Tips & tools for church leaders
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Awesome social media opportunities for churches
Glorify God, let your congregation's voice shine and reach your community all at once. It doesn't take a big budget. You just need a little time and understanding to take advantage of social media.
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Awesome social media opportunities for churches by Andrew Schleicher
Social media offers local churches many good opportunities. That doesn't mean it will be easy to get your message across. With so many posts competing for people's attention, it will still take effort for your congregation's voice to be heard.
Awesome social media opportunities for the glory of God. Let your church’s voice shine.
TWEET THISSuccessfully use social media to draw your community to your church by focusing on these opportunities.
1. Your congregation is already there
Many of your church members are already on social media. Connect with them, and they will connect with you.
Tag members in photos of church events, mention them in your posts and encourage your church's biggest promoters to start a social media dream team.
Once you start interacting with your members on social media, their friends and followers will start noticing you as well. Your presence can be a subtle reminder of the Spirit's movement in their life, a subtle form of evangelism.
2. They're already talking; listen
Social media is a great place to learn what concerns your community. Sometimes church marketing efforts resemble people who only talk about themselves. This will get you ignored on social media. Stop talking and start listening to your community. Consider sharing five engaging posts that relate to your community for every post about an internal program.
Church leaders who listen on social media may learn what areas of ministry are needed and where the congregation should focus its efforts.
Make sure, too, that you know where to listen. Pay attention to the social media platforms young people are using.
3. Use tracking tools to hone your craft
Many social media sites provide free analytics showing how posts perform. Administrators of a church page on Facebook can see the number of likes, shares and mentions. Twitter tells you when your posts are retweeted or when you are mentioned. Tracking these metrics will help you test and learn the types of posts that get the highest engagement.
You can also track performance through hashtags and trackable links. Hashtags may be used by others discussing a particular topic or theme. Trackable links are often ingrained in shortened URLs and enable you to see when certain links were clicked.
You may even want to track offline responses. How many came to an event you promoted on social media? Did you receive any incidental offline feedback?
Count the people who walk through the door and keep track of any comments you hear from participants. You may want to write them down or copy them into a single document or digital note.
You may want to consider soliciting feedback. Surveys are good, but it is often hard to get people to complete them. Take a pause during a meeting and ask for comments. Or, give a small token (chocolate works well) in exchange for completing a feedback card. Ask people to do this as soon as they arrive for your event.
Use these responses as you evaluate what worked best and when you tweak your posts in the future.
4. You're United Methodists! Test different methods
It is important to learn the best time to post on social media, but even that needs to be A/B testedbecause times change and every audience is different.
One of the common elements in viral content is that it piggybacks on trending topics. Give it a try. Then do something different. Discover what methods work best and use them, but also test them again later.
5. United Methodists are unique, so share your calling!
Highlight your church's unique calling and what you do well. This can help you and your community start to Rethink Church.
Do you have a music group in your congregation that uses instruments not typically found in a church? Do your members have video or photography skills that can be used in online posts?
One East Coast congregation filmed its teens talking about the new youth director they were seeking. Their video brought in approximately 200 resumes and raised public awareness of the ministry.
Start thinking about what your congregation can and will do to highlight your community and your ministry on social media. It doesn't take a big budget. You just need a little time and understanding to take advantage of these great opportunities.
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6. Learn more using the #chsocm hashtag
#chsocm identifies all the latest conversation around church social media. Trade ideas on how social media helps your church spread the good word. Participate in the chat every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.
Stick to it. Give social media the proper time, and you will see your fruit grow and multiply. Keep up your good work!
[Andrew J. Schleicher, Project Coordinator, United Methodist Communications. Andrew is an ordained deacon and is certified in Christian communications with The United Methodist Church.]
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10 creative ways to explore a Bible passage
Let's be honest. Sometimes the Bible is hard to understand. Break out of the box with these creative ways to unlock meaning and better communicate the message of each passage.
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10 creative ways to explore a Bible passage by Jeremy Steele
Let's be honest. We clearly believe that the Bible is the word of God and the source of spiritual life. Sometimes, though, it can be hard to understand. When that happens, we have a tendency to disengage from this powerful source of light. In those moments, it helps to have a tool to help unlock the meaning or simply keep us engaged. Once we understand the meaning, we can better communicate the message of each passage.
Out-of-the-box ways to explore the Bible and better communicate its message
TWEET THISHere are some creative ways to help you do that.
1. Decode the story
Remember how you learned the parts of a story in high school English class? This same structure is present in many biblical stories. Read through a passage and then list some basic plot elements: setting, main characters, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.
Identifying all of these elements can help you clarify the overall message of a story and see the application for your life.
2. Decipher the argument
Not every passage in the Bible is a narrative with conflict, climax and resolution. Much of the Bible (especially the New Testament) is in the form of a classical argument. Like the traditional narrative plot, the classical argument has a standard structure that can help clarify the overarching point of a confusing passage. You can make a similar list of the different elements you will find: background (the context relevant to the specific issue), thesis (the evidence for the claim being made), antithesis (refutation of the opposing viewpoint) and conclusion (the final wrap-up restating the thesis in light of the antithesis).
This can be particularly helpful for Scripture passages that primarily argue for a specific point of view with little attention to the opposing view. Once you can identify them both, the main point becomes clearer.
3. Design a comic strip
This method can be great when used with the first two ideas. Break the passage into eight or fewer discrete scenes and draw the key action of each scene paired with dialogue or important narration. This is all about exploring the passage by imagining what else is happening in the surroundings. What are the reactions of the other people? Do any props come into play? How are they held/used? How does the setting shape the scene?
Don't be afraid to use stick figures! If the passage inspires you to create something brilliant, you can always hire an artist to develop the concept.
4. Create a meme
The current trend of placing a catchy word or phrase on top of an image is not only fun, but can also help you explore the Bible. Imagine that you are encouraging people to read a specific passage of the Bible. What phrase would hook people to read more? What image both matches the theme of the verse, and inspires curiosity? Once you have an idea, you can use Photoshop, GIMP or one of many free online meme generaters to superimpose the text onto the image. You can also download an app such as Meme Factory, that's extremely easy to use. We created some meme examples that you are free to post wherever you like.
5. Become a Bible translator
Don't worry; we're not arguing that you need to take several years of biblical languages to understand the Bible. However, translating the Bible into your context and vocabulary can make any passage come to life. The goal here is to translate every piece of the text into your current vocabulary. This extends beyond the words to the metaphors. If you don't know anyone who is a shepherd, think of an image from your life that conveys the same ideas and emotions and use that instead. Once you have finished translating the words and metaphors, review your work to see how close you can come to matching the overall feel of the narrative or rhythm of the poem or other passage.
6. Explore the text, co-text and intertext
Lifting a verse or two from the surrounding material can cause very erroneous interpretations and applications. This method helps you place any text firmly in its place in Scripture. Step 1 is determining the logical boundaries of a text. Often, chapters and verses are not placed at the most logical break points. Take a moment to determine a section's appropriate boundary.
Next, take a look at the "co-text" of those passages that come immediately before and after. How does this passage logically flow from the preceding material and connect clearly with what follows?
Finally, place it in its "intertext" in the larger canon of Scripture. This is where you try to find parallel passages in other books of the Bible and make connections (often by examining cross references in your study Bible) between the Old and New testaments. The goal is to ask how this passage is clarified by its place in relation to the rest of Scripture.
7. Get it down to a sentence (or two)
It is difficult to imagine how many billions of other words the Bible has inspired. Most of the time, our posture toward Scripture is to multiply the words; however, Jesus does the opposite. When asked for the greatest commandments, Jesus gives two sentences that he says summarize all of the law and the prophets. Two sentences. Sometimes the best thing we can do is get super simple. For this method, you boil down an entire passage to a single sentence. This can be fun to do with chapters or entire books. When taking a larger chunk, it is easiest to start by tackling several sentences or paragraphs first, then boiling down those summaries to a single sentence.
The entire Noah story might boil down simply to "Noah obeyed God." The 23rd Psalm begins with its own summary, "The Lord is my Shepherd." And you might find a summary of the sheep and the goats account in Matthew 25 in Matthew 22:37b-39 (NRSV), "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. … You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
8. Experience it with all five senses
Far too often, we only engage our eyes when exploring the Bible. Next time you open the Bible, try to experience the passage before you with all five senses. What might you hear? Are there birds or waves or the crackle of a fire close enough to hear? Is it cold or hot? Is there sand between your toes or wind blowing through your hair? Are you close enough to the sea to taste the air, or are you getting ready to taste a meal? What do you smell? Do you smell livestock or flowers? Is the disturbing smell of sickness or death in the air? Once you build the scene through your senses, new pieces of the narrative come to life or are given deeper meaning, and the whole passage becomes very real.
9. Practice Lectio Divina (divine reading)
One of the most ancient ways to experience the Bible comes through a practice called lectio divina(Latin for "divine reading"). The practice moves through four phases with an underlying confidence that God speaks to us whenever we read the Bible. The first step is to read the passage over and over, savoring each word and waiting for one to rise above the rest. Once a single word or phrase sticks in your mind, you begin to explore the word. What feelings, emotions or memories does it evoke? After a time of experiencing the word, it's time to ask and listen to God for the answer to what this word is meant to say to you. Why this word? What is God saying? Finally, use the word as a focus point to let go of every distracting thought so that you can rest in the presence of God.
10. Scrapbook it
For the crafty people, it's time to pull out your curvy scissors and glue sticks and get to work. Take a passage or verse and use all the tools at your disposal to illustrate it. You might decide to make the key word the center of your page or use pictures from your own life to convey the emotions behind the passage. The goal is to create a visual expression of the truth in the passage using as much crafty creativity as you can.
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Whether you use scissors or the classical story structure, breaking out of the box of your normal method for exploring the Bible can bring a new perspective to the Scripture, new life to your study time and new clarity to your teaching. Now it's time to close your browser and use one of these methods to explore the Bible.
[When Jeremy and his wife are not playing with their four children, he oversees youth and college ministries and leads the evening worship service at Christ UMC in Mobile, Al. Jeremy is an author of several books and resources that you can find atJeremyWords.com or follow him on Twitter!]
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How to do church farmers market outreach
Over the last ten years, farmers markets have more than doubled across the country. Churches have a great opportunity to minister to both farmers and shoppers. Learn how to do it and where to start.
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How to do church farmers market outreach by Jeremy Steele
Over the last ten years, the U. S. Department of Agriculture has seen the number of farmers markets more than double across the country, and it is continuing to rise.
When churches get involved in farmers markets, they minister to farmers as well as shoppers by opening their parking lots and sports fields to this wonderful ministry.
Farmers markets not only provide locally sourced food to families that are increasingly sensitive to where and how their food is being produced, but they also provide a benefit to farmers who get retail, instead of wholesale, prices for their crops.
Cullan Duke, a member of Christ United Methodist Church in Mobile, Alabama, was part of a team that decided to serve their community in this way. He said, "Our vision was to help people in the community meet and interact with folks working the soil and give those who were not already members a place to meet us and discover the things we had going on."
A great opportunity for churches to minister to farmers and their local community
TWEET THISHow do you do it? Where do you start?
1. Investigate the rules
Each state has a Department of Agriculture that will have some rules for farmers markets and may have a process for certifying them. Download the rules or contact your local office to see where you need to start as far as the government is concerned.
2. Find the best time and day
Remember that you are trying to attract the community so that the farmers can sell their products. That means you need to notice which days and times have the heaviest traffic in front of your church. Then, you can use the USDA's farmers market search tool to see when and where other markets are already happening. Comparing those two lists should help you make the final call on when your market will occur and when to launch it.
3. Set your fees
A couple of phone calls to organizers of other markets will help you gauge the standard rate in your area. After discovering the average vendor fee, discuss whether the primary purpose of the market will be to raise funds for the church or serve the farmers. With that value set, setting your fees will be simple.
4. Dream about the additional ministry opportunities
Will you have a coloring table for kids to have fun while their parents shop? Will you offer free lemonade? Will you have a table for a perpetual group bake sale? Take a moment to come up with the pieces that will make your market a ministry.
5. Decide your marketing strategy
How will you promote the market? Does your street have enough traffic for road signs to be effective? How many church members can you reasonably expect to attend? Thinking through marketing will be key in getting vendors to sign up. Don't worry; you don't have to spend big to get big. In fact, depending on the type of advertising, we have tips and tools to help you with all media types.
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6. Recruit vendors
Armed with all this information (and a flier), visit your local markets and chat with the vendors about the unique things you plan to offer as well as your plan for getting people to stop by and purchase their produce. Once you have five to eight vendors, you are well on your way to launching this fun, out-of-the-box outreach!
After all the work, Duke's team was pleased with the results. "All in all," he said, "I'd say it was a success. It proved to be very popular, and every week, there was always a crowd. In the years following, many other churches across town have worked on starting markets as well."
With vision and work, you can introduce your community to your church's open hearts, minds and doors.
[When Jeremy and his wife are not playing with their four children, he oversees youth and college ministries and leads the evening worship service at Christ UMC in Mobile, Al. Jeremy is an author of several books and resources that you can find atJeremyWords.com or follow him on Twitter!]
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