Thursday, October 24, 2013

Social Media in Ministry - Speaking @ Northwest Christian University

Heather and I were asked to address three topics at NCU this fall.  
3.  Social Media & Ministry

Topic 3 is today's post:  Social Media in Ministry: 

Rule #1: Anything you do MUST SUPPORT THE MISSION!

Rule #2:  Start with Why:  You must know why you’re doing social
·       Raise awareness (church planting)
·       Promote dialogue
·       Foster community
·       Deepen engagement level
Rule #3:  Commit to doing it well / Bad marketing is worse than no marketing

Facebook:
·       Page:  Everything we do on our Facebook PAGE is intended to invite people in
·       Billboard advertisement for outsiders
·       Restrict Admins / Control the message
·       First impressions = quality images / spell checked posts

·       ALL Church Group:  Foster Community - This is where we engage with each other.
(Living Room)
o   Closed Group: (Request invite) Members only
§  Gives you a chance to acknowledge their commitment
·       Once they complete the membership class and sign, we add them to the group. 
§  Creates a common ground for a safer environment
o   Lose concern with messaging
o   Allow for dissenting opinions
§  Still needs PASTORING! 
·       You’re even a Pastor on Facebook! 
·       Guiding / correcting / directing
·       Small Group / Groups: Communicate/coordinate and sharing ideas
o   Secret Groups (Invite only): 
§  Young Adults
§  Youth
§  Affinity (Dodgeball/Soccer)
§  Bible Study
§  Leadership
·       Places/Check-In
o   Make sure you have your address and location for check in
o   Encourage people to check in
·       Advertising / Promoting / Boosting on Facebook
o   Advertising is not evil:
§  If you believe in what you are doing, then you believe it can help people. 
·       Getting the word out so you can help people is worth the $. 
o   Taps in to the #1 most effective form of marketing ever known to mankind
§  Word of Mouth / Personal Reference
·       Terry Likes Corvallis Church
o   I like Terry
§  I like Corvallis Church
o   Targeting specific regions
§  It’s a waste of $ and poor etiquette to advertise a local ministry outside of your local area.
·       Specify your community you are serving

·       Pastoring Tool:
o   You can build a great prayer list for your people by watching the postings of your people on FB.
o   Also, when you see someone and ask them how "their cat’s surgery" went, they instantly feel cared for.
§  Some people have an expectation that their Pastor should know stuff that the don’t tell them. 
·       This allows you love them where they are at by entering in to their world.
o   Many people use facebook in a way that is unhealthy. 
§  Crying for help
§  Passive aggressive comments
§  Rants  
o   If you are their shepherd, engage in conversations about healthy facebook use. 
§  The rules are the same as any you would have about public behavior
·       Appropriate levels of transparency
·       Appropriate tone, volume and quantity

TWITTER Different Target – People use twitter for different reasons
·       Twitter is for narcissists, Facebook is for creepers. 
o   We are all a bit of both
·       Our goal with twitter is to inspire people to dig deeper
o   Engage people
o   Inspire deeper thought
·       Shaping perception/image control: 
o   Branding
o   Halo affect of marketing
·       Preaching:  Encouraging people to tweet a line or two from your sermon can draw friends in.
o   Also, can help friends spark their personal witnessing conversations.

Does Leveraging Social Media help make disciples? 

§  Yes, it helps us engage people, invite people and gives us opportunity connect face to face to introduce them to Jesus.

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