Although you have probably heard the word Twitter many times, chances are that it remains an abstract concept in your mind. So let’s begin by first describing what it is and then we’ll look at how churches like yours are embracing this tool as a means to connecting with their followers.
If your congregation is a cause that is accomplishing something worthwhile (like, say, growing the Kingdom of God), and if your congregation is a useful resource to people (helping them grow as disciples of Jesus Christ), then growing your tribe is pretty easy using social media.
With the multi-site church revolution in full swing across America, much attention is paid to video venues, program development and community outreach. An equal or greater amount of attention, however, should be paid to the digital communications strategy. Whether or not your church is offering its own live video streaming or “Internet Campus” experience, running a Web site for multiple locations is a much different challenge than that of a single-site church.
Saddleback Church, like most congregations, uses audio/visual equipment to enhance services as well as capture teachings and send video to other campuses. Increasingly technology is finding its way from the pulpit to youth ministry too. With youth demographics experiencing nearly every facet of life in Web 2.0 — from the classroom to the playground — why not integrate similar technology into youth worship experiences?
There’s no doubt that your church members desire increased communication with their church friends, small groups, Bible studies and pastors. As more of the population joins Facebook to try and stay connected with the people they love, many church leaders are not quite sure how to leverage these new social networking tools to generate true fellowship with their congregations.
There are opportunities, believe it or not, for churches and other faith-based nonprofits in an economic downturn. In order to survive, churches have no choice but to continue striking a balance in conducting ministry initiatives, relationship-building and business.
Just when Facebook thought it had become the go-to social network for our techno-hungry culture, along came Twitter (www.twitter.com). While Facebook touts more than 200 million users, half of whom return to the site daily, Nielsen has recently reported Twitter as the fastest growing social networking site on the Internet, posting 1,382 percent growth from early 2008 to early 2009.
While traditional interaction occurs face-to-face, a growing percentage of church-goers connect through another medium — the Web. For Crossroads Church in Grass Valley, CA, their church lacked the kind of online presence that leadership felt was necessary for connecting with their congregation and reaching out to their local community.
According to the United States Department of Labor the average time spent watching television each day by individuals is two and a half hours; yet, the amount of time devoted to religious activities is only seven minutes per day.
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