Tyler Wertman
Tyler Wertman is a student at Wilson Memorial High School and a member of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waynesboro, Virginia. He has played a major role in Grace’s communication efforts and provides an example for how other churches can involve youth in the operations of their congregation.
One Sunday morning, I was sitting in the back of my church listening to the pastor’s sermon about people attending church. While listening to the sermon, I started asking myself, “What is a way that my church can tell the story of who we are at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waynesboro, Virginia?” At the time, my church had an interim pastor and was in the process of looking for a full time pastor. Attendance on Sunday mornings was declining and I knew something had to be done.
After thinking about the question, I came up with a possible answer: “What about a Facebook page for the church?” After worship I asked the Congregation Council President and the church secretary if the church had an account. They said that there was one, but it was not very active.
After attending the congregation council meeting of that week, I received approval to take on the task. That same night I created the official Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Facebook page. I still take on role of managing the page to this day.
It was at the moment, that I started to become involved in the church. I kept asking myself, “What can I do to improve the church?”. After looking at the church website, I knew it was outdated and needed to be redesigned. After the church finally got a new full time pastor I realized it was a good time to redesign the website. For months I was searching for the best way to redesign the website and make it more aesthetically appealing. On November 5, 2013, I designed my very first website and had it published to the internet. After looking at the website for a couple of months, I didn’t really like how it looked. I then redesigned the website again in September 2014. I am now very pleased with the design.
While helping out my church and showing my talent, It has given me the opportunity to be a member of my church’s Communications Committee, which was formed after I created the Facebook page. I am also a Congregation Council Member, Technology Committee Member, and a Stewardship Committee Member. I help out with the church sound/recording system on Sunday mornings, take pictures for the church and help out with ACTS (Ambassadors Community for Theological Study), which is held at my church on an annual basis.
Only a junior in high school, I have already done so much for my church. I sometimes think more about church than I do school, which at times may be a bad thing. I think what I do is important because I’m improving the way the church uses technology and social media in order to better communicate with people inside and outside the church. I feel that I am a big part of my church because I am dedicated to what I do and I learn how to communicate with others by using social media. To this day, I come up with new ideas that can improve my churches communication efforts.
