7 Things Every Pastor Should Do Every Week on Social Media

The most recent study shows that 67% of adults use social media regularly. [Study] If 2/3rds of your church showed up to a meeting every week would you want to use that meeting to communicate with them? If that percentage of folks in your community came to an event in your town next week would you want to find a way to use that platform to reach people?  Church leaders that ignore social media are missing a significant channel for reaching people in their community.

You might be hindering God’s work in your church because you aren’t posting enough status updates!

Social media is simply a way for you to connect with people and get to know them better. Do you want to build relationships with your people? These networks are amazing platforms for spreading ideas and concepts. Surely you want more people to connect with the message of Jesus? Social networking allows a leader to leverage more influence faster than so many communication platforms in the past. Do you believe God is asking you to influence this generation?

Here are seven simple and straight forward tasks that every pastor looking to connect through social media needs to do every week. They aren’t time consuming and they could be done on a wide variety of networks. These are a good starting point …

  • Thank A Volunteer // It’s doesn’t need to be fancy but needs to be sincere. Call out a volunteer who serves with diligence on one of the teams at your church. [Something like this.]
  • Show Your Humanity // Authenticity starts with letting people see you beyond just your role as a leader. Take some time to show that you are a normal person. Let your people get a peek inside your home life. [Here’s an example.]
  • Bite Sized Sermon // One of the social media “primetimes” is early in the morning. Your people are checking in as they get ready in the morning. Share with them a quick quote from what you read that morning to help focus them for the day. [Morning time is prime time!]
  • Post a “Behind the Scenes” Pic // You get to see some pretty cool stuff as a church leader that your people would love to see.. The worship team praying back stage before a service. The youth band rehearsing. Elders meetings. (Ok … maybe not that one.) Keep an eye out for something that your people might want to see!
  • Encourage Other Pastors // Who are some other pastors that you follow? Let your people know and take some time to publicly thank them for their ministry to you. It show’s unity in the body and models a healthy respect for leadership. [Honor leadership.]
  • Ask for Feedback // Are you working on your message for this weekend and are stuck at a point in your prep? Why not ask your social networks for some feedback? Interact with folks as they leave comments or input. [Some marketplace examples.]
  • Dip into the Stream // Set aside some time every day this week to just wade into your social networks for a period of time. Read what people are writing about. Ask people questions. Interact. Retweet. Even 15 minutes a day will give you incredible insights.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rich Birch

Rich Birch

Thanks so much for dropping by unseminary … I hope that your able to find some resources that help you lead your church better in the coming days! I’ve been involved in church leadership for over 15 years. Early on I had the privilege of leading in one of the very first multisite churches in North Amerca. I led the charge in helping The Meeting House in Toronto to become the leading multi-site church in Canada with over 4,000 people in 6 locations. (Today they are 13 locations with somewhere over 5,000 people attending.) In addition, I served on the leadership team of Connexus Community Church in Ontario, a North Point Community Church Strategic Partner. I currently serves as Operations Pastor at Liquid Church in the Manhattan facing suburbs of New Jersey. I have a dual vocational background that uniquely positions me for serving churches to multiply impact. While in the marketplace, I founded a dot-com with two partners in the late 90’s that worked to increase value for media firms and internet service providers. I’m married to Christine and we live in Scotch Plains, NJ with their two children and one dog.

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COMMENTS

What say you? Leave a comment!

Mrs. Melinda Cadwallader — 05/15/13 3:05 pm

Great note, Rich! Its so important to encourage conscious living and deliberate actions! Love this!

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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
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