Social Media for the Church

Keeping up with the times is a way of keeping up with your congregation. I love social media and would do it for anyone, anytime! Apparently there are Social Media Pastors now!

People love keeping up to date in what’s happening at their Church, they love seeing photos of their Church family and being invited to events. On the events, it’s a great tool for people to invite their friends that don’t regularly attend church, to events. These event posts can even be shared and that helps spread the word. The events have the ability to be linked to where people can get their tickets from and even show a map.

Most of the time people go on Facebook in the early mornings and in the evenings, so this is a great time to share posts with your Church. Now we have the fantastic ability of scheduling posts, so we don’t need to live on Facebook all the time.

Create a separate Facebook Group that only allows members in, so they feel safe and secure amongst the Church family. In this group, prayer requests, announcements, forms published etc can be shared among Church family only.

Here are some general tips for what you can do in your group.
1) Post often of what is happening at Church.
2) Interactive posts and more about how the group/church are impacting this nation.
3) Ask open question posts.
4) Do physical meet ups where you can and post about that.
5) Live videos – not the worship section, unless you have a streaming licence.
6) Have some get to know you questions for members, even new ones, that they can answer and they can copy and paste, answer them and post them into the group.
7) Discussion questions re this weeks sermon etc?
8) Use something like Zoom for online bible study, prayer meeting or home group meetings.
9) Build relationships through messenger, by doing some pastoral care.
10) Live interviews between staff, members, etc.

PAGES

So what can you post on your Church Facebook page? Here’s some ideas:-

ALSO….

– Youtube link of the song you are learning at Church (get them familiar with the song)

– Quotes from leaders in your Church

– Crowd shots (from the rear to cover privacy)

– People on stage shots

– Volunteers that work behind the scenes, so people know who does what and even include a bit of their story

– Testimonies- maybe a short video- these are powerful

IMPORTANT

DON’T PHOTOGRAPH KIDS WITHOUT PARENTS PERMISSION…….so many families are involved in the court system and you don’t know every child’s situation, so you need to protect them or have a consent form signed by the parents.

BIO

Make your Social Media bio look more interesting with Liinks.
https://www.liinks.co/?via=churchsupportaustralia

My History – Karen Stuckey

Back in June 2011, I created the community group “Aussie Christians on Facebook” group for Australian Christians only. After seeing the increase of isolation and hurting Christians and the potential of Social Media, I created this group to connect and create community in the online world, especially for those in isolation and in remote areas. From this group, Aussie Christian Prayer Warriors, Aussie Christian Jobs and other Facebook groups were birthed. The Aussie Christians group grew beyond 7000 alone and now is run by Liz Duffin, who does an amazing job. I learnt quite a bit about communicating and working with people in Facebook groups, in where you can find my notes below.

Aussie Christians on Facebook Cover Photo

Aussie Christians on Facebook became a safe place.

To become a member of Aussie Christians on Facebook, the admin would check the Facebook profile for evidence of being a Christian and being in Australia. This was to cut out spam and scammers. It also minimised the consistent self-promotion posts, that you often find in Facebook groups. We were there to support one another and sharpen one another.

Facebook Group Guidelines

IMPORTANT….Please Read….

Let’s all unite together across this nation and give God the glory and praise He deserves.

POSTING
~Think about your post before posting it…..
is it building up and sharpening one another
OR is it tearing down, will the subject cause friction/arguments etc.
~Please don’t point fingers at people or specific Churches, but point to the Father.
~Please do not post anything to do with Australian or overseas politics.
~Please be responsible for the posts you put on the group wall AND monitor the comments or respond accordingly.
~We are always going to find that we don’t all agree on everything, but please respond with love.
~Admin has the right to delete any posts they feel don’t line up with the bible or posts that are going to lead to discord.
~The centre of this group is God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, so any posts that take the group away from them can be deleted.
~ Also, no same-sex, safe schools or other posts which are associated with this topic.
~ No political posts at all
~ No international posts either, as this is an Australian Group, so Aussie Christian news only please.
~ You are more than welcome to invite your friends/family to this group, but they must be Born Again and Bible believing and practising.
~ Absolutely NO financial or sponsorship requests under ANY circumstances!!!!!

PROBLEMS
~Please make sure you read comments and posts correctly before reporting.
~If there is friction on a comment or spam post, please let admin know.

ADMINS
~Admins are always available for contact through private messaging on FB.
~Admins have the right to delete posts, comments and members if necessary.
~Admins can be found at:-
https://www.facebook.com/groups/aussiechristians/admins

STATEMENT OF FAITH
The Bible is the inspired and only infallible and authoritative written Word of God.
There is one God, creator of all things, eternally existent in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his virgin birth, in his sinless life, in his miracles, in his atoning death, in his bodily resurrection and in his ascension to the right hand of the Father.
In the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the one to everlasting life and the other to everlasting damnation.
In the personal future return of Christ to this earth in power and glory.
The only means of being cleansed from sin is through repentance and faith in the precious blood of Christ and that regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for personal salvation.
In the baptism of the Holy Spirit for all believers who ask and in the present day reality of the operation in the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit.
In the power of God to heal the human body in answer to faith and prayer.
In the observance of the ordinances of Christian baptism by immersion for all believers and the Lord’s Supper.

Aussie Christians on Facebook Cover Photo