Prioritizing Social Media Ministry Over Church Bulletins

A little over a year ago I started working with a church who was desperate to grow young. Like many churches, they were at a loss on knowing how to appeal to working professionals with kids. They asked me to make one out-of-the suggestion, and promised to keep an open mind. "Honestly?" I responded. "I suggest prioritizing social media ministry over church bulletins. Get rid of your secretary and hire a technology manager."

To my utter surprise, they did just that.

Before you judge me, let me lay out a few things. First, this was a church who was well connected with their pastor. Everyone had the pastor's cell phone, so there wasn't any concern that if they got rid of a secretary there would be no way to keep in touch if an emergency happened.

Secondly, this church had a core group of volunteers who handled all of the space use needs, so there wasn't a need for a secretary to be in the building to greet guests.

With those two obstacles out of the way, this church asked themselves who they thought God was calling them to be. They believed God had put their church in their city to spread the gospel to the unchurched. They also realized that the unchurched have a different set of needs than the people already in their pews.

It was the people already in their pews who expected a weekly bulletin. Not first time visitors. First time visitors didn't know what to expect because (get this!) they had never been to church before. This church had the freedom to welcome visitors any way they wanted. Since most of their worship service was already on a screen, the only real thing the bulletin accomplished was sharing upcoming events.

Realizing that, this church dove headfirst into technology. Instead of a bulletin, each week they hand out cards with a QR code that linked visitors to their website's calendar of events. Since the QR code link doesn't change, they bought the cards in bulk, saving them the expense of weekly printing.

This meant their 10 hour a week office position could transition from secretary/bulletin-maker to technology manager.

With the technology manager role, the church turned the Sunday sermon into a podcast. They used social media to push the podcast, and the podcast took off. Thanks to info gleaned from analytics, they realized that a lot of their regular listeners didn't live anywhere near the church, so they added a donation option to the podcast, allowing listeners to support the show.

Did the church grow younger in worship because they got rid of their bulletins. No.

But the donations from the podcast did bring in enough money to hire a part-time young adult Bible study leader. This leader offers a Bible study during the lunch hour at a local community college, and that ministry continues to be strong.

I love this story because it shows what happens when we use technology to further our purpose. This church knew that God was calling them to reach unchurched people. By reevaluating their mission and letting go of a ministry function that only served existing members, this church now reaches two audiences of previously unchurched people - the podcast listeners and the students at the community college.

Prioritizing social media ministry over church bulletins may not grow your weekly worship attendance, but it does further the proclamation of the gospel.