We recently connected with Hannah Siegmund and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Hannah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?
We decided to start Different Church in the fall of 2019, which requires a lot of up-front preparation and legal paperwork (such as applying for 501(c)3 status, finding a location to rent to hold Sunday services, etc.). We worked through all of this happily, and launched our first official service on March 1, 2020! It was exciting, but we had no idea that a global lockdown due to Covid was coming only three weeks later. At the time of our first service we had no online streaming capabilities and no plans to pursue that avenue. Just three weeks later we were faced with the problem of being home for several months and having no way to do ‘church’ together. We were able to pull together and make pre-recorded music and messages that we broadcasted on Youtube and Facebook each Sunday, and when we were allowed to return to in-person services we began streaming live every week.
Covid presented huge challenges in every area of Different Church, none of which we (or the world!) were expecting. From big things like needing to reach people online to smaller things like trying to decide whether we would serve coffee at our in-person services (drinking coffee required people to raise their masks) – the entire process was an exercise in flexibility and creativity.
Hannah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Hannah Siegmund, and I am the pastor of Different Church in St. Petersburg, Florida! We are a progressive Christian church that is inclusive and affirming of ALL people, and especially the LGBTQ+ community. In our city, there are churches on every street corner, but very few that are actually inclusive of everyone. We decided that the world doesn’t need ‘another’ church, it needs a ‘different’ church! We are different because Jesus was different. Jesus turned the world’s ideas about God upside down, and through love, forever changed the way that humans could relate to God and each other. We’re different because there are people who see the typical evangelical church and long for something more, something better. We are serious about understanding the historical context of scripture, and financially transparent and responsible. We are open, loving, and radically inclusive. We also affirm that no matter your age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, socio-economic background, or belief, you are welcome here, and celebrated just the way you are.
Different Church is a community of questioners, dedicated to exploring faith in Jesus, love for our neighbors, and inclusion for all. This is not just a mission statement, but a way of life for us. So many of our members have come from faith backgrounds where they have been harmed, mistreated, and even abused by churches and church leaders. We have a large focus on healing and wholeness as individuals and as people of faith.
I (Hannah) was practically born in church. I have been in church my entire life, studied church and the Bible both in undergraduate, graduate, and seminary degrees, and have worked in various churches throughout my adult life. Faith is something I am deeply committed to. However, having been in the ‘church world’ for so many years, the exclusion and harmful rhetoric that many churches preach felt deeply incongruent with the teachings of Jesus. I have seen so many dear friends hit glass ‘ceilings’ in their churches because of their beliefs, sexual orientation or gender identity, or simply because of their questions about God. In 2019, this became simply not acceptable any longer, and a few close friends and I took the jump to start our own faith community. It has been a truly wild experience, and if I had known that a global Covid lockdown was coming only three weeks after our first official service, we might not have been tried. But it is over two years later now and our little faith community is thriving. We didn’t just survive Covid, we were able to give hope and connection to many people through that time. So many people have found belonging at Different Church, and my most favorite thing is when I hear our members say things like ‘I was never going to attend church again…until I found Different.’ My hope and prayer is that we will always be a safe space for everyone to explore faith, but especially any people who have been marginalized.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
One huge lesson I’ve had to unlearn (and am still unlearning every day) is the temptation to do it all. There is a huge fear in my mind that if I am not constantly producing content, constantly putting something new out on the internet, constantly staying involved in social media, and constantly coming up with the next amazing sermon topic – that everything will fall apart. Rest is a hard concept for me. I have grown up tying my worth as a person to what I am able to produce. I struggle with feeling guilty about taking breaks and thinking that I am never accomplishing enough.
However, this is just a result of a capitalistic culture that values production over humans. Shortly after founding Different Church, I became pregnant and had a beautiful baby girl. She is 1 1/2 now, and things are finally starting to feel easier; but for the first year of her life I was simply not able to work or produce in the way that I was used to. She was an incredibly fussy baby and needed almost constant attention. Learning to just ‘BE’ with her, without my mind traveling to the never-ending list of things I wasn’t getting done was a constant practice. There is so much pressure in our society, and so much pressure that I put on myself. It’s all so unnecessary. Even with all the time I couldn’t dedicate to Different Church – we are still here. And not just here, the church is thriving and growing! So is my daughter. What a joy.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Social Media is such a necessary, and also anxiety-inducing, form of connecting with your audience. There can be a lot of pressure to be available at all times and to be continually creating something new and shiny to share with the world. Those things *can* increase your social media presence, but I have found that what truly builds a community online is authenticity, connection, and consistency.
When you build an audience, they will visit your page because of something that catches their eye. They will stay for YOU. Authenticity is crucial if you want to keep people coming back, especially in faith circles. Your personality, your authentic self has something to offer the world, and when you put yourself out there, eventually you will find the people who connect to you.
Connection is also key. It’s impossible to build a social media audience if you are simply making posts and never interacting with your followers. Connect through DM’s, questions to your followers, and give them real and useful content. Don’t try to always be promoting or selling something, because people get tired of that very quickly. People are there for YOU, as I said earlier, and they will be much more likely to join in your mission if you are available to them.
Consistency is the best kept secret, I think. So many people start out on social media and then burn themselves out immediately. Making one post a week consistently is better than making 10 posts for three weeks in a row and then none for a month. Give your audience some idea of what to expect, and they will appreciate the fact that they can rely on you.
Building social media presence for Different Church has been a combination of all of these things, with a few unexpected breaks (specifically when I had a newborn, and when I was sick for several weeks in a row). Life happens, and that’s okay! Your audience will understand and will be there for you when you return. I had to let go of the expectation for things to be ‘perfect.’ There’s no such thing as perfect. If we wait for perfect nothing will ever get put out in the world. ‘Good enough’ is a great standard, and one that regular people (the people on the other end of social media) will appreciate and interact with. Share your life! Your real, unpolished life. People will connect to this on a deep level, and become a source of support for you when you need it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.diffchurch.com
- Instagram: @diffchurch
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DifferentChurchStPete
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@diffchurch