Probably you already agree that your church should be on Facebook or any Social media channel, but the question is “why exactly?”.

I’m currently working as a social media specialist and designer for Stanborough Park Church in Watford, UK, and the first thing that I had to do when I got here it was to present to the elders and pastoral team “why our church should be on Social Media?”. “Why do we have to pay a guy to spend the day online? Don’t they do that for free already?”

Well, after a good search and reading a couple of articles, I’ve decided to write this article with the 3 main reasons for ‘Why the church should be on Social Media.

“If churches truly want to see the Gospel impact and influence a community, they should go to the place where the most significant conversation is actually taking place right now. Today, that’s on social media.”  Ed Stetzer

1. The World is Online

Almost half of the entire population are online and over 2 billion are on Social Media. According to WeAreSocial in January of 2015, 89% of the UK population were connected online and at least 59% engaged on Social Media. The people spend over 2 hours per day on Social Media, which means around 14 hours per week – average.

wearesocial

2. Everybody is there

And don’t think yourself that is just for teenagers. Check out Facebook’s audience numbers, according to Pew Research Center:

  • 71% of all online adults use Facebook.
  • 58% of the entire adult population use Facebook
  • 87% of all online 18-29 year old use Facebook
  • 73% of all online 30-49 year old use Facebook
  • 63% of all online 50-64 year old use Facebook
  • 56% of all online 65+ year old use Facebook

An article published by on the websites .churchleaders.com/ andchristianitytoday.com/  “Why Your Church Should Be On Social Media Right Now” they say that “every church should have an active Facebook presence—and that presence must be public and not simply a semi-private group page. A group page is acceptable for internal communication, but every church needs to have a public page as well.”

3. Jesus commanded us

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20

The third reason is because Jesus said: Go and open a Facebook account. Ok. He didn’t say exactly a Facebook page, but He commanded us to tell the world about Him and the good news. If was so hard to you to cross the street and to knock your neighbour door to say to him that Jesus loves him, now you can with just one click share some of the God’s love.

At Jesus’s time, did not exist Social Media, but if did, probably He would have His own account. Jesus were always connecting with the people. All kind of people. Not just to be part of the ‘gang’ or to become popular, but because He knew it that if the people were around Him, He could show to them how to live as real Christian. He could talk and teach them. He could and certainly did, sharing the good news.

As the same way we need to connect with the people and tell them about what Jesus did for them. Again, if in the past was really hard to go for a different country or even to talk with your neighbour about Jesus, now you can post on Facebook, send a tweet, sharing a video, a picture… Many options and no excuses to not start t use Social Media as a way to impact people.

“I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. Now I do all this because of the gospel, so I may become a partner in its benefits” 1 Corinthians 9:22b-23 (emphasis added from the author).

With some strategies, churches (and yourself) can reach those who are regularly using social media. Let’s talk about some strategies that you can use to start develop/increase your church audience on Social Media on the coming posts.

Links used to create this post:
http://bit.ly/22s6VkW | http://bit.ly/1R3xngR | http://pewrsr.ch/1MrRUGw | http://bit.ly/1Rpp8hb

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