Three suggestions in one word: SHARE!!
MEDIA BYTES
By Rev. Marty Levesque
Sharing and interacting with posts from your church is simple but it also shows to the world how important a relationship with Jesus Christ is to you personally.
Our dependence on social media has increased throughout the pandemic.
More and more individuals across all generations have relied upon social media to keep them connected with family, friends, and work. And churches are no different. We rushed to get services online, host Bible studies and Zoom coffee hours. All of which was and is really important in sharing the Good News.
The caution though is to remember not to treat social media as a broadcast medium solely. Social media is not just about sharing content, but it is predominantly about engagement. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as we continue to engage with parishioners and the greater world through various social media channels whether as individuals or from our church accounts.
Share your burdens. Whether that is as a church or as an individual. Don’t be afraid to share those less than perfect moments of life, especially the ones when you personally need God to show up. Christians suffer. Non-believers suffer. Pain and suffering are universal experiences. Authenticity goes a long way when building or maintaining relationships.
Share testimony. Many of us are tempted to use social media to announce events and drive traffic to said events. Most of us forget to share pictures or follow up posts from events that have been advertised. Telling our stories, of success and failures, is an important component of testifying to the work of the Spirit in our lives and churches. Always remember to share a follow-up post.
Share posts from your church. For individual members of congregations, the single and most important thing you can do to help your church grow and thrive is sharing your church's content on your personal accounts. Sharing and interacting with posts from your church is simple but it also shows to the world how important a relationship with Jesus Christ is to you personally.
By following these three suggestions, we can as a whole church, leverage the mass adoption of social media from multiple generations for the benefit of the Kingdom of God.
Rev. Marty Levesque is the diocesan social media officer and rector of All Saints’ in Waterloo. martylevesque@diohuron.org