How important is social media in Church Growth?

February 2nd, 2010

Today I present a post by guest blogger Mike Holmes. This will be the start of a wonderful relationship between our two blogs, and hopefully Mike will be a continuing guest blogger on our site. Mike the author of I Shall Raise Thee Up: Ancient Principles for Lasting Greatness. He’s also a blogger that writes on leadership development from a Biblical perspective. Please Enjoy.

The web is still buzzing about Pope Benedict’s message to his priests: go forth into the world and blog the Gospel! In his message he acknowledged that cultural shifts have brought conversations online…but…the church must be willing to change its methods to better communicate the Message. He wrote:

“Using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the Church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of Christ.”

And it’s no wonder! With his own iPhone App, Facebook page, YouTube channel, his growing influence on the web, and his nickname (via Mashable)–the “social media pontiff” could he tell them any different?

Social media and its social effect

It’s no secret that social media is growing at a mind-bogglingly high level–with Facebook and Twitter leading the pack! And we can’t deny it has an inescapable presence in our lives.

Case in point, the Haiti Crisis:

It wasn’t the news media that first picked up the effects… it was through Twitter.
A video of the quake was broadcasted on YouTube
Wyclef Jean galvanized support through Twitter
Red Cross raised millions through a text messaging campaign and through their Twitter page…in a matter of moments!
CNN, in the earliest stages, was the news organization with the most material on the quake, and they enriched their work with social media.

It’s changed the way we do business as 94% of companies sponsoring online communities plan to increase their social networking support as well as engage with other social media tools.

Oh!! And let’s not forget my man “Pants on the Ground” becoming an internet sensation…and being adopted as the Minnesota Viking’s official mascot!!

But what about ministry?

Social Media and the Church

USA Today wrote an article today about the changing ministry model. The article summed it up best in saying, “the congregational model is suffering.”Add to the fact that according to a study of U.S. congregations — only 19% say they are in excellent financial health, down from 31% in 2000. Less than half (48%) could report at least 2% growth in worship attendance, down from 58% in 2005. Because of this many churches have closed down or “merged” with more prosperous ministries.

Also Barna group estimates that in 2010 10% of Americans will rely exclusively on the internet.

The landscape has truly changed!

It seems going forward we’re only left with two options:

Embrace social media as a tool that can be used in spreading the Gospel, meeting the needs of people, and overall Kingdom work
Or, reject these changes, and continue to go forward.

The choice is yours…

The end of the matter

I must admit…I could care less about church growth!

Huh!

Leading people to a building means nothing to me!

However, leading people to a relationship, or a greater relationship with Christ is everything! And if social media gives me the tools to do that, affect my community, and inspire spiritual maturity in God’s people…then I’m all for it!

What are your thoughts?

Guest Blogger Mike Holmes

Bio: Mike Holmes is the author of I Shall Raise Thee Up: Ancient Principles for Lasting Greatness. He’s also a blogger that writes on leadership development from a Biblical perspective. It’s leadership by the Book! When he’s not writing blogs or speaking he can be found writing bios in the third person. Check out his website/blog here.

Posted in Church Growth |

Brad Harmon

It's a shame that churches are not using social media more. My pastor still rails against Facebook even though nearly all the church is on it. Meanwhile, the church website is run by a dear old man in his late 80s and it shows. It could be such a valuable resource to missionaries in the field, small study groups, and evangelism but many churches still seem to resist technology.
Mike Holmes

I know exactly where you're coming from Bradley! My church is also anti-technology. It seems the biggest technological advancement we've experienced are cell phones...and we gotta keep those outside!

It is a shame really...but prayer changes things...and people:)
bondChristian

[Note: I'm reposting this comment from the I Shall Raise Thee Up teaser post.]

There's a lot (though I'm sure more QUALITY could be added) of Christian blogs right now. What I'm particularly interested in is how Christians could use their blogs to reach the lost.

So far, I've only really seen them used indirectly. Like once someone already has that interest, we point them to a blog. I'm interested to see how far we can push this though... to take evangelism and discipleship online.

-Marshall Jones Jr.
Mike Holmes

That's a good point!

Most believers (including myself) use blogs for edification---teaching other believers. I've never seen it done for evangelism. I think blogs do help in discipleship but like you said, "I'm interested to see how far we can push this through
Richie Allen

Nice article, Mike! I don't think churches can ignore social media and survive over the coming decade. The days of one-way communication (pulpit-to-pew) are over. There MUST be a dialogue and a level of transparency that can only be accomplished on a mass scale through social media.
Mike Holmes

Thanks Richie!

The more I think about it, the more I believe that there was NEVER supposed to be just one way communication. The church (as least the early) church had that level of transparency and dialogue. They fellowshipped together, broke bread together, shared, and etc.

Somewhere along the line we missed that. I think social media is just bringing us back to that place where we need to be.

Thanks again!
churchbrandarchitect

The history of the Urban Church has been built on the one way communication tool of (pastor to pew) which is ironic given the foundation of call and response in the AF-Am church. Most of that was because only one person could read.
I now counsel my clients that your church member can now verify the pastor's theology sitting right in the pew from their internet connected device.

This now demands we go back to two-way conversation.

Thank you guys for the great comments
Mike Holmes

That's interesting Richard the "only one person could read" comment. I can see that playing a role in the way things are...especially in the African American church.
Mike Holmes

I just wanted to say Richard thanks for the opportunity...and I look forward to having you guest post on my blog
churchbrandarchitect

Thanks for posting

Church Brand Architects