31 August 2021 | By Anthony | Reading Time 2 mins
Three thoughts to help your churches digital mission
The initial influx of high numbers was most likely due to social media boosting and Christians viewing and liking every piece of content under the sun. Now that the novelty has worn off and the dust has begun to settle people are a lot more savvy about what they spend their time on. This is especially true when there is so much content available for them to engage with.
Perhaps, you have been searching on Google looking for answers to how you can improve your social media engagement. Maybe, you have read many articles and have felt them lacking or not appropriate for you. Certainly, some goto strategies such as prize competitions are difficult to imagine working in every context. There is not a one size fits all solution especially as we consider our responsibility in helping each other use social media wisely.
We need to learn to manage our expectations, most of us are not called and gifted (both creatively and financially) to become the digital church platform. We need to consider carefully what our digital mission is and see what works best in our situation through trial and error. Each of us can focus our digital mission on creating relationships and real conversations within our local area. That is, our digital strategy should meet the immediate needs of those around us.
Our content needs to be well thought out and represent a variety of content types. That’s right, we can share more than video on social media!
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When using social media it is too easy to scroll down a page and press the like button feeling like we have contributed in a positive way. However, considering our mission, it is only through enabling conversation that content goes from passive to active and real relationships can be built. Good conversations help to clear up confusion, act as springboards to new content, and allow other people to add their ideas or experience.
Real conversation requires patience by investing in our digital mission for the long term not just during a pandemic. Don’t just like that post also comment on it, you might be surprised who will engage with you.
What concerned me most over the last season was the proliferation of content being put out by churches which caused an over saturation of our feeds. The creativity being exercised in all this content was amazing. But sadly this creativity is being neglected if it gets lost amongst the noise.
More recently there has been a noticeable decline in content being put out by churches which is perhaps a sign of peaking too early.
I have found that the most engaging content has been when we have worked with other churches and groups whether it is joint services, fundraising for a charity or supporting a centralised digital mission such as Hope Fuelled Design.
Jesus valued spaces where people of all backgrounds gathered. For Jesus, that space was the marketplace. Of his 132 public appearances, 122 had a marketplace context.
Anthony shares his time between pastoring in Stirling and exercising his creative gifts in Hope Fuelled Design. One of his favourite bible stories is when Jesus meet the Samaritan Woman at the well. For Anthony the story captures how Jesus meets all of us in the grittiness of life. The story is inspiring, challenging and grace filled. Did you know that it is arguable that the Samaritan Woman is the first evangelist? Because she told her village all about Jesus.
Perhaps, you have been searching on Google looking for answers to how you can improve your social media engagement. Maybe, you have read many articles and have felt them lacking or not appropriate for you. Certainly, some goto strategies such as prize competitions are difficult to imagine working in every context. There is not a one size fits all solution especially as we consider our responsibility in helping each other use social media wisely.