Saddleback Site Trains Congregation How to Invite Through Social Media

A lot of churches are starting to get on the social media bandwagon, setting up Facebook pages and Twitter profiles.  This a good step in the right direction.  It helps those churches engage their fans and followers online.

To take social media to the next level, a church should strive to not only post tweets & updates to their fans/followers but also enable and encourage their fans/followers to tweet & post updates to their friends and followers.

It’s analogous to a church not just preaching the gospel in its services, but encouraging and equipping its members to share the gospel in their community, thus greatly broadening its impact.

Saddleback Church is doing that…

… on this invite web page, where they have posted videos people can share on social media sites to invite their friends to a worship service, the food pantry, an upcoming service activity and more.  (Thanks to Steve Fogg for blogging about this first.)

What I really want to give Saddleback props for, though, are the training videos they’ve created which explain to people how to use the videos to invite people through Facebook, twitter, and blogs.  To watch them click the “Share on Facebook,” “Share on Twitter,” and “Share on Blogs” links to the left of the big, main video on the page.

Saddleback doesn’t just provide the materials and assume people know what to do with them.  They actually encourage and equip their congregation to use them.

If there’s one possible problem with the page, it’s that the links for those training videos are not well labeled. I thought they were for sharing the invite page with people.  Renaming them “How to share on Facebook,” etc might help.

Are you assuming your fans/followers know how and will invite people via social media?  Or are you showing them how to do it and encouraging them?

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication.