This document provides guidance on how churches can use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest to connect with their congregations and communities. It recommends that churches use photos and videos to engage people more than just text or links. Examples are given of how churches have used each platform successfully, such as creating Advent calendars on Pinterest or producing video series for YouTube. Tips are provided on growing followers and engagement, including listening to conversations, responding to others, sharing content regularly and maintaining relationships over time.

1. Social Media
The Church
&
What Can Facebook, Twitter & YouTube Offer Your Church?

2. Go into all the world and proclaim the good
news to the whole creation (Mark 16:15)

3. Excellent Advice for churches
interested in social media

4. • Connect with other pastors (prof. development)
• Connect the congregation during the week
• Reach out to people outside the congregation
• Increase visibility of the church & its programs
WHY
?

5. Some examples from around the web
How?

6. people are more likely to interact with a photo (like it,
comment, share) than with Just links, OR text.

7. 19,907 photos tagged
with #rethinkchurch
[the tag used on
social media for this
project] on Instagram
alone.
People from other
denominations [and
no denomination],
young, old, inside the
US and outside,
participated.
Results:

8. Pictures collected on Pinterest

9. The Episcopal Church Advent Calendar on Pinterest
Note the number of repins, likes and comments

10. Other ways to use Pinterest
Inspiration boards, activities boards, etc.

11. Similar use of Pinterest by a church

12. The Big Bible Project on Pinterest

13. Visual Psalmists
Inspirational pictures that answer the question, "Where did you see God today?"
Visual psalmists see photography as an extension of their spirituality.

14. Parishioners holding signs
that read “I love my
church” & the web address
www.findoutwhy.co.
“Instead of simply sharing
images on their page and
leaving it at that, the
church encouraged people
to use the photos as their
profile pictures on
Facebook, which most did.
leveraging their fans’
connections to expand the
reach of their content.”
Covenant Church:
www.holony.com/blog
Grove City

15. OnlyTakes12turnstoreach
over1millionpeople
Leveragingfans’connectionstoexpandthereachoftheircontent

16. Find out Why Microsite:
who we are, preaching, worship, kids, visit

17. Another Facebook example: create cover photos for events
Cannot include: images with more than 20% text; contact info; calls to action

18. Video Allows your church to tell its story:
experience worship, people, culture & virtual participation

19. A fun weekly web series about the objects, symbols and terms used in church,
produced by the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Discipleship.
Chuck knows Church:

20. Busted Halo® Ministries:
helps young adults explore their spirituality, discover (or re-discover) the
rich depths of Catholic tradition, and connect to communities of faith.

21. Noone to produce your videos?
Why not ask a youth group for help?

22. Twitter as a Church Communication tool
Some local examples - Not trying to pick on anyone!

23. Responding
Building
Community
Listening/
Monitoring
Broadcasting
LevelsofEngagement
1-way
1-way
2-way short-term
2-way long-term

24. Some local Examples:
• Following very few
• can’t see their tweets
• difficult to interact (no
@replies)
• difficult to build
community
• Indicative of 1-way
broadcasting model
• Decent number of
Twitter followers

25. Some local Examples:
• Following only one
• impossible to build
community
• Indicative of 1-way
broadcasting model

26. Some local Examples:
• No @replies
• Missed opportunities for
interaction & visibility
• When talking about
people/orgs/businesses,
use their Twitter handle
(if they have one)
• When talking about
major events, use
hashtags (gives you
visibility outside
your network)

27. Some local Examples:
• Simply adding #ATX
would have made this
message visible to
anyone who follows the
#ATX hashtag, not just the
144 followers. Possibility
to reach the Austin
community not affiliated
with the church.
• Same: Using #Boston or
#PrayforBoston could have
taken this message to an
international community

28. Some local Examples:
• Try to create interest/give
people a reason to click
on your links

29. Some local Examples:
• Retweets, but still no
direct interaction
(@replies)

30. How Successful Brands
use Twitter:
• Use hashtags for visibility
• Use @username when
talking about others
• Promote other causes

31. How Successful
Brands use Twitter:
• 2-way communication

32. Why you should care about twitter
tweets from religious leaders are very popular among Twitter users

33. How to Develop your Twitter
Network

34. Growing your Twitter network
Use Twitter’s search engine to find their Twitter handle
Follow them on Twitter
Expand the list of people you follow by:
+
+
Checking their following/follower lists
Checking out Twitter lists
Identify people in your field, people you admire

35. Start with a
Twitter search if
you don’t know
anyone
Check out
promising twitter
users by clicking
on Twitter handle

36. Check their
tweets to get an
idea for what
they tweet about

37. If they used a
hashtag that
looks promising,
check it out:
#chsocm

38. Check following/followers lists
Check Twitter lists

39. Subscribed to: lists
the user has created
or is following
Member of: lists other
users have added
this user to
You can follow the
entire list or pick
individual list
members to follow

40. Click on a list, then click on list members
Follow the entire list or individual members: check out last few tweets

41. Don’t just go with
the first one.
Check activity,
date of last tweet,
etc.

42. Check their
tweets to get an
idea for what
they tweet about

43. Check the people they are following

44. If the tweets look valuable to you, click follow ...

45. ... or create your own list to add them to!

46. Sample list I created: twitter.com/corinnew/smministry

47. Growing your Twitter network
Use Twitter’s search engine to find their Twitter handle
Follow them on Twitter
Expand the list of people you follow by:
+
+
Checking their following/follower lists
Checking out Twitter lists
Checking out #followfriday & #hashtags +
Identify people in your field, people you admire

48. Check out #followfriday suggestions

49. Go to twitter.com/username (leave out the @)
If you like, click follow or add to your list

50. Growing your Twitter network
Use Twitter’s search engine to find their Twitter handle
Follow them on Twitter
Expand the list of people you follow by:
+
+
Checking their following/follower lists
Checking out Twitter lists
Checking out #followfriday & #hashtags +
Checking RTs to find out who sent the original tweet +
Identify people in your field, people you admire

51. Checking RTs to find out who sent the original tweet
@NewMediaAtCTS retweeting @ReligionEthics

52. 1. Filter your incoming tweets:
Use TweetDeck or Hootsuite to
divide followees into groups
2. Test drive your subscriptions
Then re-evaluate
3. Repeat steps to add new voices to your Twitterstream
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Keep Tweaking IT

53. TweetDeck

54. Find their individual and/or organizational blogs
Subscribe to their blog’s RSS feed
Expand the list of people you subscribe to by:
Checking their blog roll
Following links on their blog to other blogs
Checking to see if your favorite twitter users blog
+
+
+
Growing your network through Blogs
Identify people in your field, people you admire

55. Subscribe to blogs with a feed reader such as Bloglines
It makes the info come to you (click to watch the video)

56. Download the file and import it into Bloglines
And voilà: you’re now subscribed to these blogs!

57. Developing a network is just the First step
Step 2: Engage & maintain, or else:
Remember

58. How toEngage others
on the social web

59. 8020 Rule
Thou shalt not use more than 20% of thy
tweets to promote thyself
80% of thy tweets shall add value to thy
followers

60. What to
TWEET
About?
Church News
Sermon/BibleVerse/Prayer
Pics/Behind the Scene Pic
Peek into Personal Life
Public ThankYou
Listen/Learn/Grow
Offer Encouragement
Engage, Interact, RT
Questions/Answers/Feedback

61. Behind the Scene Pic

62. Sermon/Bible Verse/Prayer

63. Sermon/Bible Verse/Prayer
Bonus Points for adding a personal touch

64. Sermon/Bible Verse/Prayer
Bonus Points for adding a personal touch

65. Recognize, encourage others

66. Questions/Answers/Feedback

67. Listening to
Conversations
Who & what to listen for? How to do so?

68. Set up a search in Tweetdeck
or Hootsuite:
Listen for:
• community/city name
• church name
• event/program names
• pastor names
• relevant hashtags

69. Type in keywords
Click go
Monitor the web for mentions

70. Click “Feed Settings”

71. Copy
URL
into
Feed
Reader

72. 15minutes a dayRelationships take time to grow & maintain
• Listen to the conversation
• Respond to people
• Check the resources shared by your network
• Share other people’s tweets/links
• Share your own thoughts or content

73. Create or Re-use?
Make a list of already existing content

74. Advent devotionals written by church members
Why not share on a social platform & allow writers
to share it with their social networks?

75. Ideas for kids’
ministry:
Children’s message
activities. Pin activities
related to the weekly
children’s message to a
Pinterest board.
User submitted artwork.
Encourage your community
to share their own artwork
based on the weekly
message or current sermon
series. Repin and highlight all
their great work.

76. Churches Already have lots of content
Collect and share it on social platforms

77. CREDITS:
Corinne Weisgerber, Ph.D.
Associate Prof. of Communication
St. Edward’s University
corinnew@stedwards.edu
Twitter: @corinnew