15 ways for churches to use Twitter

by Steven Kryger on 07. Jul, 2009 in for Churches, for Outreach, for 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?

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23 Responses to “15 ways for churches to use Twitter”

  1. Calum Henderson 08. Jul, 2009 at 11:01 am #

    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.

  2. Steven Kryger 08. Jul, 2009 at 11:03 am #

    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?!

  3. Calum Henderson 08. Jul, 2009 at 11:25 am #

    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.

  4. Steven Kryger 08. Jul, 2009 at 11:29 am #

    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?

  5. Calum Henderson 08. Jul, 2009 at 11:39 am #

    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…

  6. Ben Crothers 08. Jul, 2009 at 11:46 am #

    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!

  7. Steven Kryger 08. Jul, 2009 at 3:52 pm #

    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.”

  8. Calum Henderson 08. Jul, 2009 at 4:00 pm #

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

  9. Steven Kryger 08. Jul, 2009 at 4:03 pm #

    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

  10. Steven Kryger 10. Jul, 2009 at 11:57 pm #

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

  11. Steven 17. Jul, 2009 at 11:49 am #

    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.

  12. Phil Groom 29. Aug, 2009 at 8:09 am #

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

  13. CJ 01. Sep, 2009 at 3:44 pm #

    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!

  14. loswl 02. Sep, 2009 at 12:44 pm #

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

  15. sam 09. Oct, 2009 at 8:29 pm #

    thanks for the article!

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

  16. Mary 12. Mar, 2010 at 7:01 am #

    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…

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