One Way Your Church is Missing It with Twitter

by: Justin Lathrop

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to sit down with Social Media Church for a conversation about—you guessed it—social media. I had a great time talking about how I like to use social media as a connector and strategist. I also shared about a recent social media faux pas I made.

After the show, I thought I’d share the one way a lot of churches are missing it with Twitter. And it’s this…

Twitter is just as much of a listening tool as it is a sharing tool. It’s a two way street. If your church isn’t using twitter to engage with your members or people in you’re community, you’re missing out on the fundamental benefit of the social media network.

Here are a few practical steps you can take to use Twitter engage your community instead of simply sharing last week’s sermon or next week’s series:

  • Create a Twitter list of everyone you know in your church, responding to them when it’s appropriate.
  • Engage with influential Twitter handles in your community. (e.g. – Chamber of Commerce, Events Around Town, Government Entities)
  • Set up proximity searches for terms like “prayer” or “church” within a 20-mile radius of your church. Monitor those searches and reach out if an opportunity presents itself.

 

You can listen to my entire conversation with Social Media Church here.

How has your church used Twitter or another social media channel to engage with your community?

Read more from Justin here.

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Justin Lathrop

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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
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