Building a Thriving Digital Faith Community: Lessons from United Women in Faith Digital in this episode of the MyCom Church Marketing and Communications Podcast.
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In this episode
The landscape of ministry and faith community has changed drastically in recent years, with digital connections amplifying and, in some cases, replacing traditional in-person rituals. In episode 109 of the MyCom Church Marketing and Communications podcast, Ryan Dunn sits down with Olivia DiAgostino, Executive for United Women in Faith Digital, to unpack how her organization built and maintains a vibrant online community for women of faith. Their conversation offers practical insights for ministry leaders, digital strategists, and anyone looking to foster genuine community online.
You'll learn how to:
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Start or grow a digital ministry with intentional engagement (not just more content)
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Foster organic leadership and volunteer moderation
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Transition resources and programs from in-person to online while maintaining authentic community
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Encourage rituals of welcome, belonging, and participation in digital spaces
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Overcome tech fatigue and choose the right platform for your organization's needs
Key takeaways include tips on starting small, iterating based on member needs, and creating online environments that support both content and deep relational connections.
Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction & Episode Overview
01:28 – Meet Olivia DiAgostino (Role and Digital Community Scope)
03:25 – Building Digital Community & Why UW Faith Went Digital
05:20 – From Content to Community: What Changed?
06:45 – Making Community Engagement Work & Tips for Consistent Participation
08:40 – Organic Leadership & Member-Driven Moderation
11:39 – Creating Groups: Organic, Intentional Growth Strategies
12:58 – When Digital Community Crosses Into the Real World
16:07 – Rituals of Welcome: Bringing Hospitality to Online Spaces
19:42 – Navigating Tech Resistance and Platform Fatigue
22:08 – Maintaining a Trusted, Respectful Digital Environment
24:09 – Moderation Guidelines: Sisterhood of Grace
26:03 – Why Mighty Networks? Choosing the Right Digital Platform
27:02 – Practical Advice for Ministry Leaders Starting Digital Communities
28:55 – Open Invitation: Who Can Join UW Faith Digital?
30:27 – Closing Thoughts & Resources
Related episodes:
Episode transcript
Ryan Dunn [00:00:03]:
This is the MYCOM Church Marketing and Communications podcast. We're building your digital ministry toolkit melting to bring your congregation into the digital age. My name is Ryan Dunn. I'm a fellow traveler on the journey to better church connections. In this episode of mycom, we meet Olivia d' Agostino, executive for United Women in Faith Digital, and together we explore how that organization is building a thriving digital community for women of faith. Olivia shares insider stories about launching their online platform, the challenges of creating meaningful connections in a virtual space, and the intentional human centered design principles that guide their work. So whether you're leading a ministry or just curious about digital community building, this conversation, it's filled with some practical insights and real world inspiration that you don't want to miss. This episode is sponsored by sparkhouse, a publisher of innovative curricula for children, youth and adults.
Ryan Dunn [00:01:06]:
Check out their Bibles, books and other resources@we are sparkhouse.org where you'll find better curriculum by design. All right, let's roll into this interview. Digital Community Building, Human Based Design and more with Olivia d' Agostino.
Ryan Dunn [00:01:28]:
Olivia, first of all, thanks for joining us on the mycom podcast. I'd like to start with this question. Can you describe for us your role with United Women in Faith?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:01:40]:
Ryan, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here and to talk about one of my favorite things, which is the work that United Women in Faith is doing in our digital community. So I am lucky to be the executive for our digital platform, United Women in Faith Digital. You can find us online@uwfaith.org digital and that's a vibrant network that we've developed with about 8,400 members and we're growing every day. And it's just really wonderful to get to do that work of digital community and to engage with so many of our most dedicated United Women in Faith members around the connection every single day.
Ryan Dunn [00:02:24]:
So what does your role within that look like? Maybe. Is there a typical day for you? Can you walk us through that?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:02:31]:
I'm sure everyone says this, but you know that in the world of ministry, no matter where you are, there's really no such thing as a typical day. Truth. Yes. Amen. Amen. But some of the things that I do on a regular basis include working on community engagement. I have a great team of folks, both staff and consultants, who help with that. We publish resources on our platform.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:03:01]:
We're using the Mighty Network software to kind of undergird us so we don't have to do any of that software coding piece ourselves, we get to focus on the community, which is great. So uploading resources, making sure that everything is accessible to our members and offering them support. And of course, the most fun part, just engaging with the folks who are there.
Ryan Dunn [00:03:25]:
You were part of the whole process of assembling this digital platform, Correct. For United Women in Faith. Was there a felt need that the organization was responding to?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:03:39]:
There was. I'm really glad you asked that because it gives me a chance to talk a little bit about human centered design, which is one of our principles.
Ryan Dunn [00:03:49]:
We're going deep. All right.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:03:50]:
We're getting into it. But yeah, I think it's key actually, when you're doing something like this to always start with what it is the community needs. Right. We can come up with amazing things, amazing ideas that might work in a different time and place, but if we're not listening to what our people are asking for, we're not going to be successful or to serve them as well as we might. So in this case, we started this process with our director of communications and others, I think, in 2021. So it's been a few years. And the felt need that folks were saying was, can we offer some of our most used resources in an online format? Given that with the pandemic and the risk factors of many of our members, they were not able to gather in person in large groups in the way that we'd been accustomed to doing, in the way that kind of was the lifeblood, is the lifeblood of our organization. Right.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:04:50]:
As being part of that community of women that's able to meet and work together. So the original task was to find a place or a way for us to be able to offer a few of our programs, our curriculum, our monthly programs on a digital space. So that was what we started out with, was trying to meet that need. And it's kind of grown from there.
Ryan Dunn [00:05:18]:
How's it different now?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:05:20]:
I would say it's much more community driven because we started with sort of the content, Right. We wanted a way to get people the content that was beyond them purchasing a physical book or just a PDF. And we moved into the community side of things. And that's the part that's really taken off and grown. Obviously, we still have content, we're still expanding what we offer and what people can access. But the things that drive people are getting to join the Soul Care group, getting to connect with someone from their conference or their jurisdiction or who had a similar experience at a Mission U making those connections.
Ryan Dunn [00:06:01]:
You know, a lot of People start a project like, say, reading the Bible and they get through the first few chapters or books and then, you know, shipwreck on the shores of Leviticus. Right. And for a lot of ministries, I've been there too. Yeah, we know it for a lot of ministries that that shipwreck point can be that shifting from being a content driven to being a community driven. So do you have any tips to offer? Like how did you get people to actually buy into the community mindset where, you know, they're participating on their own and not just waiting for the next piece of content to come up?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:06:45]:
Yeah, that's interesting. I think starting small, like I said earlier, is one key. Another huge piece, I think in any, you know, kind of digital space is consistency. People want to know what they can expect and how they can expect to engage.
Ryan Dunn [00:07:04]:
And what's something that you lean into consistently to get people engaging.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:07:10]:
Yeah, I think a great example of this is our most popular group is soul care. So, you know, this is something that we know has been a need for many people, especially women, to kind of take time and space to care for ourselves in order that we might better care for others. I think the womanists and other theologians taught us that. So we have this soul care group and there's one person and her, you know, of course, very part time, she does other things, but her focus is to engage the community there. So that involves, you know, one day a week we have prayer requests and folks can all pray for one another. And then you see them return week after week to say, how is your granddaughter doing? How is this, you know, to check back on what it is that they requested prayer or celebration for? She goes live once a week, and folks look forward to that. And they have, you know, they know that every Thursday evening they can expect to see John Jay's face and to connect with her. They have affirmations, you know, things like that.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:08:14]:
So there's a regular sort of rhythm. And that rhythm is part of the digital life. But we can also think of that as part of the Christian life. Right. Like, how many of our weeks revolve around sort of Wednesdays and Sundays, and how many of our years revolve around, you know, these seasons that come in predictable orders and offer us time and space to be in community in different ways.
Ryan Dunn [00:08:40]:
You mentioned that you have moderators and you're the staff person charged with overseeing this and challenge for many churches or ministries. Is that it? They kind of leave the leadership at that. So how did you start identifying other moderators or coordinators who would participate in the digital community.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:09:01]:
I think we looked to our member leaders. It's the first place we go because they're the ones who know us best. Right. And in some cases that meant bringing them into a consultant role in a couple of cases. But in other cases, you know, we just had feedback sessions. We asked folks to fill out a survey because again, we have to go drill down and figure it out what it is that, that people are asking for or needing or how we can best serve them. We don't want to be making big assumptions. So I think looking toward the people who are most active and consulting with them and getting their advice and guidance on what would make this even better and how we can grow.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:09:46]:
And we've, we've grown very slowly and intentionally. I think, you know, sometimes you see digital spaces like, you know, TikTok, you could easily balloon right to millions of followers. And that was never a goal. Our goal is to keep serving the community we have and to grow as we're doing that.
Ryan Dunn [00:10:09]:
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Ryan Dunn [00:11:16]:
So it sounds like leadership grew organically. When you click open the the whole platform of UW Faith Digital, there are a number of different groups that you can kind of peruse and, and become a part of. Was it an organic process in identifying what those groups would be as well?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:11:39]:
Yeah, I would describe it as organic, but also very intentional. Again, trying to. We're not trying to solve every problem immediately. Right. We're going one thing at a time. So like I mentioned, we started with just a couple of, just a couple of resources that people could buy and they could also engage with the community. If they wanted to. And of course, as with any digital platforms, you have some folks who are just there to get the thing that they want, the information they need and then they peace out or they never check back.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:12:13]:
But you also have folks who stay or who are engaged by something or say, what else can I, what else can I read? Or who else can I find? And those are the folks that we really want to lean into. So we've, we've grown pretty gradually. We've done a lot of testing. We have like for example, one conference as a group now. So we're seeing how it goes with that and then hopefully we can offer more. You know, if people want geographically based groups to connect with people in their area, we're hoping to be able to do more of that.
Ryan Dunn [00:12:45]:
Yeah. Has there been an instance where what has begun in the digital has transferred over to the in person?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:12:58]:
That is a really interesting question. The thing that comes to mind first is it's actually the same conference. So shout out to Indiana. Not related, but both women from the Indiana conference. So one thing that we have tried to offer as we go digital is we're trying to offer bonus content, right? So why should I purchase the digital version and get access to this great community rather than purchasing the book? Or can I purchase both of them together? Right. So we've tried to develop additional content to go along with that. We have, you know, videos. There's so much more you can do, right.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:13:34]:
If you're, you're thinking in a new modality. So as part of that, we've had community gatherings, which is sort of a monthly recurring gathering where we, the staff and the author of the resource go through the program that's coming up, right. So that a women can experience it if they're going to be leading it. You know, sometimes it's nice to just experience it. That can be fulfilling, but also so that folks have an idea what's coming up and how they might want to do it, especially if their unit is going to be meeting online. And that's the place that we've seen some sort of overlap into the real world is we've had a few instances where folks really want to gather in person. So they'll bring the laptop, they'll set up and they'll call into the community gathering with sisters from all over the United States. But they are all there, you know, in one person's living room or their church or whatever.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:14:31]:
So they're kind of, you know, this is self, self starting, not something that we've suggested, but it's great to see that they want that fellowship in two ways. Right. They want to be physically with one another and have that conversation, but they also want to be part of this broader connection which is something that's know, really beautiful about Methodism. I think little Wesleyan moment is we have these, these local bands, but we also are part of this much bigger connection and community that we're able to lean on.
Ryan Dunn [00:15:03]:
Yeah, well. And just indicative of how we relate to one another in this digital age that we're in too. Right. I mean there's, there are digital aspects and sort of incarnated or in person aspects of the way that we relate with one another. You had called it human centered design. In the marketing world they use terms like user experience. And it sounds like the, the success of getting people engaged in, in the digital form of United Women in Faith has been just having in mind like this, this user experience. And I'm wondering if there's a component where as new people are joining so kind of a ritual to welcoming people in or is there a defined process? Because in our churches we all know about this when a newcomer shows up on a Sunday morning, generally there's some kind of like follow up procedure.
Ryan Dunn [00:16:03]:
Do you see the same thing happening within the digital space?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:16:07]:
Yeah, actually. So I'd like to. So I'll talk about some things that we have and then some hopes that we have. So we have as sort of the entering process, we have a welcome checklist, which is not maybe the churchiest name. Right. But that's the name the platform uses. So it shows you a few different places you can go to find what you need. Which I think is always helpful in person or online.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:16:36]:
Right. Like you want to know where the bathroom is or where to take your kids if you need to step out. Right. Like those are the things that are acts of hospitality both in physical, in embodied and in less embodied spaces. So we have that. And one thing we ask folks to do is answer a couple of just sort of basic prompt questions like, you know, what church or unit are you a part of? And what's something you love about your community? And that brings out some really beautiful answers because people, you know, diversity of people brings a diversity of answers. And the cool thing about that is we've been doing it for quite a while. So now you can go back and look at hundreds of responses of people sort of affirming what it is that they love about that particular place in that time.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:17:25]:
So that's pretty cool to be able to have that archive. But I also am glad you asked that because I've been thinking intentionally about this lately because we have. We've sort of broadened into having all Access members, which is people can join at the national level if they're not part of a church or, you know, they're maybe they're geographically transient or they don't have a UMC near them with it, whatever it is. Right. Folks are able to join in that sort of national, like, low friction method. And we are actually transitioning to having United Women in Faith Digital be their landing space. So I am putting some real thought into how we welcome people in, in particular, people who are maybe less engaged or less familiar with the history of the organization than our current members are. Like, if you're coming in the door for the first time, what is it that you really need to know? So if you have any wisdom or insight in how you sort of set up those rituals, I would love to hear that.
Ryan Dunn [00:18:36]:
There are community developers who talk about the importance of ritual and almost like in an initiation rights in terms of building that community. So Casper Terkile is one of those people who would talk about ritual having value in. In making people feel a sense of community. Charles Vogel is another person who has done a lot of work in identifying what draws people into community. And he also talks about the value of having just an initiation. Right. So a sense of like a public recognition that you are here and belonging within this. So when you were initially launching this platform, was there a push back against people fearing that they were going to have to learn something new? Sometimes when it comes to digital community engagement, people are fearful that it's like, well, I'm already doing Facebook.
Ryan Dunn [00:19:42]:
I'm already doing another social media platform, and I'm going to ask my people to learn this new platform. Was that a conversation that you all had to navigate?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:19:52]:
I think there's always some level of discomfort to change. I think that's just human. But also, let me just say, do you know United Women in Faith, like, our members consistently blow me away with what they are willing to try and do and go along with and the action, social action that they're willing to take. So in some ways, yes, we thought about it. And in other ways, I am just consistently so impressed with the members of United Women in Faith who are so much more. I think sometimes, sometimes we get reduced to or stereotypes. People just don't know. Right.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:20:39]:
They think those are the ladies who do the bake sales and. Yes, but they are also the women who are trying new platforms to connect with one another who are determined to engage this social action in the light of quarantine. Right. So like, yes, and, and I think another thing that you mentioned is sort of the fatigue of having a lot of different tech. And that too is very real. But one thing that I think can be really refreshing about something like this is, is that there's so much less noise than, for example, Facebook. And then in the last year, we've seen many people continue to sort of divest from other platforms, from Facebook, particularly from X, which we as an organization have also sort of stepped away from because of privacy concerns and other concerns along those lines. So I think in some ways it can be really nice and refreshing to have a space where you go and it's just the thing you're interested in and it's the people that, you know, you can trust to some level.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:21:55]:
Right. Sort of stepping away from all of that noise and advertising that social media can bring, that actually brings a lot of fatigue and is not allowing you to care for your soul.
Ryan Dunn [00:22:08]:
Yeah, trust is huge. And in my role as a social media manager, I often have to deal with the hijacking of conversations and then the pushback against the hijacking of conversations. So I'm wondering if that's something that you have to really be mindful of within your space or because it is a very dedicated space. Um, is that something that is just not like a daily concern?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:22:40]:
I feel like I'm doing a lot of yes, and. Which is such a classic like, answer. Right. But yes and right. Like we of course do some because we want to keep this platform a. I always shy away from safe space, you know, but a brave space or, you know, a place where people are able to have difficult conversations with respect. But it is so much less antagonistic than more public facing platforms. Right.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:23:12]:
Like, there are certain things that if we even mention on Facebook or Instagram, it's sort of, you know, get to the trolls. And a lot of times those are not even. Those are not people who are in community with us. They're often, you know, people from other traditions or even outside of the Christian tradition who just disagree with concepts like women speaking, you know, and I'm sure that's the case for you too. Right. Like sometimes things just sort of spread and escalate in ways that we didn't predict. And that is less. It happens much less frequently on our internal platform.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:23:53]:
Like, of course we moderate, but very little really gets, you know, quote unquote out of hand.
Ryan Dunn [00:24:01]:
Do you have obvious moderation rules and do users know what the guidelines are?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:24:09]:
Yeah. So part of our welcome checklist is something we use actually at every event or space for United Women in Faith, period, which we call our Sisterhood of Grace. And these are guidelines that govern how we're going to interact with one another. So we have those, you know, front and center folks are familiar with them both from here and from other spaces. And I think we can always kind of, you know, look back to those as a way to, you know, re. Recenter the conversation. Some of those include, like, speak from your own experience. I think just doing that, period, is a way to, you know, it allows you to come in from a place of more humility, rather from a place of you're wrong.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:24:59]:
So I think that as a starting point, is really helpful. One of them is expect unfinished business, both discomfort and joy. Right. We're not going to solve everything. And that's the beauty of having a long tradition of this relationship with one another in, you know, that's looked different over the centuries, obviously, but we will have unfinished business. But as others have said, you know, the. The work is not yours to finish, but you cannot abandon it.
Ryan Dunn [00:25:32]:
I feel like we're. We're kind of pushing against Facebook here a little bit, but. And in fact, we are. But there was a. There are a lot of churches who. Who will. Or ministries who will say, well, we're ready to go into that community engagement space. Our people are on Facebook, so we can draw them into Facebook groups.
Ryan Dunn [00:25:55]:
United Women in Faith. As you were looking to design a digital community space, you've gone to another platform. You're using Mighty Networks.
Ryan Dunn [00:26:03]:
Was there.
Ryan Dunn [00:26:04]:
Do you remember there being reasons why you wanted to lean into something like Mighty Networks as opposed to just laying into something like Facebook groups. Groups, a space where people were already engaging?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:26:15]:
Yeah, I think that did not come up initially because we did start as a place for resources, and Facebook is not a great fit for that. Right. Like, you can't really post entire resources or you can't monetize them. So that, you know, sort of was off the table immediately as an option for us because it was really the. The resources and the community that we liked. We weren't looking for just one or just the other. And I think if you are looking for, you know, there are some great Facebook groups out there. There's, you know, a lot of good content and creative work on many different platforms.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:26:55]:
That just was not what fit the problem that we had identified.
Ryan Dunn [00:26:59]:
Okay, well, what advice might you be.
Ryan Dunn [00:27:02]:
Able to offer for ministry leaders who want to build a more engaged digital community. But. And maybe they're not sure where to start. They're feeling a little fearful at this moment.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:27:14]:
Yeah, I think try it out. My three like thick key things I think are number one, start small, you can always grow, you know, set the cast, the vision, but then take the baby steps. I think number two would be identify a problem which is not, you know, not necessarily a bad problem. I mean, like, you know, thinking about design or user experience, like what, what are we going to solve or contribute by having this thing be in existence. So I think if you can identify what it is that, that, that your people are asking for or craving, that will lead you on the right path. What solutions is it that your people need? So that would be number two. And then I think number three is another principle of human centered design or user experience, etc. Is don't be afraid to iterate what you come up with now.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:28:11]:
I mean, do you ever look back on your work and think, oh, what was I doing a couple years ago? Right.
Ryan Dunn [00:28:18]:
Every six months.
Ryan Dunn [00:28:19]:
Yeah.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:28:21]:
So I think, you know, start where you are build and don't be afraid to go back and think this isn't doing it. What do we need to add or what do we need to change or what can we do with the resources that we have to make this happen? I think that's something that's really beautiful about digital spaces, is you have, at least it feels that way to me. You have a lot of room to experiment and to try different things and you can, you can see what works along the way.
Ryan Dunn [00:28:55]:
Thanks for offering so much. I feel like we can mention that anybody can go check out uw faith.org digital it maybe we just want to be mindful of the fact that, you know, this is a, a cultivated community for meeting specific people. So, you know, I was able to go around and kind of check things out and it, you know, there as a lurker and is that okay if folks want to go in and kind of cruise through like that?
Olivia DiAgostino [00:29:29]:
Yeah, I always like to frame our audience as members and friends. So we, you know, we do obviously we, we check out everyone who creates a profile. So if you want to create a profile and just note what it is that you're looking for, that's always helpful, but you don't have to. But that's also nice as you're looking through, see who you want to connect with. But our main audience is of course the women of United Women in Faith. And this is a space for our community and our resources, but we welcome anyone who's a friend or an ally of the work that we do.
Ryan Dunn [00:30:05]:
Awesome. Well, thanks for giving this time to us and for cultivating the space and, you know, for lending into the prophetic voice that United Women in Faith really has represented for our our entire connection. So real pleasure talking to you and sharing in the journey.
Olivia DiAgostino [00:30:24]:
Thank you so much, Ryan.
Ryan Dunn [00:30:27]:
Thanks for taking this journey with us on the mycom podcast again. This episode is brought to us by Sparkhouse. Sparkhouse offers curriculum including Frolic, Spark, Activate, Faith World, Holy Moly, Reform, and Echo the Story. Sparkhouse is your trusted source for faith formation resources that connect with kids, youth and leaders, and you can access all their curriculum, plus hundreds of bonus resources on their online platform called Spark House Digital. They add new content quarterly, including children's messages, intergenerational events, and Christmas programs. Subscribe today to make Sparkhouse Digital your Go to Source for children and youth ministry resources that are fresh, fun and relevant. To learn more, go to wersparkhouse.org Better Church Curriculum by Design for more things My Comm and more tips and resources for your ministry, check out resourceunc.org My comm is a production of United Methodist Communications and it comes out monthly. I want to give thanks to Renee McNeil and Patty Dellabovi for production and marketing support.
Ryan Dunn [00:31:37]:
Again, my name is Ryan Dunn. Until next time, Peace.