Digital Parish: Starting a digital movement with Shannon Karafanda

Shannon Karafanda:

And God showed me that Christianity started as a movement and that a Wesleyan, none Methodism started as a movement. And that as long as the movement was pointing back to God, it was good.

Ryan Dunn:

That was the voice of Shannon Karafanda, who is our adjunct professor for this session of pastoring in the digital parish. Reverend Shannon is the digital mastermind behind the hashtag holy mischief movement. If you haven't heard of it, you should definitely check it out. The hashtag pops up on all social media platforms and the movement has an active Facebook group. She's really started quite a thing. You may be wondering how you can start a digital movement, or you may be asking how you get people engaging with your digital entities or groups, or maybe you want to empower people to share their personal stories online, or maybe you want to see how to connect people to each other in digital space. We talk about all that as Shannon shares the story of hashtag holy mischief. I learned a lot you're going to as well. So let's meet Reverend Shannon Karafanda, our adjunct professor…

Shannon Karafanda is a renegade executive pastor at Peachtree United Methodist Church. And you oversee the staff development of the growth team, which keeps wheels running on Christian education. And you've done doctoral research on growth mindset and transformation leadership. And then you've used that educational experience and your experience-experience work-related experience to start a digital movement around hashtag holy mischief and that Facebook community has grown to over 900 members. I’d be willing to bet that there are probably several thousand who participate in the holy mischief hashtag. Well, that leads to the question of how did you get started in doing and engaging with hashtag holy mischief?

Shannon Karafanda:

Yeah, thanks Ryan. Um, so it started several years ago, um, before, even the term holy mischief was, um, associated with anything that I did. I was starting a new church with an a colleague and he wanted the core values of the church to be about service and to be about acts of kindness in the community. So he decided that every month our small groups were going to go out into the community and do acts of kindness with no strings attached. Um, and he called them AOK product projects, acts of kindness projects. So we would, we'd go out and we would do, um, we'd give waters on a hot day. We would buy people's gas. We would plant flowers or give flowers out to someone. Um, we would do scavenger hunts where we give throughout the city and have like a checklist of acts of kindness that we would see how many you can do in an hour.

Shannon Karafanda:

And then, and then come back together. And the purpose was not to get people to come to church. The purpose was to make people feel loved and because when you do an AOK, everything's a okay. And, um, so we really had a lot of fun with that. One week before we were to launch that church, the senior pastor passed away suddenly, and we, we were grieving. We were a little bit lost for a short period of time, but we moved forward and I ended up being the interim senior pastor for a little bit until someone else came in. But those projects really gave us an identity fast forward a few years, I'm at different churches. And for some reason that was something that I was still a little bit known for. And someone in our conference sent me an email and said, Hey, I'm trying to get the mischief makers of the conference together.

Shannon Karafanda:

And I, what I heard was holy misters makers. And I said, I don't know what that is, but I wanted, I want to do that. Um, so I started just using the hashtag in, on Twitter and Facebook and it sort of became a brand for me and something that I was known for. Um, and it's interesting when people think you're known for something, you start to actually be known for it. So I started to really live into it. So, you know, I was chair of the order of deacons in our annual conference and we got a new director of clergy excellence. And so I went to him and I said, you know, deacons are now for the basin and the towel. So I gave them a beach towel and a sand buckets. Like that's just a little off and surprising, but it's fun. And I wanted to be known for something that was fun and different, but also gave a little bit deeper meaning to people who really looked for it.

Shannon Karafanda:

And so it just kind of stayed in that hashtag realm. Like Shannon's known from when we mischief, I made buttons for annual conference and every everyone said, I want one. I want to be, I want a button. And so I finally was like, if you want a button, you got to earn it. So they would do something and they'd come and they'd tell me the story and I'd give them a button. And then a couple of years ago I was having my evaluation with my district superintendent. And I said, I feel called to start something, but I am not a shepherd. I'm not an elder, I'm a deacon. We connect the church in the world. Um, and she said, well, you could start a movement. And I said, no, that part path, I'm not doing that. That sounds like a cult, like a movement. That sounds, it sounded icky to me until a week or so later.

Shannon Karafanda:

And I was in my prayer time and God showed me that Christianity started as a movement and that a Wesleyan United Methodism started as a movement. And that as long as the movement was pointing back to guide, it was good from that point on. Um, I said, okay, I want to map this out. W what does this look like? What are my starting points? Um, and someone from the conference came down and we, you know, sticky notes and whiteboard and all the fun stuff. And we were like, okay, let's, let's start during lent. I'm going to do a devotional book. And each devotional has an, an action that you're supposed to do. And you're supposed to do that first before you read the devotional, and then the divisional helps you reflect on it. So it's, it's sort of this flipped model of church where people go and do things and then reflect the illogically instead of being inspired in the building and then sent out to do something.

Ryan Dunn:

Yeah. Oh, I'd love to dig into that idea for a moment, because as you have through the hashtag holy mischief kind of dived into that practice, are you finding people beyond the church responding to that? So that they're in a sense, their participation is enabling a sense of belonging in the group.

Shannon Karafanda:

There are some people, um, that, that are connected that aren't connected to a church and feel like, okay, this is something that's good that, you know, no, one's asking me to fill a seat and no one's asking me for money. Um, and so that's kind of the draw for them. Like, I can be the good person and sort of really discover God in the middle of this. Uh, there's not a lot. What I'm finding more of though, are Christians who don't feel like they have embodied their faith. Um, and maybe that's a little bit too harsh. It's really more, they feel like they've spent a lot of time in checking boxes or doing what's expected as a Christian and not really what they feel is an authentic expression of their faith. Um, or they feel like Christianity has gotten a bad rap because we do want people to fill seats and give money. And so they want to also be known for something more than that. What kind

Ryan Dunn:

Of posts are you seeing, uh, with hashtag hello?

Shannon Karafanda:

One of the things that excited me a lot is that Shane Claiborne has been using it on Twitter a good bit. And I don't think he got it for me. I, uh, the, the, the term, holy mischief, I have discovered the Lutherans have used it for one of their gathering conferences as their theme. Um, there was a United Methodist pastor in Alabama who wrote an article for a Christian magazine and talked about holy best, Jeff. Um, and in most of those cases, they're talking holy mischief in terms of social justice. And that's exactly what Shane ward is, is talking about. He redid one of his books and labeled the chapter, holy mischief, and it's all about social justice. Um, so I see a lot of that from Christian leaders from lay people. I see more of just like my heart is strangely warmed moments. Like people leaving hats and scarves in the trees for homeless populations in cities, or someone paying for, you know, the coffee and the drive-thru at Starbucks for the people behind them. Um, or during the pandemic, we saw a lot of different opportunities for holy mischief, um, and people who made sure that all of the first responders at the hospital got a free lunch or a goody bag or something like that. Well, how

Ryan Dunn:

Did you start to get people engaging with that?

Shannon Karafanda:

So, I, I started a Facebook group in 2020 right before lent hit. So I had a devotional set. I had 40 days of challenges. Um, some were easy, some were a little bit more difficult, and I got some partner churches to make that their theme for the Linton street, uh, time period. Um, and so I got about six churches who partnered, um, I gave them some graphics. I gave them the devotional. I gave them some t-shirts, uh, some other swag as well, and, um, encourage them to have a launch party. So I had a launch party at, uh, one of the local restaurants here brought my team in our active whole initiative together was to serenade our waitress by singing, living out a prayer. Um, and then we prayed for her. Uh, and then everyone got some swag and, you know, it was kind of like, Hey, let's sell it, you know, lenses this time where we think about internal reflection and there's still was that component to it.

Shannon Karafanda:

But this was like, Hey, the internal reflection really is made meaningful by what I do in the world. Um, so it was just a little bit of a different Lenten feel. Um, the other churches did something similar. One of the churches went to IHOP for pancakes on show Tuesday, and they asked everyone to, you know, contribute to, you know, what they're going to spend. And the pastor ended up paying for the bill and everyone that contributed that was the tip that they left for their waitress. So, um, just, just kind of doing things that are above and beyond and surprising. So those churches all kind of got onto this Facebook group and we had so much fun sharing the things that we were doing and, um, how it made them feel that they started inviting more and more people to the group. Okay.

Ryan Dunn:

It's interesting that you started with an, because I think a lot of times when we think of maybe starting something digitally, like we just kind of throw it out there. Um, and so it was there, was there a specific call to action within your launch party, so to speak for people then to join the Facebook group to share their experiences?

Shannon Karafanda:

So, yeah, the people, so the event that I had in the event that Julie had, it really was, Hey, you know, get, get your other friends involved in this. Uh there's and again, there's no strange, you don't have to join church. It's not, we're, we're not expecting you to show up on Easter Sunday and we're going to count your attendance. We just want you to do some things to make this world a better place that, um, that are easy that you can just do today, um, that you don't have to plan and take off work and go on a mission trip and then never country. Although if you want to do that, that is a great thing, but there are some things that you can do every day that are meaningful to people. And, um, you know, I've noticed, let me talk to you a bit about the pandemic, because we, it hit right in the middle of that Lenten season.

Shannon Karafanda:

And I got a little nervous. I was like, okay, there, there goes, holy mischief, like that's not going to happen. People can't do, they can't do anything. And what I realized is that most of the challenges could easily be adapted. So I put a new list out. Um, but before I could put that list out, members of the Facebook group started doing things on their own organically. So they would go to their neighbors and say, you know, I checked on my labor. She didn't have any toilet paper. I took some over to her. Um, I checked on my other neighbor and, uh, brought them a meal. I wrote messages in chalk, in my driveway that were inspiring and happy. I put notes in the, on the walking path that said you were loved, um, with the hashtag holy mischief. And I told someone before I started the group, they said, what would make this successful in our community?

Shannon Karafanda:

And, uh, we have, uh, a Facebook group for our city called life in the bubble. Um, and so people who are in Peachtree city, they go on there and normally they go on there to complain about something. That's what we do on social media. Right. I said, if someone sees something that is holy mischief, that has the hashtag holy mischief and posts it to the life on the bubble group, I'll know like locally, that has happened. And it happened that week. Um, someone said, Hey, you know, I don't know who put these signs up, but thank you. I needed to know it was love today. And I was like, there it is before the pandemic, I thought, okay, we're going to do this. And then we're going to maybe have some pop-up events that happen in Atlanta. Or I might try to get someone in another state to do one at the same time.

Shannon Karafanda:

We're doing one here. And we go out in the community and that didn't happen because we couldn't do that. I still see that that's a possibility. Um, but I'm not necessarily sure that that is a huge draw for people. I think the way people gather in the future will be very different. I mean, we're seeing that in churches that even though we're back open, maybe we have about a third of what we had before. Uh, but our online presence, it has grown a good bit. Um, people, I do believe people still want connection, but I think holy mischief gives them that inspiration to make one-on-one connections, um, or anonymous connections that give their life meaning. And I don't think we have to gather people together and have a big holy Mr. Rally, although that would be exciting at some point, I don't think that's, what's really next.

Shannon Karafanda:

I think continuing to live in this way to inspire people, to do everyday acts that turn into a habit. I mean, to me, this is a spiritual discipline and every day at three o'clock, my phone goes off with a reminder to do holy mischief. And if I haven't done done something that day I'll text someone and just say, Hey, I was thinking of you because it's so small disruptions that we often don't think about as being part of our faith. We just think, oh, that's a nice thing to do. Uh, but it can really, it can make a difference if that person is going through something and they don't feel a connection with someone.

Ryan Dunn:

I love the idea that hashtagging becomes a, like a holy practice

Shannon Karafanda:

And you're right.

Ryan Dunn:

So when you launched the Facebook group, you probably didn't start with 900 members. Have there been some ways that, uh, you've found success in growing that group?

Shannon Karafanda:

Honestly, just asking people. Okay. Um, Hey, if, if you have found joy in, in your newsfeed because of this group, why don't you invite people to join the group? And that honestly is the biggest thing that the people who are already part of it, knowing that if I see that they're engaging during the week, and then it's not just highlighting something that I've done or something that, that they've done for the week, like it really does add some value, then I'll, you know, I'll do an ask. I try not to do it too much. Uh, cause I don't want it to seem like, Hey, like a cheer this, Hey, like and share this. Cause that tends to make me feel more like it's that cultish thing and less of a movement. Um, but just really doing some asks has really been helpful. And you can tell when it resonates with someone, I don't have to ask, um, they'll share the story. That's posted there to their own newsfeed. And people will find this

Ryan Dunn:

In some churches, there's a tendency to leave. I guess, the, the leadership and the direction, even the vision casting to, uh, the really the paid staff. Uh, and by default, sometimes our Facebook groups can kin fall into that line of thinking to where, uh, participants feel like they only have permission or only the only the moderators have permission, uh, to, to post on those sites. Yeah. Are there ways that you've cultivated as a feeling within the group that everybody has, or is empowered to post there as needed?

Shannon Karafanda:

Yeah. And I, I kind of make that part of like, if you're going to embody holy mischief, there's sort of four parts to it, pray, do something, make it a habit and share the story. Because when we share our stories, we tend to internalize it in a different way. And it resonates with other people. The storytelling is so powerful on Facebook, it's visual storytelling, um, and it is powerful. It that's the reason why they algorithm bump set up a bit. If you have stories of people faces and people, people engaging, doing real things in the world that bumps it up just a little bit. I started early on to build a culture of sharing, but sometimes I'll also put a challenge out there like, Hey, who's done some good holy mischief this week. Um, sometimes I'll put like a little carrot out there and say, Hey, I had a Starbucks gift card for, you know, the best five stories or, you know, the first five stories. Um, and I, you know, you'll get some really cool aha moments in that. And people who don't, who haven't typically been sharing, feel better about sharing in a thread than they do. Just posting to the group

Ryan Dunn:

For those who have engaged in digital ministry, especially through Facebook groups. Um, sometimes they feel like they're, they're just kind of throwing words out there and people aren't responding back. So they know that their content is getting seen, but people aren't, aren't commenting back in return, what has worked well in getting people to engage with the content and with each other then, uh, in the whole image of Facebook,

Shannon Karafanda:

Uh, some of the biggest things are, um, questions asking some questions, um, sometimes, and, and making sure they're not all like, Hey, how is your soul today? Um, which is a great Wesleyan question, but is a little intimate for people who are new to the group. Um, so it's not a bad one to ask, but it's a little bit, it's a little bit too intimate, but Hey, you know, what's your, what, what is your most used emoji? Like, that's such an easy one to share, cause it's right there too. You click on it and you get people engaged and you might actually get a little conversation in the thread going, um, that then launches you into, okay, I've made a connection with Sarah. Sarah might end up messaging me and we have as a separate conversation, I will see that people will share with me privately.

Shannon Karafanda:

And they'll say, I don't want to post this because it feels like bragging. And I try to say it, it's a, it's a group and that's what we're here for. You will inspire someone else, but if you really don't want to post it, I'll post it for you. Um, and so sometimes I'll do that. Um, the other thing is to really make the content, not about something I've done or an idea that I've come up with, but really highlighting what other people are doing. Um, people like to see stories about themselves and see a variety of people doing different things, because it gives them permission to do the same. So today I posted some, a colleague in north Georgia, his church gathered letters for the graduates of one of the local high schools, um, just congratulation letters. And they got, you know, a few hundred of them. And it was just a little thing that they did that is an act of kindness, but it will give someone that, you know, this total stranger cares about me feeling. So I shared that to the group and there were a few people in like, oh, I can do that. That's pretty easy. And it gives people that permission like, oh, okay, I can do this. I've got this. Okay.

Ryan Dunn:

And that kind of skirts around the reservations that many of us might have in a space like that, where we feel like we're making it so much about ourselves. Like yeah. You know, in a sense, I think some pastors are wary of trying to come across. Like they're building a cult of personality because we tend to reveal so much of ourselves personally, through digital space that sharing those stories of others. And, um, I guess just providing that encouragement becomes a way of kind of building human driven content. Yep.

Shannon Karafanda:

Yeah. I'll also, um, I will post things, um, weekly that are challenges of holy mischief. And for some reason, if I tell people, Hey, you should go out and, um, you know, sticking at somebody's mailbox and just let them know that they're loved. They might do it. They might not. But if I post a picture in the mailbox and I say, your challenge is to do this, for some reason, the challenge piqued something in their brain. It it's, it's just like, I'll take that challenge. I can do that. Um, and, and it's, I don't know why that's more fun, but it definitely is something. And I will also say this about the questions, our brains, don't like unanswered questions. And when you post something on Facebook with a question it's hard for people to not respond, unless it's something where you have to, you know, post, post something that's, you know, pretty long and detailed and intimate. But, um, you know, if you asked a question like, Hey, what the nicest act of kindness someone else did for you, people don't want to necessarily skip by that. They want to fill that in and they want to share that story. And that story is not about them. It's really about that other person.

Ryan Dunn:

Oh, that's great. Do you find that you fall into a rhythm with posting in holy mischief?

Shannon Karafanda:

I do now, and I'm sure that'll change at some point. Uh, but typically Monday will be a challenge for the week Tuesday. I might do a question to kind of get to know people better in the group Wednesday. Uh, this started during the check-in and I got this idea from another pastor, um, who I believe was in Colorado. Um, I just do a weekly check in how are you doing between one and 10? Um, and because it's a pandemic, it's a tense political situation in America. Um, sometimes people they need, they need extra prayer and I don't know why they won't reach out for it. And I'm shocked how many will actually disclose, but, but people will say, I'm, I'm having a hard time on the three. Um, I found out about this or that, or I just, and meeting some connection. And at Facebook doesn't do a great job of giving connection, but it's a little bit, and sometimes that little bit is enough for them to make it through to whatever is next in their life. And that there have been times when that a few people have posted. Um, I'm a one I'm really struggling where I've private message them and had an offline conversation with them that I think I hope has helped. And then we celebrate the people that are 10. Like if you're, if you're a 10 and at the endemic, yay, let's celebrate that. And, um, and, and praise God for it.

Ryan Dunn:

There's a witness that you just offered in there and that, so you post just asking for a one to 10, that is a means for engagement, but the end goal really isn't engagement, right? Because you found opportunity then within there to actually be a pastoral presence in people's lives.

Shannon Karafanda:

Yeah. W it's funny how a little I wanted to shepherd people, and yet that's actually what's happening digitally. So I'll continue with the rest of the week. Usually on Thursday or Friday, I might do some sort of blog type reflection on what the challenge was like, Hey, this week you told you were encouraged and challenged to tell someone you love them. Here's why that's important. And then over the weekend, I try, I subscribed to a lot of other kindness movement, Facebook groups, as well as CNN's good news. They send out every Saturday, like here are really heartwarming stories that you might not find on the news. Um, and so I try to share a few of those during the week. Uh, but I also find that we've got a lot of people that share fairly regularly. I try to moderate those. Um, they don't automatically get a pass to post. Um, but you know, that there's enough that do a really good job that it, it just keeps moving.

Ryan Dunn:

John on Facebook for the most part. Do you find the movement bleeding over into other social media platforms?

Shannon Karafanda:

Um, a little bit here and there. Um, I will say I follow the holy mission has tag on Instagram and you'll get, uh, things that are similar to what I think of as holy mischief posted there from other people. Sometimes they are people that are also part of the group. Sometimes not most of the Twitter, holy mischief, hashtags are either me or Shane Claiborne. And so not, not a time. And I think it's because Facebook does a great job with their groups to keep engagement in a way that feels more like community in on Instagram. It's so visual and it's a little less interactive, um, at least for me, and maybe that's generational. Um, and I haven't found the key to unlocking engagement on Instagram. Um, I do find a little more engagement on LinkedIn, surprisingly, and I think we've got a lot of people who I I'm hitting a lot of very corporate, um, high level achieving people in LinkedIn who, who want a little bit of interaction and meaning in their life.

Shannon Karafanda:

And so they enjoy that, but they're not going to spend the time on, I mean, Facebook is a time suck for a lot of people. Like it just, you hop on and you're like, oh, what was I on here for? Oh, I was going to post a picture of my dog. Um, or, oh, my niece posted a picture of the baby. And, but you've been on for an hour, like you things and sharing and, and you don't realize that, you know, it's, it's sucking your life away. Um, and so there are a lot of people just not on that platform. So I do have some people that engage with the idea of holy mischief, either on LinkedIn or just in, you know, in person they'll talk to me about something they did and don't wear a t-shirt, but, you know, anytime someone can put their faith into action that way I consider it a win.

Ryan Dunn:

Is that interaction look like on, on LinkedIn? Is it comments?

Shannon Karafanda:

Um, I'll occasionally get a comment or share. It's usually a blog post. Um, but a few times recently I've just made sure people knew they were loved. And it's interesting that that would resonate a little bit on LinkedIn. Um, but it, it does. I think when, you know, you go on LinkedIn, you're thinking through your, your company lens, your job lens, because that's what that, that platform is for. And so a lot of times, you know, we put different parts of our lives into compartments and boxes. So we've got our Sunday morning box, which is here's my faith box. And then I've got my work box in my box. When you go on LinkedIn, you think you're entering into that work box. And to realize that your faith kind of goes through all of those components, I think, I think helps you embody your faith a little bit more.

Ryan Dunn:

Do you get a sense that, um, does movement overall has really helped people embody their faith more? Are you hearing some feedback in that direction?

Shannon Karafanda:

I am for some, uh, and it's interesting, it's, it's not a certain demographic that I would have, uh, really pegged early on. I've got, there is a, a woman who's very engaged who is in a, um, I don't know if she's in a senior living community, but she's in an apartment in Florida. He can't get out a lot and it just gives her something to do. She probably would be someone that might show up at a church every day if she could. So this sort of takes that little substitute. It kind of gives her like, here's a faith fix. I know she's engaged in a couple of local churches in her area, but this kind of gives her a fuller picture. And then there's a couple of seminary students who were like, that's kind of how I want my ministry to start to look like. Um, so they engage and they get their, uh, youth groups engaged to do acts of holy mischief. Um, and they really kind of start their ministry in that direction. And then, you know, they're just people who want, they want that feel good piece of the holy mischief movement. They want to know that there's hope that there's happiness, that, um, the world is not about to end because the world is really being built and transformed into something new. What's

Ryan Dunn:

Been the most inspiring moment for you personally, Shannon in leading this digital movement,

Shannon Karafanda:

When people that, I don't know, say that it's made a difference when people I know say it, I sometimes think they're just really being nice, but someone that I don't know, who's taking that time to reach out and say, keep doing this. It's really the small acts of kindness that are reflected back to me that really make the most difference to me.

Ryan Dunn:

Oh, Shannon, Kara Fonda folks can of course join the Facebook group, but only mischief. But if folks want to reach out to you directly, where might be a good place to do that,

Shannon Karafanda:

I don't want anyone to have to spell Kara Fonda cause it's a lot. Um, cause I do have a website, Shannon, Kara fonda.com, but wholly mischief.net will redirect to my website and you can contact me through there.

Ryan Dunn:

All right. Well, thank you so much for sharing your movement with us and the ideas we pray that, that people are going to be inspired by doing this, not just to participate in holy mischief. That would be great, but also to consider the ways that they can move digitally alongside other people in community as well.

Shannon Karafanda:

All right. So one last thing anyone had anyone who's made it this far? Um, my favorite thing to do is to sticky note somebody's store. So go write encouraging messages on sticky notes and plaster it all over somebody's store. That's their house. Um, it could be their front door. It could be their office store. It could be their car window, anything,

Ryan Dunn:

And then take a picture hashtag holy mischief.

Shannon Karafanda:

That would be even better. Again,

Speaker 2:

You can learn more about Reverend Shannon Karafanda  at holymischief.net. If you want to touch base with me, send an email to [email protected]. You can also find more points of connection at resourceumc.org/digitalparish. There's a Facebook group to search pastoring in the digital parish on Facebook, and you'll hit it. Thanks to United Methodist communications for sponsoring this podcast. If you'd like to offer some thanks you can do so by hitting subscribe to this podcast, then dropping the positive rating or review on your podcast. Listening platform, several episodes of the pastoring and the digital perish podcast or out now. And we'll be posting a new episode each week until the end of season one in August, but here's a pro tip. You don't need to consume these sessions in order. So just click on whatever topic interests you and start listening. Thanks again. My name is Ryan Dunn and I'll talk with you soon.