Some ministers think that Social Media is just a “kid” thing. It is the latest technology fad that will fade into oblivion soon enough – like my first computer – the Commodore 64!
That is not true – Social Media – in whatever form – is here to stay! There are too many reasons why to discuss in this post so lets just assume it isn’t going anywhere. Fact is, the church doesn’t want it to go away. Why? There are some things Social Media can do for us that have been hard to do in the past.
There are some things Social Media can do for us that have been hard to do in the past.
Here are 2 things Social Media can help the church with:
Communication – Communicating with members has never been as easy as it should be or needs to be. Here’s why. In most churches we only get someone 1 day a week. We can make announcements for 5 minutes and print the announcement in the bulletin. We hope (really hope) that they were a) paying attention, and b) going to read the bulletin. We were normally wrong on both accounts! You had your one shot and if they missed it, well, they missed it! As a pastor you wanted to cast vision with a Megaphone! If they missed a Sunday or two they could miss a months worth of important events and announcements and vision casting!
Social Media changes that. We can now disseminate information via Facebook, email, Youtube, blog, etc. We can have it repeat over and over. We don’t have to ask them to come to us to hear the message – we can take it to them. So now we can communicate with them while they sit in their homes, while they are at work, and anytime they are on their phone! Social Media makes communication so much easier and better.
We build community through communication!
Community – I know the two words sound almost the same. Here’s why – we build community through communication. Now we don’t have to ask them to just come to us, we can go to them through Social Media. They can feel as if they are a part of something – something bigger than them. Before Social Media you heard phrases like this, “We are going to church this Sunday”. Now you hear phrases like this, “Come look at this and let me show you what my church is doing”! Big difference. Social Media allows the member to take church wherever they are!
As a Pastor, be glad Social Media is here to stay. It helps more than you will ever know with Communication and Community.