Church expands job opportunities

Advice for media practitioners: “Seek out opportunities and don't shy away from things that scare you,” said Emma Wittmer, ’21

by Alex Younger

Savvy career builders look everywhere for opportunities, some of which may feel they are created specifically for them. Emma Wittmer, ’21 knew she needed experience to truly figure out her passion.

“Going specifically into PR, there are so many job opportunities, which can sound daunting, but it gave me a little peace of mind,” said Wittmer. “I love the different aspects of each of these job opportunities I looked into, and my time at Washburn helped me figure that out.”

Wittmer said she started her freshman year at University of Kansas with a major in journalism, but she decided that Washburn had more opportunities.

As a student, she worked at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center as a marketing assistant and then at the Washburn University Alumni Association and Foundation.

During her senior year, Wittmer applied for an internship at Topeka’s Fellowship Bible Church. She was attending there and wanted to use her skills to help manage its social media presence.

At the conclusion of her internship, her boss, Bill Horn, created the digital ministry coordinator job as part of the Worship Arts team.

“She is the first person to hold her current role, so she is having to blaze a new trail for us,” Horn said. “This has involved research and consulting with other organizations and establishing best practices for the position going forward. Emma has been a great addition to our team.”

Wittmer is a one-person digital team at Fellowship Bible Church as of today. She runs its main accounts, the Young Adult account, and the Student Ministry account. However, Wittmer said she faced some difficulties at work. For example, she had to teach herself how to use a professional camera, edit images, and create Facebook ads.

“I wanted to use my ability to make the young adult ministry social media presence really awesome, so there was a lot to learn,” Wittmer said.

She feels biggest accomplishment was not shying away from a job in digital media because of the learning curve. Technology is always changing, and Wittmer has learned to tackle it.

“Something I love about my work is that we always say, ‘You didn’t fail at doing this, you just found another way not to do it,’” Wittmer said. “Failure scars me half to death because I want to be good at everything I do.”

She gets overwhelmed sometimes, but it’s because she’s a one-person digital team. But, Wittmer said she has great people around her who are willing to help her.

She has resources she can go to when she runs into challenges and she adapts in a stressful environment.