The Social Media Church

Courtesy of Edudemic.com

Let's face it, social media has taken over our society, our culture, our entire world! Many churches have realized this and have utilized it to reach their congregation or to gain more information about them. But how can you use social media to grow the church, to reach the masses? The church I work for, Heartland Christian Center,  posts videos of the pastor's messages onto their Facebook page, specifically on an evangelical outreach group page that has thousands of people from 20 different countries as members. When looking at it this way, our sermon videos are not only being viewed by the 400 plus people on our Facebook page and the members of the evangelical group but by thousands of others who are friends with those who are friends with our page or in that closed group.

Social media can quickly lend itself to becoming a church planting tool. Think about it, on any given Sunday morning my church will have on average 600 people in attendance, 100 people viewing our service live over the Internet, and at least 1,000 people watching the rebroadcast through Facebook or our website. If you add it all up, we have a church of 1,700 people that get the message every week and possibly more. Because of the Internet, streaming video, and social media we have been able to launch two other campuses that reach two different groups of people that we couldn't reach before.

Churches need to learn how to use all facets of social media to their advantage, to get past the notion of just another way to communicate with the congregation, but to use it as a tool to reach the unreachable in a different state or country, even in the next town. Evaluate what you are posting on all of your social media sites, whether it is Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, etc. Ask yourself if this post, picture, or video something someone will share with someone and does this convey the message that the church puts forth.

My hope is that every post I put on here is in someway helpful to churches out there who are struggling in the area of media or just feel lost, let me know how this helps or if there is a topic that I haven't covered that needs to be addressed.

Digital or Analog?

Courtesy of Sweetwater.com

About three weeks ago we made the switch from an analog sound board to a digital one and the switch was not an easy one. When you have one day from installation to learn an entirely new sound board in general is tough but adding the digital element and new features can be overwhelming. Digital sound boards are awesome, you can do so much more with your live sound than you could with an analog board, but because it is digital many assume that it is easier to use.

As churches begin to consider the switch from analog to digital there are a few things that should be takien into consideration. First, do not assume that it is going to be an easy switch or that it is going to be a plug and play deal. Secondly, it will not solve all of your sound issues especially if you have a few people in your congregation who like to complain. Finally, it will take time to master the board.

Assuming that switching out your analog board for a digital one is going to be easy or being led by the salesperson that it will be will frustrate you during the installation and training period. Researching the digital board and any additional equipment you may need before making the decision will help you through the installation process. In our situation, we did our research but we took the word of the professional installer that it will be a simple four hour job and ended up taking twice as long. We failed to evaluate our analog system and the way it was setup before having the new system come in, which costed us time sorting through.

Believing that having a digital board will solve all your issues and complaints is wrong. The truth is it won't. It will change the way you run sound and it will change your sound for the better but all that doesn't matter to that person or persons who has complained in the past. Our sound overall is sounding better and clearer than ever before but we are still getting complaints by the same people before we made the switch. My advice is to acknowledge the complaints but don't get hung up on them.

Thinking that because it is a digital board you will be running sound like a pro in no time will easily frustrate you. Learning the basics on a digital board is easy but to really get to know the board will take time especially getting to know all of the features. Be patient when exploring the board and let your pastoral staff know to be patient as well. Your pastors will get frustrated because they're going to want you to know everything as soon as the board comes out of the box so you will have to tell them that it will take time to get acquainted with the board.

Before deciding to switch from analog to digital keep in mind these things and all the reasons why you want to make the switch. I'm glad that we made the switch especially since the board we bought has an iPad app that is truly awesome. I hope that this post can be of help to those considering the switch.