The most recent study shows that 67% of adults use social media regularly. [Study] If 2/3rds of your church showed up to a meeting every week would you want to use that meeting to communicate with them? If that percentage of folks in your community came to an event in your town next week would you want to find a way to use that platform to reach people?  Church leaders that ignore social media are missing a significant channel for reaching people in their community.

You might be hindering God’s work in your church because you aren’t posting enough status updates!

Social media is simply a way for you to connect with people and get to know them better. Do you want to build relationships with your people? These networks are amazing platforms for spreading ideas and concepts. Surely you want more people to connect with the message of Jesus? Social networking allows a leader to leverage more influence faster than so many communication platforms in the past. Do you believe God is asking you to influence this generation?

Here are seven simple and straight forward tasks that every pastor looking to connect through social media needs to do every week. They aren’t time consuming and they could be done on a wide variety of networks. These are a good starting point …

• Thank A Volunteer // It’s doesn’t need to be fancy but needs to be sincere. Call out a volunteer who serves with diligence on one of the teams at your church. [Something like this.]
  
• Show Your Humanity // Authenticity starts with letting people see you beyond just your role as a leader. Take some time to show that you are a normal person. Let your people get a peek inside your home life. [Here’s an example.]
• Bite Sized Sermon // One of the social media “primetimes” is early in the morning. Your people are checking in as they get ready in the morning. Share with them a quick quote from what you read that morning to help focus them for the day. [Morning time is prime time!]
• Post a “Behind the Scenes” Pic // You get to see some pretty cool stuff as a church leader that your people would love to see.. The worship team praying back stage before a service. The youth band rehearsing. Elders meetings. (Ok … maybe not that one.) Keep an eye out for something that your people might want to see!
• Encourage Other Pastors // Who are some other pastors that you follow? Let your people know and take some time to publicly thank them for their ministry to you. It show’s unity in the body and models a healthy respect for leadership. [Honor leadership.]
• Ask for Feedback // Are you working on your message for this weekend and are stuck at a point in your prep? Why not ask your social networks for some feedback? Interact with folks as they leave comments or input. [Some marketplace examples.]
• Dip into the Stream // Set aside some time every day this week to just wade into your social networks for a period of time. Read what people are writing about. Ask people questions. Interact. Retweet. Even 15 minutes a day will give you incredible insights.