Social media is one of the most popular means of communication in the 21st century. With more and more people joining various social media platforms daily, it is a necessity for churches to have a strong social media presence.
Common Ground
Common ground is not just a name of a fancy church coffee shop, it is the base of which all communication is built upon.
A chart from https://www.statista.com/ showed that in 2019, it is estimated that there will be around 2.77 billion social media users around the globe.
It is evident that this is where the people are. So, in turn, this is where you should be also. Your church’s social media is the frontline when it comes to reaching modern day people.
Connections
Who is the most important user of your social media? Your congregation.
You may ask, however, “Why is our congregation more important? The bible says to go therefore, not to come therefore.” Well, you have a solid point and I would agree with you there that churches should focusing on how to reach the community.
However, your congregation is the most important because they are connected with people every day that do not come to church and may not know the gospel.
It is your job to have a solid social media SO THAT your congregation can share your posts (which I would hope to be spiritual in some ways) with their non-believing friends. Connections are important and vital in this day in age.
Accessibility
You probably thought that all my points would begin with “C” but sadly they don’t. This reason, however, is still as important as the rest. Simply, you need to be accessible. You may think you are already accessible because you just got that fancy new website that displays your phone number and office email address. But the truth is, that is old school.
I hate to break it to you but not everyone calls or emails anymore. Those are just facts that we have to live with in this 21st century. Now, the most common way to communicate is over social media; whether that be Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct message, etc.
I know this is true for me because when I’m scrolling through Facebook, and yes I still use Facebook, and I find someone I want to message but don’t have their number or contact info, I immediately go to Facebook Messenger.
It’s not the perfect messaging app but it will do the trick. So, if you want people to actually be able to access your services, you need to have effective social media.
Now, don’t get me wrong, it is still very important to have a good website that displays your contact information; however, your “first line of defense” you could call it, is social media.