The ‘TikTok Pastor’ sits for a more in-depth interview

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It turns out the Rev. Bethany Peerbolte, known to many as the “TikTok Pastor,” can communicate via longform media as well.

Peerbolte was a recent guest on “Leading Theologically,” hosted by the Rev. Bill Davis, Senior Director for Theological Funds Development at the Presbyterian Foundation. Listen to the engaging 20-minute conversation between Peerbolte and Davis here.

Both Peerbolte and Davis are members of Denver Presbytery. Peerbolte told Davis she began making TikToks as a youth pastor “to reach my youth, and people just really connected with the message. The idea of a progressive pastor was new to them. Even a female pastor was new to some people.”

Her most recent online endeavor is called Our Tapestry. “We’re trying to get the church experience to people in theological deserts who don’t have a progressive church around them,” Peerbolte said, “or they’ve been hurt by the church and walking into a church building feels very dangerous to them.”

“I love that testimony of journeying alongside somebody experiencing a dark night of the soul,” Davis told her. “This is what we are trained to do as pastors.”

“You have to find different ways to be comforting,” Peerbolte replied. Using social media, “I can be there at the hour they need a good word.”

Like Davis, “I didn’t get digital ministry training” in seminary, Peerbolte said. “On TikTok, I learned the language and the culture — how jokes develop, how you say just enough so people get the hook.” To Peerbolte, a 15-second video “is the new parable. You tell them just enough to get their brain going but not enough to tell them what the answer is.”

“This is a mission field,” she says about her online engagement. “I have to figure out what people are going through before I can start talking about Jesus.”

“You dove in and then started ministering to folks there,” Davis told her.

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“I have learned more about God’s love through social media,” Peerbolte said. “It is really a platform where God speaks. We talk about [social media] algorithms — that’s the Holy Spirit, and the only one who understands algorithms is the Holy Spirit. It’s a place that’s pretty accessible to everyone.”

“The other thing is everyone has a voice. You have a platform, a way to speak your truth and challenge each other — which I think the Kingdom of God is going to be like, having your voice heard. The Spirit has a really good way of getting things that people need to hear to them. Whether it’s the algorithm or the Spirit, it’s amazing how many times a week I hear, ‘Thank you. I really needed to hear this,’ or ‘I’ve been saving this video for later.’ The videos, the jokes, the stories — whatever — find people who need to hear them in that way.”

“I love it that you’re pointing to the Spirit blowing in your ministry,” Davis said before asking Peerbolte to point listeners to others who offer similar models.

“The reason I started making videos is that people were doing it so poorly,” Peerbolte said. “There was a lot of manipulation, a lot of faces crying right up in the screen, saying, ‘I need you to know Jesus.’ That doesn’t have to be the way people fall in love with the gospel. You don’t need fear and manipulation to make people believe that they need God.”

In fact, “there are tons of progressive pastors out there doing this,” she said, adding they can be found by searching Instagram, YouTube, Facebook or TikTok for “#progressiveclergy.”

At disorganized.religion, Pastor Sarah “does little skits. It’s story- and narrative-based. Others are theology-based,” Peerbolte said. “Brandan Robertson does a great job of getting straight to the point, no questions asked, ‘God loves you’ kind of stuff.”

Organizations including churches also produce quality content, Peerbolte said, but their task is more difficult because “social media is about a person developing a relationship with someone.” The Rev. Jim Keat “does a great job with The Riverside Church.”

“If you know the story of your community — why you exist and what your goal is — that’s your personality,” she said.

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

Kim Brown, Operations Administrator, Operations, Presbyterian Foundation
Lorraine Brown, Associate for Finance & Building Operations, Presbyterian Historical Society 

Let us pray:

God, thank you for the new things you are doing in new generations. May the church be open to receiving fresh faith and fresh ideas. Amen.