When Rev. Bethany Peerbolte started making TikTok videos in 2020, she wasn’t trying to plant a church. She was trying to answer her youth group’s questions. A few years later, that hobby had grown into Our Tapestry, an all-online faith community and a new worshiping community of the Presbytery of Denver in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Peerbolte shared the story of how it started and how it’s going on an episode of Pastoring in the Digital Parish, a podcast from United Methodist Communications hosted by Ryan Dunn (Dunn, 2024). Her experience offers practical ideas for any church leader thinking about what ministry can look like online.
It started with listening
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Peerbolte was serving as a youth minister in Michigan. Parents began telling her that their kids were talking more about hell, and one student asked what it meant to be a “lukewarm Christian.” Those weren’t ideas the students were hearing at church, so she went looking for the source and found it on TikTok.
Much of the Christian content she found was emotionally manipulative and focused on fear. Rather than simply warning her students about it, she asked them to send her videos so she could respond publicly and show them another way to engage. Over time, she began making her own content, including lighthearted lip-sync videos, and her audience grew quickly. Many viewers were surprised to see a female pastor, and even more surprised to hear a progressive Christian voice.
Takeaway: Effective digital ministry often begins with paying attention to what your people are already seeing and hearing online.
From content to community
Peerbolte began hosting TikTok Live sessions, where regular viewers chatted, checked in on one another, and shared prayer requests. One night, a viewer she recognized said they were in crisis and didn’t plan to survive the day. Peerbolte and others in the chat offered words of support, but she ended the night unsure whether it had been enough.
The next morning, she found that the person had posted a new video. When she went to leave an encouraging comment, she discovered that other viewers from the live session had already done the same thing. For Peerbolte, that was the moment she realized this was more than content creation. Strangers on the internet were genuinely caring for one another, and she wanted to find a way to make that kind of space happen again.
A book study on Zoom followed, which later became a weekly Bible study. A group text grew into a Discord server. Today, Our Tapestry includes Bible studies, one-on-one pastoral care, and an online community that is open around the clock.
A pathway for discipleship
Many people first encounter her through short videos or live sessions on TikTok. From there, some join a Zoom Bible study, some connect in Discord, and some meet with her one-on-one for pastoral care.
Peerbolte describes her calling as serving people in “theological deserts,” places where they have no access to a church that reflects their understanding of faith. Much of her pastoral work involves helping people sort through religious hurt. She prefers the word “declutter” to “deconstruction,” since it suggests keeping what has been life-giving and letting go of what has been harmful.
Takeaway: Think about the steps between a first online encounter and deeper relationship. What is your church’s next step after someone likes a post or watches a stream?
A week in the life of an online ministry
Our Tapestry’s rhythm includes:
- Tuesday night Bible studies, one for the East Coast and one for the West Coast
- Pastoral care appointments on Zoom, usually one or two each week
- A Discord server with channels for shared memes, playlists, and ongoing Bible study conversations
- Content creation, which includes at least an hour of intentional scrolling to notice trends, formats, and the questions people are asking
Because members live in different time zones, someone is usually awake when another member is having a hard night. Peerbolte also listens for stories in everyday life, whether in pastoral conversations or in a coffee shop, and asks what a pastoral response might look like.
Tools that make it work
Peerbolte posts her TikTok videos to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts as well, extending the reach of a single video. She also uses an AI clipping tool called Opus, which takes a long video, pulls out short highlights, and suggests titles and descriptions. She called it both terrifying and lifesaving because it works so well.
She is also working to bring all of Our Tapestry’s gatherings into Discord. Zoom made sense during the pandemic, but she would rather not ask people to juggle multiple apps.
Takeaway: Meet people where they already are, and repurpose content across platforms rather than creating everything from scratch. For a simple system, see MyCom’s article on how to repurpose one piece of content across five platforms.
Making room for questions
In Our Tapestry’s Bible studies, Peerbolte often declines to give the “right” answer. When a passage has a range of interpretations, she lays out the spectrum and invites participants to reflect. Some newcomers find this frustrating, especially those who grew up in traditions focused on memorizing answers. For many others, it affirms that they can trust the way the Spirit is already speaking to them.
Online ministry also raises theological and practical questions that many congregations haven’t yet faced, such as how to offer baptism to someone in another country, or which church body “counts” a member who lives across the country. Peerbolte sees digital ministry as a chance to bring these questions forward now.
Measuring what matters
Follower counts can be misleading. Peerbolte saw a large drop when TikTok removed bot accounts, a reminder that followers don’t always represent real people. Instead, she pays attention to:
- Comment conversations that go back and forth several times
- New people who find her profile and engage with many videos at once
- Messages of thanks, or requests for help sharing a video with a family member
- Members connecting with each other without her prompting, such as exchanging phone numbers or planning to meet in person
Her presbytery has been supportive of this story-centered approach to measuring impact, something worth considering as your own church evaluates its digital ministry.
A lesson learned: protecting young people
Asked what she wishes she had done differently, Peerbolte named creating a safe online space for minors. Building a secure space proved difficult, and she still can’t offer private one-on-one conversations with young people online. When minors message her directly, she brings another adult into the conversation, even though that sometimes ends it.
Her experience is a helpful reminder for any church reaching young people online. Your conference’s Safe Sanctuaries policies apply in digital spaces too.
Don’t depend on one platform
When the U.S. House voted on legislation that could ban TikTok in 2024, Peerbolte received a flurry of worried messages. Her response was steady: her ministry also exists on Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms, and she regularly reminds followers where else to find her.
Takeaway: No church owns a social media platform. Keep your website up to date, build an email list, and make sure your community knows how to find you if one channel disappears.
To listen to the full podcast, click here.
References
Dunn, R. (Host). (2024). The digital parish from TikTok to Discord with Bethany Peerbolte. In Pastoring in the digital parish. United Methodist Communications.
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