As the pastor or staff member of a church your entire job is centered around relationships. Knowing people and connecting them to Jesus, and then walking side by side through the rest of that journey is your purpose.
Now, social media won’t ever replace “offline” relationships. But I have experienced what Chris Brogan talks about in his post, “Social in Real Space vs Social Networking.” A lot of the people that I talk to in ministry all speak of the relationships through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter as superficial and ultimately meaningless. This is especially true of people who are “anti-technology” simply because they don’t understand it.
But my experience as an individual and as a former pastor has been that the connections I have made online have brought a richness and connection to the people I met in real time. I am able to first connect with them when I probably wouldn’t have, and because we are connecting online it is usually because we like or are passionate about the same things. Second I am able to keep up to date on the friends I already have with a very low level of effort, especially through tools like Facebook and it’s newsfeed.
Here is what Chris had to say about this from a recent experience he had:
I Knew Four People There: All of them came from social media connections. One was Tom Summit, who runs a meetup group out of Facebook in the next town. The other was John Wall, a famous local podcaster and new media friend. The other two were through friends I’d met in the new media space. The only four people who I knew, and who knew me, had only heard of me because of online connections first. Oh, and I knew Fake Steve Jobs from his blog.
Now think about all the of the community events that your church and/or ministry has, and the value that would come if your people were able to connect to each other before the event. Think about your church becoming “hyper-connected” through tools like Facebook or your own social network on the news, pains, blessings, successes, prayers, testimonies, hobbies, skills, passions, etc. that exist there and that most will probably never get to know.
Pretty exciting picture isn’t it?
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One place where it really helps a great deal is with shy types. If you can break the ice before even showing up, it’s a great way to help people feel comfortable that at least someone will have shared interests, and that someone they have “met” will be there.
I’ve gotta finish my event publication I started a week or so ago.
Thanks for the great post!
Chris!
Thanks for dropping by, I find your blog to be one of the most useful resources for keeping a “finger on the pulse” of Social Media – and I learn a lot too!
I would recommend Chris’ blog to any of my clients and/or readers investigating Social Media.