15 ways for churches to use Twitter

July 7, 2009 in for Churches, Outreach, Pastors

This afternoon I came across “17 ways to use Twitter – a Guide for Beginners, Marketers and Business owners” (thanks @pollystreet). The article is a good read for churches too, but I thought I’d add to the discussion with some more ideas for using Twitter for ministry. Here’s 15, in no particular order, that I’ve sent out from my church’s account – @cbtbkirribilli.

  1. Tweet about upcoming church activities (e.g. “Community lunch this Sunday at 12.30pm. Come along, meet local members of our community, enjoy tasty food”.)
  2. Tweet to encourage church members to read beforehand, the Bible passages that will be preached at church on the weekend.
  3. Tweet a passage of Scripture (e.g. “Jesus – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”. Matthew 22 verse 37″)
  4. Tweet to encourage people to read, and share what they are reading (e.g. “I’m reading ‘Faith Beyond Feelings’ by Jonathan Edwards (http://bit.ly/B6L04 ). What are you reading?”)
  5. Tweet to let people know when the church website is updated with new content (e.g. “Bible talks from the weekend – Genesis 5-8 (Get in the ark!) and Hebrews 4, are now online. http://bit.ly/TJCxf“)
  6. Tweet to urge people to pray (e.g. “Our 125-year anniversary activities kick off this Saturday with the fair trade marketing & winter appeal. Please pray.”)
  7. Tweet to request feedback on church activities (e.g. “We’re reviewing the monthly church newsletter – would love your feedback. http://is.gd/AVv9“)
  8. Tweet to encourage church members to sign-up to special events (e.g. “Sign up for our free fitness session led by Harbourside Fitness, 8.30am on 30 May (and bring a friend!). http://www.cbtb.org.au/fitness“).
  9. Tweet to share answered prayer (e.g. “Praise God – the rain held off til 3pm! A fantastic day – lots of people, good conversations, tasty cupcakes, funky music. God is very good.”)
  10. Tweet to share thought provoking quotes from other Christians on Twitter (e.g. “”Sin is the despairing refusal to find your deepest identity in your relationship and service to God.” – Tim Keller. h/t @HarrisJosh“)
  11. Tweet to point people to resources that reinforce the themes of recent sermons (e.g. “The heavens declare the glory of God. Beautiful video to remind us of the wonder of creation. “Time lapse earth” – http://bit.ly/2cML7J“)
  12. Tweet to invite people to get attend community activities (e.g. “Check out ‘Breathe’ – an art exhibition by Chris Ireland, winner of the I HEART ‘people’s choice award’ – http://bit.ly/d3OJB“)
  13. Tweet to encourage people to share how they are growing in the Christian life (e.g. “What have you learnt as a Christian? An opportunity to share and encourage in 200 words or less. http://bit.ly/1XogB“)
  14. Tweet links to articles that will encourage growth in godliness (e.g. “How to identify evidences of God’s grace in your life – http://bit.ly/hArHC).
  15. Tweet lyrics from great Christian hymns and songs (e.g. “Grace and love, like mighty rivers, poured incessant from above. And Heav’n's peace and perfect justice, kissed a guilty world in love.”)

What would you add to this list? How is your church using Twitter?

  • http://calumhenderson.wordpress.com Calum Henderson

    Great list Steve.

    But do you think that Twitter use in Australia is at a level where it is helpful for all churches to be tweeting? Or could it be that more people will get on board once there is more content available?

    Enjoying your blog.

  • Steven Kryger

    Thanks Calum. I think Twitter take-up in Australia is still quite low compared with the US. However, I think there’s room for churches to encourage their members to sign-up to Twitter, as a less intrusive way (at least compared with email) of getting updates from the church, and staying connected during the week.

    Any ideas on how to encourage church members to sign-up?!

  • http://calumhenderson.wordpress.com Calum Henderson

    It’s definitely a hard thing to convince people to sign up to another social networking site, but I think that Twitter does have some distinct advantages over Facebook, and as you say, email can be intrusive whereas Twitter is not. Perhaps certain members of the congregation could start encouraging use from the inside? And if not, at least the Twitter updates could still be broadcast on the churches website.

    Maybe it is good for churches to tweet.

  • Steven Kryger

    It would be cool to gather a list of Australian churches that are using Twitter. This could be a good way of showing people in churches how Twitter can be used, and its advantages. Which churches are you aware of that are on Twitter?

  • http://calumhenderson.wordpress.com Calum Henderson

    Looking through who I’m following, there aren’t a great deal.
    @cciw
    @gracepointsyd
    @cbtbkirribilli (of course)
    @surfcity
    @hillsong

    But there are a few other Christian groups
    @coastmc
    @RICEregenerate
    @cmsnsw
    @RICEprayerSyd
    @AFESNTE
    @sydneyunieu
    @wearequrious
    @Fervr
    @onthevoddy
    @sydneyanglicans
    @AFES
    @garagehymnal

    Surely there must be a great deal more churches on Twitter…

  • http://www.catchmedia.com.au/cm/ Ben Crothers

    Nice one. I remember someone running a thing on twitter a while back, asking for people to tell the gospel in 140 characters or less.

    A bit like your No. 13, maybe we can start particular topics (using hashtags (http://hashtags.org/)) for discussion in 140 characters or less, like #toughquestions, #no-more-pews, #ifGodSpokeRightNow… the topics could be personal, contentious, funny… whatever!

  • http://calumhenderson.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/churches-using-twitter/ Churches using Twitter « Calum Henderson

    [...] was started by his blog post, 15 WAYS FOR CHURCHES TO USE TWITTER. It’s a great list inspired by 17 ways to use Twitter – a Guide for Beginners, [...]

  • Steven Kryger

    This afternoon I received an email from David. He asked:

    “Hi Steve

    How do people access Twitter? Would most do it via a mobile phone?
    Otherwise couldn’t people stick with facebook and access it via computer?”

    Good question, David. I responded:

    “Hi David,

    I think it depends – for example, if I am out and about I’ll tweet from my phone, if I’m at my desk, I’ll tweet from my computer. There are lots of benefits to Twitter over Facebook, one of the big ones is that Twitter doesn’t have all of the other applications (games, photos, writing on walls etc). It’s limited in its focus, which (at least for short bursts of church communication), makes it more useful.”

  • http://calumhenderson.wordpress.com Calum Henderson

    @Joahua suggested checking out the friends/followers of @cmsnsw, I found another 5-10 churches in NSW using Twitter.

  • Steven Kryger

    A couple more Australian churches and Christian organisations that are on Twitter:

    @OutreachMedia
    @createconf
    @youthworks – although I don’t think they’ve tweeted yet!
    @EQUIPwomen
    @ANGLICARESydney
    @1wayfm
    @summerhillatsix
    @allstpetersham
    @hillsong
    @sydneyanglicans – again, not a lot of activity here!
    @jaalcampaign
    @StMatts

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    [...] eMinister  27 minutes ago Reading – 15 Ways for Churches to Use Twitter – http://communicatejesus.com/2009/07/15-w... [...]

  • Steven Kryger

    I also just came across “5 great twitter ideas for church communications” at Church Communications Pro.

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  • http://www.twitter.com/luke137 Steven

    I’m beginning to get our Twitter account at church up to full speed. Do you have a scripture that you use to justify the church’s use of Twitter and other social media? Something that tells people how we can use the mediums that the world uses to lift up the name of the Lord!! If the world uses radio, TV, print, the web, Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace, etc etc, why can’t we use this to build the kingdom? Please share if you have a scripture in mind.

  • http://philgroom.wordpress.com/twishop-index/ Phil Groom

    Bishops and lots of clergy twittering here in the UK – follow @thechurchmouse to keep up to speed.

  • http://bigcircumstance.com/2009/08/29/links-for-2009-08-29/ links for 2009-08-29 « Big Circumstance

    [...] 15 ways for churches to use Twitter | Communicate Jesus (tags: Twitter church ministry) [...]

  • http://youth.stmatts.org.au CJ

    Thanks for the insights Steve.

    Come to your article from your Twitter post about it. Our youth group has recently started using Twitter (@stmattsyouthWPH) as a way (along with Facebook and other means) of staying connected with our leaders and youth kids throughout the week.

    Your article has certainly given some helpful thoughts on what to keep tweeting!

  • http://www.inspiks.com loswl

    Nice list of things to do with twitter, all churches should use this list, very cool way to spread the gospel of Christ :o )

  • sam

    thanks for the article!

    here’s another church to add the list that uses twitter @gracechurchsyd

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    [...] This post was Twitted by inspirenews [...]

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  • http://www.twitterfields11.blogspot.com Mary

    You guys have got to catch on to one of the best ways to spread the gospel on Twitter…Just drop passages and apologetic sites right into trending topics…Try it you’ll like it…

  • http://www.johnalchin.info John Alchin

    Hi Steve,

    You forgot to mention @wrachurch – West Ryde Anglican Church, so I have. Enjoying reading your articles and honing my skills.

    Regards,
    John

  • http://www.toongabbieanglican.org.au Simon

    Our church has 88 people following us on Facebook, only 29 on Twitter (although, most of those 29 are other churches/organisations).

    http://twitter.com/toonieanglican