Have you ever thought if a corporate church Twitter account is for your church? Yesterday I had a great conversation with @stevenshattuck over Twitter. I posted an initial tweet asking people the below questions:
If U had to choose 1 result for Twitter-usage & the church, what would it be? Start conversation with new folks? Discipleship? Encouragement?
His response was that:
Churches shouldn’t have twitter accounts – pastors, elders, members, servants should. The Church is made up of many voices.
Of course, we as The Church acknowledge that there are many parts that compose the body of Christ. Obviously this is Biblical. We all play our vital roles to make the gospel move across the globe. As the church body, it is our job to be the brand evangelists, not only for our Savior, but for our local church.
Can one person effectively communicate the vision, direction and purpose of the church? Can one account encourage, offer ongoing discipleship, communicate vision and engage unbelievers?
I say yes. Otherwise, what is the point of leadership? Some are empowered with vision and others the tools to bring it to life.
But at the same time, @stevenshattuck throws out the truthful thought that pastors and members could have a personal Twitter account, to shape the church brand.
So should we depend on each leader/member for a church Twitter brand or is there value in one church account, in addition to member participation?
I’d love to receive further feedback from you all. From those that use a corporate church Twitter account, do you have testimonies of how this tool has helped you?
Those churches that have intentionally avoided the corporate account, can you express your reasoning? Let’s hash out the pros and cons together to see just how much the Church should participate corporately.
Photo By: webtreats
April 19th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Okay, Kristen, you might regret taking away my 140 character limit.
In Indianapolis, there are a few stand-out corporate accounts: @collegeparkindy , @citycommunity , @IndyMetroChurch, @castletonchrist (which I manage) – these accounts, for the most part, only broadcast new blog posts, sermons, or new website or Facebook content – there are very few @ messages. These churches already have built in networks of readers, visitors and especially Facebook fans, so why broadcast those messages outside of those mediums?
Also in Indianapolis are a few outstanding pastors/ministers: @mattlipan, @aaronstory, @brianltabor who are constantly engaging people and building brand equity for their respective churches.
Now, could those people also manage a corporate church account, and send lots of @ messages to people? Sure, but wouldn't the interaction be more meaningful if you had a face and a name attached?
During the conversation with @faithHighway that sparked this post, I had no idea until today that I was actually talking to @KristenParkhrst (or was I?)
If I engage in a conversation with a twitter account, I think the exchange could be more meaningful if I knew who was on the other side.
April 19th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
I think I agree with you Steven, however, if a church is going to engage today's culture, is it more important to debate church vs. individual or that a church is actually embracing some new technology and trying to use it to spread the gospel? I am just ecstatic that churches are using today's social media at all. We work with a lot of churches ourselves and actually attend @citycommunity and we are actually a statistic where @citycommunity reached out to us @pulsecreative on Twitter and actually started attending their church because of it. So, whether it's the church or an individual leader in the church using these media to promote the gospel, I am for it. (Though I do get your point about making it more personal and putting a face, rather than an organization, to the message.)
April 20th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Haha Steven – you were indeed talking with me. It's funny though, now that I think about it, I discussed my response to you with a coworker before proceeding, ensuring that I was engaging the conversation as a facilitator and not just an individual promoting personal thoughts/ideas. There is a huge value to the face-to-face relationship as well! Great point there!
Good point Stefan – participation is participation! For churches to expand into social networking is a great step in the right direction. That is so cool that you were engaged with the church in that way!
I think it goes without saying that a church/organization should closely monitor the account's updates, as well as the "updater" to ensure it is in complete alignment with vision, values and proposed purpose.
April 21st, 2010 at 12:57 am
Although I've been slowly simplifying my digital media involvement and personal output, I do still find great value in both the corperate church involvement and personal "brand evangelism."
Regarding Mr. Shattuck's suggestion that churches consider not having a corperate account, I see the the logic opinion. We recently canceled "the church" phone number. After all who is the church but individuals? (And it slows down the amount of questions about whether we offer VBS for all the Christians to add to their kids summer tour.) While it's more personal to know the person on the other end, perhaps there is value in anonymity behind a general account for people to engage.
It is a natural carry over that the pastors and key leaders are the people who create the public church brand (if that's the best word for churches). Like any entity, the most public leaders usually possess the dominant voice in creating the public perceptions in the broader community.
April 21st, 2010 at 1:58 pm
great conversation, thanks kristen for getting this started. first i want to say i agree w/stefan's thought that we should be excited to see churches engage SM whether as individuals or corporately.
for me, the distinction between a corporate church account and an individual account (be it a church leader, elder, member, etc) is purpose. as steven mentioned, i see corporate accounts as a means of advertising and announcement sharing mostly whereas i see individual accounts as being personal, engaging and providing opportunity for conversation and connection. with the Church being made up of so many varying voices, it seems to me like it might be difficult to manage/engage a corporate account without somehow isolating differing opinions, viewpoints or thoughts. this makes me a little apprehensive to speak for an entire church body beyond announcements, etc.
of course these are just my opinions and can certainly see the value in both but personally, prefer to go the individual account route as opposed to the corporate. i find it easier to manage, more fun and more engaging.
thanks again for this post, i like seeing ways in which the Church intersects culture.
April 21st, 2010 at 3:06 pm
I don't think this is an either/or question. Corporate and individual accounts serve different purposes. We use the corporate account as an alert system – service canceled due to whether, registration for mission trip due tomorrow, etc. The corporate account, not being a person, is indeed less social than the individual accounts, where people talk about their work and what they see God doing in their lives and the lives of others.
April 21st, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Got to say that I agree with Dana. The Church, as an organisation, isn't going to relate to people in the same way that the Church – the people – will. Surely, one of the best things social media can do is give a face to an organisation.
February 2nd, 2011 at 3:59 pm
hi, I really like the feel of your blog. I just wondered which theme that you’re using on your site? I run a new blog using the “Portfolio Press” theme and really need to use a new theme to use on my page. Any tips you have would be great. Thank you in advance!
February 3rd, 2011 at 9:52 am
Kelle,
Thanks for your interest in our blog design! We are using custom designed graphics. Media Outreach is powered by faithHighway. Part of what faithHighway offers is web design. If you are interested in a custom blog design – let me know and I will get you in touch with a team member who can help you!
-Vicky