evangelism

Social Media Evangelism

Scott Carnes Communicating Christ , , , ,
Social Media Evangelism

(reposted from Pastor’s Posts on HudsonUMC.org)

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We are made to be in relationships.

We know this, intuitively, about God and ourselves.  Social media can enhance our relationships and create new connections. If you feel comfortable on the web you can make church a part of your online identity.

When you use a church cover picture or share a post, tweet or video: you are extending the reach of this church:  people in the community will learn about our after school program, come to the church, or, maybe, contribute to our missions.  Your virtual activity has real-world consequences.  Why not make your online opinions and relationships a force for good?  Here are a few ways you can connect your faith and your on-line life:

Facebook

These are ways that you can help get word out about our church, engage with friends and family about issues of faith, and keep yourself abreast of the happenings and theology of our local church.  By writing a 5-star review of our church, you are helping potential church-goers to see our church in a positive way and feel more comfortable visiting for the first time. There is one more way to extend our church to the world:  When we have a special event or holiday approaching at the church, of if there is something about it that touches your spirit, download our cover photo and use it on your timeline.

Last, but not least:  When you are in the building, at worship or any church event (in or out of the building) you can check in using your mobile phone.  If you snap a great picture at church, make sure you have permission of the person (or their legal guardian) and share the picture on Facebook with our church tagged as the location.  It will help people peek into the life of our congregation and make them want to be a part of it!

Yelp

Yelp is one of the first places a person might go if they have moved to the community.  Go to our church page on yelp to see our church as others would see our church.  Know someone looking for a church?  Sure, tell them about our church, encourage them to our website, but also suggest that they look us up on yelp.

Twitter, Instagram, pinterest, and others

By following the church’s twitter feed, you will not only learn about the church but connect to events of faith, United Methodism and our larger community.  It is also a great way to connect to theologians and church leaders. By following your pastor or other church people on twitter, instagram or pinterest you get a peek into others’ life and theology.

Youtube

When you find a video that you enjoy…or that connects to your faith…you can share it with friends.  Oh, and by subscribing, yourself, to our channel you will always be alerted when a new video is uploaded.

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Nuts & Bolts

Scott Carnes Communicating Christ , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Nuts & Bolts

Alright, I’ve spent a lot of time talking about my ideology of communication.  Yes, some of it is dated, but I want to move on.  I want to write a bit about the “nuts and bolts.”  I want to inspect more specifically how we put good communication into practice.

Over the last few months I have started an experiment by accident and I think we can learn something from it.  Let me tell you:

A few months ago I was in an unusual situation.  My church had decided to make major staffing changes, so I knew I was moving.  I went to the doctor and found out I had a brain tumor, and then my senior pastor went on vacation for a month.

When I went in to talk to my District Superintendent (the pastor who supervises my district of churches), she shook her finger at me and told me that I needed to communicate VERY CLEARLY and often with my church.  My job, she reminded me, was to minimize anxiety and keep the church informed.

She was right, but also I didn’t want my wife burdened during (and after) my surgery with lists of people to call and email, nor did I want her to feel inundated with calls when she was going through a lot.  Hmmm.  Well, Facebook, Twitter and my blog turned out to be the solution.  It was perfect because friends, family, church family, and even the people who weren’t yet on facebook could stay connected to my progress without much effort on my wife’s part.  We ended up starting a new blog and by the end of that month we had over 6000 hits.  It was a great success.

It was an accident, but  it worked beautifully.  It wasn’t just information, it wasn’t just what happened, but it was about how I felt.  Perhaps more importantly, it wasn’t just words but also video and pictures.  It turns out that I finally did all the things I’d been expounding on this blog for so long!  I was using social media to build relationships.  In the process of authentically expressing myself, I was sharing my life and faith with a larger audience than I preach to each Sunday.  How cool is that?  It was an accident, but I was actually doing the mission statement of the church… perhaps even more effectively than on Sunday morning.