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Social Media and the Church

How Do Church Leaders Find Time for Social Media?

As we noted in our latest Social Media post, finding the time for social media is the biggest hurdle for churches in acclimating to the digital world.

“Church” has been done the same way for centuries. People entering ministry have expectations for how they will spend their time when they are called to a parish. Something like this: Monday will be spent on office housekeeping and reflection in preparation for next week’s sermon. Parish calls are made on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wednesday is bulletin day and Bible study, choir practice or some other group activity. A few hours of Thursday might be spent with colleagues over lunch. Meetings will be scattered throughout the week. Friday is for polishing the sermon. There are always emergencies. And one of these days is a day off.

Time must be found. Social Media is simply too powerful to ignore. If you are serving an aging congregation it is all the more vital. Your older members may be willing to forego it, but the current coming-of-age generation — Generation Y — lives with their cell phones epoxied to their palms. If you want your church to have a future, you MUST speak the language and use the tools of the future.

How do you make the time?

There is no doubt it will be hard to adjust the routine. It is an adjustment for everyone! We suggest a two-pronged approach:

  1. Set aside 30 minutes a day for social media. Start your day with it. End your day with it or follow your lunch break with it. Make it a routine.
  2. Let others help.

Carving out a half-hour may be the easiest of the two steps to take, especially after you begin to see results. In our experience that took six months of daily posting to grow readership to our current average of 50 readers a day and a thousand each month. Warning: A half hour is a start. You will find Social Media so compelling that it will become more vital to your church community.

The second part — letting others help — is a major shift in church structure but it is going to happen. Top-down church leadership is quickly becoming a thing of the past. If people do not have a voice in their churches they will fill their lives with things that engage them.

This adds a new church emphasis for which your social media can be a tool. Education. You want members engaging in online religious issues to be knowledgeable. Many churches have neglected education. Use Social Media to break that cycle. We’ll address this in our next Social Media post.

photo credit: ebby via photopin cc
03 Mar 2012

Google Insights Can Reveal Ministry Opportunity

As we explore and learn social media, we turned this weekend to a fairly new social media tool, Google Insights. This tool measures internet activity revolving around key words.

We plugged in key words of topics that interest us to see if they interest anyone else.

We searched for interest in “social media ministry.” The graph that pops up with amazing speed reflects our experience. We have long known that our readers are interested in this topic.

Goggle Insights Results for "Social Media Ministry"

We plugged in “children’s ministry” and “family ministry.” The results showed a decline in interest — not dramatic but decidedly so-so. We experienced the same results with our posts on ministry for children. We have also noted that ministry to children is neglected in many of the churches we visit.

Then we plugged in “multicultural ministry.” This is a topic that the our denomination has announced is a priority. The Google Insights graph revealed a flat line with sharp and short-lived spikes occurring about annually. There is only sporadic interest in this topic!

Google Insights Results for "Multicultural Ministry"

What does this tell us? There are a few possibilities.

  1. If multicultural ministry is a goal, groundwork must be laid. The Church is starting from scratch with this concept. Awareness of multicultural ministry challenges and opportunities must be promoted.
  2. Multicultural Ministry will be an uphill effort. Measurable success may be a long way off. Success might be fleeting.
  3. Other things concern congregations more. Any effort at Multicultural Ministry is likely to take a back seat.
  4. Leadership must be developed for this type of ministry.

The data fails to inform in some areas. It measures only interest — not need.

Why are there occasional, sharp spikes? Was there some event at that time that raised momentary interest?

The value of these “insights” is in what the Church does with the data.

  • Opportunities must be identified.
  • Churches and leaders must have some training and leadership.
  • Instant results should not be expected.
  • Since, there is so little interest, there is likely little experience. All ideas and efforts need to be given a chance.
12 Feb 2012

The Art of the Video Interview

Why? and How?: An Interviewer’s Best Friends

Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?

Six questions every video interviewer needs to know.

There are six well-known questions all journalists employ. They are called the five Ws and an H. Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why? and How?.

The first four are of less value to video interviewers because the answers to the questions do not encourage complete sentences.

  • Who is leading this ministry? Answer: John and Mary Doe.
  • What are the plans? Answer: To help the homeless.
  • When will your event take place? Answer: Friday morning.
  • Where will this happen? Answer: Central Park

That makes for a boring and ineffective video interview. Would you stay tuned?

The last two staple questions can help you turn the first four Ws into dialog. Why and How questions are open-ended. You can get the information you are seeking in the first four Ws by asking good  Why and How questions.

  • How did your group decide on this ministry? Answer: Every Sunday, John and Mary Doe passed a man pushing a shopping cart with all his possessions down the street. At first they didn’t know how to help but  . . .
  • Why did this man’s plight move John and Mary? Answer: They remembered the stories their parents had told them of hard times in the Depression. They were always taught to appreciate God’s blessings and . . . . .
  • How can the neighborhood support you? Answer: You can come to the rally in Central Park next Friday morning at  9 am and be prepared to . . .

You can see how careful wording of questions will elicit colorful, meaningful answers. It just takes a bit of practice. Ask a friend to rehearse with you or stand in front of a mirror and ask yourself your intended questions. Role play the answers. You will quickly learn how to phrase questions to draw good, colorful, story-telling answers.

Make best friends with Why and How and the other four Ws will tag along.

11 Feb 2012

Adding a Video Interview to Your Blog

Posting an interview is a good first step to exploring video on your blog or web site.

Here are some guidelines for beginners. We’ll build later posts on this foundation.

  • Make your guest comfortable in a well-lit spot. Make sure there is enough light on your guest’s face, but don’t worry too much about lighting for now.
  • Frame your shot. We’ve included a few illustrations to show you how to position your interviewee.
  • A seated interviewee will pose less of a challenge for beginners. If you choose to have your guest standing, be prepared to move!
  • Keep backgrounds simple. You don’t need a set. A corner of a room with drapery, non-intrusive wall art or a bookcase is fine. A side-table with a lamp or potted plant is another possibility. If you are in a person’s office, set up the interview at the person’s desk. The background should not distract from your speaker’s message. 

  • Prepare your guest. Engage in conversation before the interview starts to make him or her more comfortable answering questions. You might review the questions in advance.
  • Test your equipment and sound. If you are using an auxiliary microphone, make sure the sound quality is good. This process can help break the ice with your guest. You can make it a little silly. Have your guest recite The Gettysburg Address or sing Mary Had a Little Lamb. This will do wonders to make your guest speak more informally when the real interview starts.
  • Make sure your guest knows the time constraints. If you plan to run your video without editing, pose just one question and let your guest take it from there. Alert him or her in advance that you will give a nonverbal signal when you need to draw the interview to an end. One technique used by some interviewers is to say, “Tell me in one sentence what you think about . . . . ” Your guest will invariably give you three sentences—enough for a nice, short blog interview!
10 Feb 2012

Why Use Video on Your Church Blog?

There is a great answer to this question: video improves the effectiveness of your blog or web site by nearly 700%! Astounding.

If you have an iphone and a computer you have most of what it takes to create videos for your web site. Of course, if you have a video camera, that is also good.

While there are things you can learn to make your videos better and more effective, there is not a great learning curve. We’re going to start exploring this with 2×2.

The advice for getting started:

  • Before you start, plan topics for 10 videos. This will assure that your efforts have direction and you won’t use initial difficulty as an excuse to stay out of the water.
  • Think short topics. Two minutes is a good goal.
  • Create a youtube account and upload your videos. Then link your web site to your youtube site.

That’s it in a nutshell. We’ll explore it more deeply in later posts.

photo credit: Tonymadrid Photography via photopin cc

09 Feb 2012

23 Advantages for Churches Using Social Media

A business web site (businessesgrow.com) recently published a list of 25 non-financial benefits of business blogging.

The list can be adapted to show the benefits of church blogging. Our list is a little shorter. We combined some things. Here goes:

  1. Create a database of answers.
    Seekers and members ask the same questions over and over. The need to have ready answers for most Frequently Asked Questions inspired Luther’s Small Catechism. Archive your answers to the questions you hear most often.
  2. Showcase your workers.
    Shine the spotlight on your volunteers. It is likely to inspire and encourage others.
  3. Integrate your message.
    Your pastor and church leaders create content regularly when they preach and teach. Give their work broader reach.
  4. Help search engines find your church.
    A lively church blog will rank over those annoying listings by the internet version of the phone book yellow pages.
  5. Tell your community why your congregation is different.
    Make your ministry stand out.
  6. Lay the foundation for other forms of communication.
    If you have an active blog, it will be easy to create a newsletter or congregational report. Cut and paste!
  7. Show your face.
    Your blog will reveal your congregation’s personality. Potential visitors will feel like they know you before they cross the threshold. Be assured — visitors today look at web sites first!
  8. Measure your vitality.
    A church with an active blog is proving they are engaged in the community with relevant and purposeful activity.
  9. Good public relations.
    Churches always have trouble attracting the attention of the press. If your blog has good community content, your local papers will find you.
  10. A quick and easy way to communicate with your current membership.
    If your members subscribe to your blog, they will get an immediate notification of breaking news. No need for the phone chain. Just don’t abuse it if you want to keep your followers.
  11. Engage your congregation.
    This may take some patient nurturing, but your congregation’s blog can become a place for congregational interaction and provide valuable feedback to your leaders.
  12. Ask questions.
    How many vestry or council meetings are spent debating what the congregation wants? With a congregational blog, you can ask them. Pose a question two weeks before a meeting and see what people have to say. If you want to keep this a valuable tool, be prepared to listen to the answers and respond wisely.
  13. Crisis management.
    You do not have to rely on anyone else to supply facts about your ministry. You can tell your OWN story! When a controversial decision is reached, use your blog to help the disgruntled understand. If your denomination is in the news, add your slant to the public issue.
  14. Forum for ideas.
    Again, this will take some nurturing, but foster the sharing of mission ideas. If people know they can make a difference, they will speak up. Be prepared to respond to ideas. No one likes to put their thoughts on the line only to be ignored.
  15. Give your leaders a platform.
    If their ideas are good, they will catch the attention both within and outside your community. That’s giving your church new reach and authority!
  16. Segmentation.
    This is something we don’t think about in the church. We like to think of ourselves as being “one.” There are, however, sub-interests within any united congregation. With the internet you can address these without leaving anyone out. In the business world it’s called “market segmentation.” In the church, it might mean directing some blog posts or creating a separate page or category within your blog for singles, youth, church musicians, daycare parents or Sunday School teachers.
  17. Identify advocates.
    An active blog will create “fans.” It’s nice to have supporters and know who they are!
  18. Inexpensive way to keep connected.
    You can gently remind your audience of upcoming events without the time to make phone calls or incur the cost of sending letters or postcards.
  19. Measure controversial issues.
    Should you change the time of worship this summer? You can debate this in a vacuum OR poll your members on your blog.
  20. Create a volume of work.
    Your blog will create your congregation’s history. Take your posts and create a quarterly or annual report. Your loyal members are likely to purchase an “annual” if you make printed copies available and include lots of photos.
  21. Network.
    Your blog can help you find people with special skills for a variety of needs from programming to building maintenance. Vendors may even be willing to contribute or discount services if you give them a plug and a link on your blog.
  22. Connect with people on an emotional level.
    Most congregational publications are fairly dry. Blogs can come to life with good story-telling, photos and video.
  23. Prove to your community that you understand today’s world. 
08 Feb 2012

The “Not So New” Horizontal Church

Many church leaders are bemoaning that Church isn’t what it used to be. Bishop Claire Burkat wrote to her rank and file lately warning that the road ahead is uncharted and there is no blueprint for moving foreward. The old ways just aren’t working.

Perhaps it is only an illusion that they ever did!

Welcome to the “horizontal” Church.

Church can learn from what’s happening in the rest of the world. Business leaders, too, are noticing that the old ways of doing business are ineffective, inefficient and unprofitable. There is a TV show that brings this “epiphany” to us every Sunday evening — Undercover Boss.

In the old business world, upper management controlled all things. An employee’s future relied on his/her ability to control people, material, budgets, customers. The power in the business world has shifted to the consumer. Smart business people are meeting the challenge by restructuring their businesses to be less vertical (hierarchical) and more horizontal. Create a good product, serve your customers well, and your business will grow by word of mouth or by keystrokes on the internet or cellphone.

The Church lives in the same world. It has relied on hierarchical control for a very long time and so change may come a bit harder and a tad slower, but things are changing. Hierarchies are crumbling under the weight of their own weaknesses. Rank and file spiritual church members are resisting the support of vertical management and for good reason. It’s expensive, unproductive and crippling. Offerings, we can conclude, are better spent on direct service than on supporting hierarchy.

And so, the Church today is mirroring society. The Church is becoming more horizontal. We still have a good “product” and the laborers in the vineyard are committed. The Church will survive by spreading person to person (2×2!).

This is where Bishop Burkat is wrong! There is a blueprint! It’s called The Bible.

photo credit: michaelrighi via photopin cc

 

07 Feb 2012

Comments in Social Media vs Contact Information

2×2 is an experimental site in a fairly new medium, so we are learning along with everyone else. A recent real life lesson is teaching us the difference between “comments” as a way to interact vs actually posting contact information.

2×2 was launched in February of 2011. It is built on a blogging platform, so comments have always been possible. We had not included obvious phone numbers or emails. We thought the comment mechanism was the way interested people would reach us.

Our overall goal is to create helpful dialog on issues which affect small church ministry but are not often discussed. How that happens is up to our readers! While we have always invited comments, “getting comments” has never been a goal as it is among many bloggers.

We have followed analytics on our site since about June and we knew that we were getting many international “hits.” We had no way to measure whether or not they were quality hits or accidental surfing hits.

About a week ago, a reader wrote to us via a comment asking for contact information. We immediately responded by posting a contact name and number in the sidebar. We have been in regular communication since. We have begun to hear from others as well — not on the site — but via email and telephone.

Our emails are proving that we do, indeed, have a national and international following that is beginning to put us in direct contact with ministries we would have never known about years ago.

This morning we had a detailed email from a ministry in Pakistan, thanking us for our web site. The pastor sent us links to their ministry site and asked for our prayers.

Was it coincidence that a 2×2/Redeemer member suggested last week that the 2×2 web site begin to include a prayer list? Probably not.

2×2 is a place for sharing about ministry and we will always be glad to feature ministry news that will benefit the labors of other small Christian communities. We will consider linking to any ministry that sends us information to verify their ministry efforts.

And, of course, we will add your ministry to our soon to be published prayer list.

Lesson to be learned: Comments are nice, but communication is better!

19 Jan 2012

Bloggers Block Checklist

There is tremendous potential and power behind church blogging, but a blog is a hungry beast and feeding it can be a challenge. We periodically publish idea-starters.

Here is a checklist to help you with bloggers block. Remember to first look at every idea from the standpoint of readers and that includes your community who do not attend your church.

1. Scripture

Scripture readings in most mainline churches have a form called the Common Lectionary. You can look them up in advance, ponder the meaning and relate it to a topic of interest to your community or congregation. Our Social Media Editorial Calendar includes Sunday readings — but there are weekly readings as well and alternate readings for special days. (If your church is named after a saint — there’s something to write about).

2. Church Year

Church life rotates unendingly around the key events in the life of Christ — Advent to Christ the King, followed by a long summer and fall of Pentecost, post-Pentecost or Ordinary Time, depending on your tradition. Whatever it is called, it is a period not directly related to any of the festivals associated with the life of Christ and is often viewed as a period to explore Christ’s teachings. So explore them!

Look ahead at the Church Year and relate seasonal topics to community and congregational life.

3. Community Events

Is your community involved in an election with significant issues? You can address these topics without becoming partisan. Examine the effects of issues and point out facts. Example: How will a tax hike impact the poor? How will failure to provide new revenue hurt the poor? Regardless of outcome of an election, how will the Church respond? How has your church responded?

Is your community working together on a common problem? Tell how your congregation is part of the solution.

Is there an event coming up — not sponsored by your congregation — that your church intends to support? Write about why you care.

Yes, you can write about your church events as well! Just remember that you want to grow readership beyond your immediate community.

4.  Community Calendars

Back to school, community celebrations (Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, popular festivals) are all things churches can and should talk about. Make sure your church weighs in on Easter and Christmas! Mention school activities. Are your youth involved in the high school play or do they play on the football team? Interview them on a video.

5. Church Life

What has happened in your church that might interest the community? Was there a great “takeaway” from a sermon that might make a two-minute video? Was there a fund-raiser to report? Tell how the effort benefits the community.

6. Ideas

Blogs are great places to explore ideas. The more viewpoints the better. Keep your ear to the ground for topics that might be interesting to others. What was discussed at the last coffee fellowship? What did you overhear in the diner? Allow for different viewpoints.

7. Action

Last, talk about the actions your church community takes in regards to all topics.

10 Jan 2012

How to Choose A Community Manager for Your Congregation

Community Manager? What’s that?

Community Managers coordinate the various Social Media used by your church, whether it be the blog, Facebook, Twitter or the web site. It’s a new job description even within the corporate world. Churches using the internet will need to address this new societal role as well. Within a decade, this may be one of the standard church positions along with pastor, sexton, music director, organist, or youth leader.

Social Media is a powerful ministry tool which must be managed to be effective. It is not enough to simply advertise that you are on the web or have a Facebook page. These are tools that must be used in real time!

Our Ambassadors have explored the Facebook presence of a number of churches we visited. Most have very little interaction on their Facebook pages. We were surprised to see that one of the smallest churches had a much higher “edge rank” than larger churches. It was not surprising to us that this church had impressed us with their connectedness to their neighborhood even before we saw their internet stats.

In contrast, a denominational internet presence can reveal very little interaction with readers — typically a few posts in the months after the site was announced and not much but announcements from the denomination since.

We are all learning to use this new tool.

As you develop your internet usage, think about the day when you might need someone to coordinate  things. Social Media must be managed. It is a role which is important enough to fund and can promise a measurable return on investment (to borrow a business term).

  • A Community Manager must be a social person. Look for a person who would be interacting with members and visitors even without the internet.
  • A Community Manager must have good communication skills. He or she will be writing a lot and the ability to express your church values clearly and accurately is paramount.
  • A Community Manager must be nice. People won’t interact with an authoritarian, judgmental, didactic or sarcastic moderator. The church forum is not a place to show cleverness but concern.
  • A Community Manager must care and be prepared to act on their concern. If people pose a problem to your church on its internet forums, they are looking for more than offers of prayer. A Community Manager must be prepared to channel important inquiries to appropriate leaders for action. Some action must be taken or your internet presence will become dormant.
  • A Community Manager must be able to work with many people. The information gleaned from the internet must be channeled to others.
  • A Community Manager must be flexible. This is territory where the best planning can go out the window at any time. Planning is important, but the ability to respond to the realities of the present is also vital.
  • A Community Manager must like technology. They don’t have to come into the role as an expert on all the resources and techniques available (no one in this field knows it all!), but they must embrace learning, be willing to become engaged with online experts and communities and adapt as things change…and that is often! They must be willing to try ideas an honestly measure their effect. They cannot be tied to one medium. Facebook might work best with one community. Twitter might be more effective in another. Blogging might work with all.
  • A Community Manager must reflect the values of your church.  He or she may be the first person outsiders come to know. Of course, every member is a face of the church, but the Community Manager will be in the spotlight.
07 Dec 2011