These days it feels like every church has to have a Facebook, a Twitter, and probably a Pinterest just to be safe. But not all social media accounts were created equal and it takes more than just an email and password to to create a really outstanding Facebook page.
Here are seven churches that own social media, meaning they do a great job of engaging with their congregation by hitting it out of the park on social media.
1. Fresh Life
Fresh Life is a multi-site church focused on bringing the gospel to the current generation. Fresh Life’s social media presence isn’t full of surprises, it’s just consistent and well-timed posts that lead to direct interaction with church members.
How Fresh Life Owns:
On Facebook, Fresh Life makes sure to either post short clips or photos and quotes from their Sunday sermons. Not only is this crucial for a multi-site church where not every congregant is seeing the same message, but these posts are shareable and a great way for church members to offer their thoughts on a particular idea from the sermon.
On Twitter, Fresh Life uses succinct and relevant hashtags like #EyesofaLion and #FishoutofWater to refer to their messages and make tweets easier to find.
Fresh Life also tweets Bible verses throughout the week, and they are not afraid of a few emojis! Emojis are by no means crucial to the church social media game, but a few well-placed ones, especially for a church that targets a younger demographic, make for more visible and light-hearted tweets.
Most importantly, Fresh Life does not recycle the exact same content on Facebook and Twitter!
2. The Courageous Church
It’s pretty normal for churches to post information about their sermons on Facebook, and hopefully some event info, but The Courageous Church does a great job of keeping its members updated on what’s going on at their actual church location each week.
How The Courageous Church Owns:
They post reminders BEFORE events happen instead of just posting nicely edited pics after the fact
However, nicely edited pics are a nice touch, and provide an easy way for members to interact with the page (who doesn’t want to like or heart a picture of their best friend getting baptized?) and preserve memories of church events.
The church interacts with local businesses on their Facebook page by tagging them on relevant posts (like catering at a worship night), which is a great way to showcase community engagement.
3. Vous Church
Founded in Miami with a goal of community outreach and involvement, Vous Church is the only church on this list with a Snapchat icon on their home page. If the photos on their Facebook and Twitter are any indication, Vous Church is one of the youngest churches in the social media game, and it shows.
How Vous Church Owns:
They often post Bible verses, quotes from their messages, and other information with well-designed (and very shareable!) images made by their creative team.
They have their own hashtag, #vousnotes, for sharing insights from the message.
Instead of hosting videos on their website, Vous Church opts for a weekly podcast on the iTunes Store, making it mobile-accessible.
Retweeting members adds a personal touch.
4. Community Bible Church
Community Bible Church (CBC) probably stands alone on this list as a church that at one point had an actual Social Media Pastor (the title no longer exists but the great content does). Based out of San Antonio, Community Bible Church broadcasts sermons all across the country, and even has special sermons just for their internet campus.
How Community Bible Church Owns:
Separate social media accounts for their online church help the internet campus feel like a real campus.
Personal videos from the worship team on Facebook get people pumped for their Worship Wednesday service.
They make sure to directly engage with Twitter followers by asking how they need prayer, or what their goals are for the week.
They share many Bible verses on Twitter and Facebook, with great designs that members can download and use for their own inspiration.
They keep it personal even on Instagram by reposting members’ photos from CBC events.
5. Waters Edge Church
Like many of the churches on this list that rock social media, Waters Edge Church is a multi-site church with a big internet campus. Here are some of the ways that they keep members connected.
How Waters Edge Church Owns:
They show ‘sneak peeks’ of Sunday messages, which work to remind congregants about the service as well as get them interested in the weekly message.
They use quotes from their congregation in their Facebook and Twitter posts, a great way to spark interactions between members.
They make sure to create a cohesive design for the current sermon series, and use that on Facebook, Twitter, and the website to remind members what’s going on at the church.
They create standout designs on Twitter and Instagram posts, whether promoting church stats (like the number of baptisms from a given service) or sharing Bible verses.
6. Cross Point Church
It makes sense for a church with .tv in their web address to be great at producing quality media. Cross Point Church’s blog posts are the first thing you see on their website and the informative, engaging content does not stop there.
How Cross Point Church Owns:
Their Twitter icon is their Snapchat add code, making it very easy to get connected!
Their Twitter is all about engaging with members, from random questions like “Who’s your favorite historical figure?” to featured pictures of members who are making a difference in the church.
They share a worship set list each week to get the congregation pumped.
Both Twitter and Facebook posts link back to more in-depth blog posts on the main site, allowing the church to share longer text pieces from the pastors.
7. RFA Church
In addition to being one of many churches that use The City as their own social network, RFA Church uses Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify to stay connected to their members. While their Twitter has become mostly inactive, their Facebook is constantly updated with videos and sermon links.
They keep the important stuff up front and visible by including sermon times on their Facebook profile and banner.
Their Spotify playlists for their worship service also include “songs we are listening to.” This is a brilliant way to help members stay in the loop throughout the week and feel connected to their church leaders.
They post clips from sermon on Facebook page as a way of linking to full sermon on website.
These seven churches exemplify successful outreach and facilitating communication between church members, with a big emphasis on the latter.
Do you know any churches that really know how to rock social media? Share them in the comments below!
And for more info about Social Media in the church, check out this series on everything from Pinterest to Twitter.