point in mind, we consider Joel’s article on divorce in a new light.
Patheos
Patheos coaches us to link to Google Analytics. Right now I have a top performing article eclipsing everything else, every month since I wrote it in early spring. I wish I could analyze it and figure out exactly what I did right, but I have tried and haven’t come close.
Nonetheless, Joel’s article has already sped past all my other articles for November and is in second place.
As for comments, Patheos has been discouraging this part of blogging for some time. They want their recent bloggers to be seen as columnists, not bloggers. This is what they told me, and they shared their rationale. Some of the other columnists have the comment option, but I opted out after their explanation.
I would normally drop an article in my business page JC Ingle, so I could share it and track the Reach.
However, in recent months we’ve discovered our engagement is much better if we just share on our personal pages. Of course, you can’t gauge Reach from your personal page unless it is a video which shows Views.
This is a difficult tradeoff, but I do believe the word got out from my personal posts. I post in Friends Lists I create, in Groups, and on my Public Timeline.
There is some interaction on the Facebook public post I made of Joel’s article, including people who are recognized leaders in a couple Christian denominations. One leader knows Joel and his wife and commends them both for being engaged with their children during this time.
In one of the Facebook groups, someone asked about the Biblical rationale for the divorce. I said Joel is still ministering with a conservative organization with a good interpretation of Scripture and left it there. It was a random fly-by from someone I didn’t know in a Christian blogging group. As stated above, presbyteries usually work with these types of questions.
Joel has a good amount of views on my page so far, judging by my usual performance.
I just keep growing My Network, hoping to hit some type of critical mass. I need a job, but I can’t figure out how to break the LinkedIn algorithm. I’ve heard it’s better with the Premium Account or a Company Page, but some of the top social network gurus I know just have a regular page like me.
Actually, the way this particular post is performing is above average for me.
Sometimes if a Connection will Like, it starts to snowball, because on LinkedIn it shows up on the Connection’s Activity, and again on the overall timeline of their friends.
I will also post to a folder on my wife’s Pinterest she created for me, but I have no idea what is going on over there in estrogen land, and no way to really track it either. Please forgive me for stereotyping a whole social network. I have met some men who understand Pinterest 🙂 It really is a joke, please no hate email.
Tip: for those in youth ministry particularly, I have heard the Pinterest platform is really great for sharing ideas quickly. It does not seem to be a gender issue with the younger generations who can quickly assimilate and synthesize information from a variety of sources.
afterword from Rev. Jared
the performance
There is not much to say about the performance of this piece. If it is performing better than normal for me, then there are more people from my audience who are engaged. This means we are touching on a nerve.
At least on my platforms, Joel’s story warrants some attention.
Who is like Joel in your circles, and does he/she warrant some attention? Does this question sound uncomfortable? It should. I am not sure we even know what healthy attention is in this day and time. Joel makes a case for this in his story… the awkward interactions because we are often socially inept.
Share my article or Joel’s original post, sip it in with a delightful tea, talk about it with a friend, and then leave it at the coffeeshop.
This is why I want you to see the article is performing better than normal. It is not a normal article. Therefore, our Christian response should not be normal, in my opinion. It is crucial when everything is on the line.
I’m sorry about your cup of tea.
I’m asking you to be more aware.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Romans 12.15, NRSV
when it is time to speak
Of course, bear in mind three things. First, I have already mentioned twice it is good to leave the difficult questions of a divorce in ministry to the higher presbyteries. Second, the following thought really had nothing to do with today’s post. Nonetheless, I believe it speaks to some of the issues. Third, I seldom have great words in times of family crisis… and why should I?
May we simply learn to be fully present with those facing real loss.
Facebook post
I am doing a lot of writing these days. In the mornings I take time for myself to read, pray, and reflect. Everybody probably just thinks I am sleeping in, but it really is one of my only quiet times of the day. Today [11.12.21] this verse stood out to me, and the other thoughts came back to me.
Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Ecclesiastes 7.10, NRSV
C.S. Lewis reportedly said, and I keep seeing the quote online although my whole library is not at my disposal: “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
A fellow Cathlo-Evangelical recently shared this thought: “There’s a reason why the rearview mirror is smaller than the windshield. We have much more to look forward to.”
I guess you can apply these axioms however you like but the Scripture seems pretty straightforward.
Now on to face my responsibilities today.
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