Carol Stream, IL – July 23, 2021 – What does it mean to live out our faith in a digital world? How are Christian leaders and creatives using social media to share the Good News? These are the themes explored in Viral Jesus, a new podcast from Christianity Today about communication and the power of social connections.
In each episode, communications scholar Heather Thompson Day takes her listeners on a deep dive with ministry leaders, content creators, and social media influencers to find out how they’re making their faith go viral.
“There are so many opinions and ideas swirling around social media that it’s easy to think we’ll never have anything worthwhile to say,” says Thompson Day. “But what if we could learn from Christian influencers who are really good at knowing how to connect online? That’s what Viral Jesus is all about.”
For Viral Jesus’s inaugural episodes, Thompson Day has assembled a dynamic array of guests including theologian and Reading While Black author Esau McCaulley; English professor and culture critic Karen Swallow Prior; and comedienne, blogger, and prolific YouTuber Kristina Kuzmič. Topics covered range from building community naturally to using TikTok as a tool for discipleship. The first episode, featuring McCaulley, is called “Tweeting While Black.”
Beyond the Twitter tips and Instagram insights found in the conversations on Viral Jesus, Thompson Day also draws from her expertise as a professor of communication at Colorado Christian University (and soon Andrews University) to show real-life examples of communication theory in practice.
Adds Thompson Day: “The goal of Viral Jesus is for all Christians to hear from people they respect on how you build online community, but more specifically I hope this podcast will also be a resource to church and ministry leaders as they navigate social media engagement.”
Christianity Today’s vice president of strategic partnerships, Ed Gilbreath, says Viral Jesus is the first of several new podcasts in development from CT’s Big Tent Initiative, “which is a focused effort to help CT reach and represent more of the racial, ethnic, and generational diversity of God’s church.”
Viral Jesus’s trailer and first episode with Esau McCaulley are available now, with new episodes releasing every Wednesday. Find it at ChristianityToday.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever listeners get their podcasts.
Listeners also can join the Viral Jesus conversation on social media by following Heather Thompson Day @HeatherTDay and @CTmagazine on Twitter.
Find Viral Jesus and other original podcasts from CT at https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/podcasts/.
Christianity Today is an acclaimed and award-winning media ministry that elevates the storytellers and sages of the global Church. Each month, across a variety of digital and print media, the ministry carries the most important stories and ideas of the kingdom of God to over 4.5 million people all around the planet.
Contact: Ed Gilbreath, 630.384.7288 egilbreath@christianitytoday.com
NASHVILLE, TN—July 26, 2021—Over 80 million people watched Mary Katherine Backstrom (MK) explain how she accidentally hugged a stranger to thank him for washing the windows on her car, after all it was Christmas and she thought he was in the spirit of Christmas…he wasn’t…he was actually cleaning his own car!
Grand Rapids, Mich. (July 13, 2021) — Zondervan today announced Laura Bartlett as the new associate publisher for its Bibles team, which publishes multiple Bible translations: the New International Version (NIV), New International Reader’s Version (NIrV), New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), New American Standard Bible (NASB), and the Amplified Bible (AMP).
Lake Mary, FL—The Awaken the Dawn movement took the nation by storm in 2017 where nearly four million participated around the world through live streaming and almost 50,000 gathered in person at the National Mall to pray and worship together. David Bradshaw, the founder of this exceptional movement, has taken the movement to the next level by writing a book by the same name, Awaken The Dawn: An Adventure In Hosting Jesus’ Presence And Discovering Your Part In The Story (Charisma House, ISBN-13: 978-1-63641-006-7), to give insight on the founding of the movement, the wisdom he has gained from it, and to encourage others to go deeper in their relationship with Christ.
Carol Stream, Ill. (July 14, 2021)—Focus on the Family, in alliance with Tyndale House Publishers, released Refugees on the Run, #27 in the Imagination Station series, on June 8, 2021.
WESTMONT, IL—With the July 27 release of
B&H Publishing is proud to announce its acquisition of ethicist and author Jason Thacker for a trade book tentatively titled “Following Jesus in the Digital Age,” set to release on June 14, 2022.
(Nashville, TN) July 15, 2021—Thomas Nelson today announced Daniel Marrs as the new associate publisher for Nelson Books, a nonfiction imprint of the publishing group.
GRAPEVINE, Texas, June 24, 2021 – New York Times bestselling author, news editor and dual U.S.-Israeli citizen 




