Creating TikTok videos and social posts might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a religious sister. But for Daughter of St. Paul Sister Chelsea Bethany Davis, it’s a part of her vocation.
The Daughters of St. Paul is a religious order that promotes the Gospel through all forms of media, including books, movies, podcasts, videos and social media. The order runs Pauline Books and Media, a bookstore in Alexandria.
“Our charism is really to bring Jesus to the people of today using the most modern means,” Sister Bethany said. “That’s why you’ll find our sisters on TikTok and Instagram.”
The oldest of six children, she grew up attending St. Peter the Apostle Church in Libertytown, Md., the fourth generation of her family to attend the parish. “Church was very central in my life, but because we lived kind of in the middle of nowhere in Maryland, we didn’t have religious sisters,” she said.
She attended a vocations class in eighth grade organized by several homeschooling families. There, she met a Little Sister of the Poor. “I remember her exuding a lot of joy and peace, and I really wanted that,” Sister Bethany said. “So eighth grade was when I felt the call to become a religious sister, to totally give my life to the Lord in that way.”
She first learned about the Daughters of St. Paul from a pamphlet distributed in class, and she was intrigued by the thought of a sister with media equipment. She attended the order’s high school St. Paul Summer Program the summer after and began volunteering with the order at Pauline Books and Media, run by their convent in Alexandria. She entered the St. Louis, Mo., convent when she was 20 and after serving at several convents throughout the country, moved to the Alexandria convent in 2018.
Sister Bethany professed her first vows in 2011 and her final vows last year. “I was able to make perpetual profession last summer at my home parish, and a bunch of the sisters came,” she said. “We kind of took over my parish.”
Like many Daughters of St. Paul, Sister Bethany has her own social media accounts and has nearly 30,000 followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. She enjoys assisting with videos for the order’s YouTube channel.
Sister Bethany proudly bears the hashtag of #MediaNun on her social media profiles. When hashtags were popular several years ago, she said, “I was on the team that came up with #MediaNuns, because it describes what we are.”
The simple act of including the hashtag in posts can direct Catholic and non-Catholic social media users to other accounts from the Daughters of St. Paul.
One of Sister Bethany’s favorite social media platforms is TikTok because “there’s so little catechesis on TikTok.” With so many young people on the app, she added, “I’m finding that God is not so much abhorred as he is unknown.” A religious sister appearing on a user’s For You Page can prompt them to comment and ask questions about the faith or religious life.
The Daughters of St. Paul encourage viewers to engage with social media with a Christian mindset. This can include liking content that is either Christian or promotes goodwill and empathy. Users can also filter unwanted content selecting “not interested” on profane or inappropriate posts. “That’s one of my favorite things: teaching people how to use the media of today,” Sister Bethany said.
In addition to producing catechetical content on social media, the Daughters of St. Paul “pray for those who are creating bad media,” Sister Bethany said. Seeing sisters in the media can be a “conscience check” for users, she added, “because if I shouldn’t be watching this, should you?”
Sister Bethany currently studies theology and catechetics at The Catholic University of America in Washington. As she balances the vocation of being a student within the larger vocation of religious life, “It comes down to prioritizing what’s important,” she said. This may involve prioritizing her prayer and community life and taking breaks from her ministry on social media.
“Sometimes you have to be okay with letting go. Because every ‘yes’ also means a ‘no,’ ” she said.
The negative impact of social media can be intimidating, but not all hope is lost, Sister Bethany said. “The media doesn’t control you; you get to tame the algorithm.”
Find out more
Follow the Daughters of St. Paul on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Follow Sr. Chelsea Bethany on Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter, @srbethanyfsp.
