“How can we grow the church?” If you are on a church staff, whether it is part-time or full-time you have been asked this question many times. While you may share about how this event or that conference, may grow the church. If you want to grow the church, there is one area that could be helpful. Yet is still discounted as a effective way to reach people for Christ—social media
Many churches are on social media, but many are still underutilizing it to grow their church. For instance, one of the most misused ways of using social media is inform others of what you are doing. Yes, yes, social media is a great tool to use to inform others of what you are doing as a church or ministry. But, if that is all you are doing, then you are not maximizing the power of social media for growth for your church.
What does utilizing social media for growth look like?
Have your staff members on social media engaging people and talking about life.
When Facebook first came out it was to share life with others via pictures and status updates. But, in recent years, social media has been the one place where people can not only share their pictures with friends and family but they will also share their thoughts, feelings and political rants with people. Having staff members from your church on social media, actively engaging people “humanizes” them and help them be a part of real conversations. The more staff members are engaged on social media the more conversations can happen which then, when a person is thinking about going to church they may want to choose your church because of an interaction they had with a Staff member.
Create video content to be able to be shared across multiple platforms.
When checking out your church for the first time, a lot of people will look to your website and social media accounts to get more information on what your church is really about. Having video content such as a sermon, part of your worship or a message from your Pastor will be very helpful. With video, people can get a first-hand look at your church before they step foot through your doors.
Use Facebook Live (or Periscope or Instagram Live even) to post what is happening during your service.
Despite the increasing ease and lowering cost of live streaming your church services, many churches still cannot afford to get “professional” about it. Yet, you don’t need to pay any money for Facebook Live, Periscope or Instagram Live. All you need is a person who can whip out their phone, hit “live” and share what is happening. That way people can still stay engaged in your church even if they are not able to attend that particular week.
Disciple others online.
Discipleship is possible online. Whether it is creating devotionals (video or written), blog post, or starting online life groups you can encourage and equip your church goers online. And when you do this you are providing multiple ways for your people at your church to stay connected and engaged, which keeps them coming and inviting their friends to church.
Create other content to speak into the lives of others.
Blog posts are still effective in communicating to others about hope and Christ. All these possibilities are available via social media and the great news is that these are just so of the many ways your church can utilize social media for growth. As social media continues to change, there will be more opportunities available to your church to use it to grow.
What are you doing and what else can you be doing to use social media to grow your church?
