Mark Zuckerberg looks to Rick Warren's Saddleback Church as a model for Facebook and Groups. We discuss how Facebook Groups and the new Facebook Watch app can help churches connect deeper.

1. SMALL GROUPS,
FACEBOOK WATCH
AND CHURCH

2. Subscribe Now

3. WIRED FEB 2017
“As [Mark] has repeatedly said…
he believes his platform brings
people together—despite the
sea of evidence that in its stated
mission to “connect the world”
Facebook may be
helping to tear
it apart.”

4. “AFTER SPENDING A DECADE
PORTRAYING FACEBOOK AS A SERVICE
FOR CONNECTING FRIENDS AND FAMILY,
ZUCKERBERG’S GRAND VISION IS NOW
TO BUILD TECHNOLOGY THAT CREATES
FAR BIGGER AND MORE COMPLEX
COMMUNITIES. ‘HUMANITY HAS ALWAYS
PUSHED TO COME TOGETHER IN
GREATER NUMBERS TO ACCOMPLISH
BETTER THINGS AND IMPROVE OUR
LIVES INDIVIDUALLY IN WAYS WE
COULDN’T IN SMALLER GROUPS,’ HE
TELLS ME. IF YOUR NEWS FEED NOW
FEELS LIKE A TINY TOWN, ZUCKERBERG
SEEMS TO WANT TO BUILD CITIES. OR AT
LEAST CHURCHES.

5. WIRED ARTICLE
In our conversation, he says his model for
an online community might look
something like Saddleback, the
evangelical Southern California
megachurch led by pastor Rick Warren.
It’s a surprising example from a man who
seems steeped in the liberal pluralism of
Silicon Valley. But the key for Zuckerberg
is that Warren built a community in which
tens of thousands of people gather under
a capable leader’s guidance, but also
divide themselves into smaller groups by
interest, affinity, and aspirations.
Photo: chinese.christianpost.com

6. IN ZUCKERBERG’S NEW VISION FOR
FACEBOOK, LEADERS IN THE MOLD OF
WARREN WILL HAVE TOOLS TO GUIDE AND
SHAPE THE MORE COMPLEX COMMUNITIES
THEY’RE TRYING TO CREATE. AT THE SAME
TIME, THE SMALLER GROUPS WITHIN THOSE
COMMUNITIES WILL PROVIDE PLACES TO
CONNECT IN MORE INTIMATE WAYS, WHILE
ALSO FEEDING THE LARGER WHOLE. ‘JUST
LIKE BECOMING FRIENDS WITH PEOPLE ON
FACEBOOK CAN STRENGTHEN REAL-WORLD
RELATIONSHIPS, THERE IS NO REASON TO
BELIEVE THAT BUILDING COMMUNITIES ON
FACEBOOK AND THE INTERNET CAN’T ALSO
STRENGTHEN REAL-WORLD COMMUNITIES,’
HE SAYS.”
READ THE WIRED ARTICLE

7. FACEBOOK GROUPS AND YOUR CHURCH
▸ Small Groups on Facebook
▸ Private groups for the people in
a Bible study, Sunday school
class or home group
▸ Continue the discussion from
the previous study
▸ Q&A throughout the week

8. FACEBOOK GROUPS AND YOUR CHURCH
▸ Can build and extend the intimacy
created in the ‘real life’ gathering
▸ Prayer requests, updates etc
▸ Micro community that can feed the
larger church FB community.

9. FACEBOOK GROUP FOR GROUP LEADERS
▸ Group leaders’ Group.
▸ Small / Home group leaders have a private FB group for
themselves.
▸ Equip each other
▸ Encourage
▸ Share what’s working, what’s not etc

10. GROUP TEACHING
▸ Churches that have unified Bible study curriculum - virtual teaching
▸ Using zoom.us or Google Hangouts
▸ Teaching the teachers
▸ Discussion
▸ Perfect for connecting when physical
connecting is not feasible - scheduling,
childcare etc
▸ Sessions can be recorded and shared
in the “Teach the teacher” small group

11. FACEBOOK WATCH

12. FACEBOOK WATCH
▸ Rolling out in small batches
▸ Typical protocol for Facebook -
eventually, everyone will have it.
▸ Exclusive content from
Facebook “partners”
▸ ad revenue split 55/45
Creator/Facebook
▸ Original programming =
increased news feed viewing

13. PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATIONS
▸ Most Talked
About
▸ What’s Making
People Laugh
▸ Shows Friends
Are Watching

14. FACEBOOK WATCH
▸ Publishers can share shows to the News Feed
▸ Subscribe to updates on new episodes
▸ Shows can connect to groups for more interaction
▸ Facebook spokesperson: “We want any publisher/creator
who is interested to be able to create a show in the
future… So there will be hundreds of shows at launch, and
we’ll hopefully scale to thousands.”

15. FACEBOOK WATCH TAKEAWAYS
▸ Churches can have a their live and recorded services get
more focus - simply because it’s all new
▸ You can start treating your stream / recordings more like a
proper ‘tv style’ or ‘radio style’ experience
▸ Creates a better experience for the user
▸ Facebook is committed to video being a LARGE part of the
platform, so churches should focus not only on the podcast
and YouTube, but FB delivery as well.

16. ChurchTrainingAcademy.com