The Relationship between the Church and Social Media

In the previous decade, particularly in the last couple of years, social media has become a crucial part of many people’s lives. Millions of people throughout the world read their most important daily news on social media. So, the house of God swiftly saw this opportunity and also started embracing social media, and they quickly found out that it is a highly effective method to expand their church community and reach to thousands of people. The churches that are successful with social media use it for communicating with their members, and even reaching out to new ones. So, what are the ways that churches are using social media today?

Communicating with members

Churches have found that it is highly effective to use social media as a tool to communicate with existing members. This way, churches are not restricted to a street address, or a small amount of service times each week. Instead, members can easily connect and listen to sermons, podcasts, and view photos from recent church events, regardless of their location and time of day. Progressive churches are not only using Facebook, Twitter, and other popular social media platforms to reach out to their members. Instead, many churches have their own private websites built with a specific church website builder.

Growing their membership

Another viable aspect that social media provides churches is the massive potential of reaching out to new members and generating large funds. However, churches that do use social media are exposed to a slight chance of risk, since anonymous users can easily pollute online communication, forcing churches to remove content from their sites. Nevertheless, this is an acceptable risk for most organizations. Churches today can launch contests that will generate interest – this is a simple marketing technique that rewards users. Also, they can make highly specific user groups. For example, churches can make groups that reach a specific demographic, a specific ethnicity, or a particular age range.

Increasing fundraising

Many nonprofits, including churches as well, find social media as an excellent way to increase funding for ongoing expenses, projects, and special events. Churches today allow their members to donate through very easy methods. Many churches use coordinated social media campaigns to fund big projects and events, such as baptisms or mission-trip updates. A credible source called CauseVox have provided an excellent example of this happening.

So, the main question we should ask ourselves is – are social medias effective for churches? As we can see from multiple examples, conventional wisdom suggests that if things are done correctly, social media can be highly effective tools for such a social organization as church. In fact, around 50% of churches that use social media have claimed that it is their number one most effective form of outreach, surpassing radio and TV. Of course, even those who embrace technology the most will admit that social media has its shortcomings as well, such as promoting hyper-individualism and a high level of reliance on entertainment, which could undermine the spiritual goals of a church. Nevertheless, we can definitely conclude that when implement correctly, social media definitely enhances the churches’ community.