Twitter For Churches
Do you know about Twitter? I would assume that anyone reading this blog already knows about it, but just in case, here’s a good definition from Wikipedia:
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.
I just finished reading a new e-book from Anthony Coppedge called The Reason Your Church Must Twitter. With a subtitle of “Making Your Ministry Contagious,” it’s a short, fascinating read.
Within it’s 63 pages, Anthony gives a concise rationale for the church’s use of Twitter. There is no wasted space here — it took me about an hour to read the book and all of the information is valuable.
How A Church Can Use Twitter Effectively
Anthony advocates using Twitter to remind church members of events, drive traffic to the church website, effectively target segments of the congregation (and not send irrelevant information to other segments), pass along urgent prayer requests, keep church members informed of last-minute changes, reinforcing aspects of weekly messages, etc.
I’ve been using Twitter for awhile now (and I must admit that I’m fairly sporadic in my tweets — I still find myself not thinking about it much while I’m in the midst of a project), and have thought about how the church could use its functionality, but Anthony has “taken it to the next level.” His e-book includes a number of great ideas for how the regular use of Twitter could improve a church’s communication with and among its members.
A Personal Reaction — Your Mileage May Vary
He also points out how Twitter can be used as a means of conversation between church leadership and the congregation, especially in large churches where the pastoral staff can be isolated from church members in many ways. On a personal level, I have to admit that I’m of two minds on this. I hesitate to even mention this because I don’t want to distract from recommending Anthony’s book in any way, but in the end, I did want to relate how I responded to the e-book while I was reading it. In the end, that Anthony’s e-book made me think about these things is a testament to its value.
While I recognize that Twitter (like blogging) can “put a face” on a distant church leader for church members (and that can be helpful in some ways), I struggle with the idea of using the technology to improve the symptoms of a flawed paradigm of church life (I don’t think the New Testament ever contemplates a hierarchical church structure in which leaders can become isolated from those they lead) without addressing the cause itself (I believe that hierarchy defeats community and that we must address the issue if we are ever to reach the world for Christ). I recognize, however, that my view of traditional church paradigms is definitely a minority-view. At the same time, I believe Twitter (like blogging) can definitely become a tool to minimize the isolation of leadership, which would be a very good thing.
Very Helpful — How To Use Twitter
One of the most helpful parts of the e-book for me was the compilation of chapters (4-6) which outlined how to use Twitter. Since I haven’t used it as much as I would like, I learned a few new things which had been a bit confusing to me in the past:
- How to establish settings for using @ replies
- How to send a direct message to someone
- How to retweet
- Ways to manage multiple Twitter accounts
Software And Services To Help You Use Twitter
I also was happy to see the listing in Chapter 7 of software and services which make using Twitter easier. From applications which help you manage Twitter feeds, to desktop Twitter clients, to mobile apps, to services which help you share photos with your friends on Twitter — there are a lot of helpful suggestions all in one place. That alone was worth the price of the e-book (more on that in a moment).
Chapter Listing
Here is a complete list of chapters in the book:
Chapter 1 - Twitter as a Megaphone
Chapter 2 - Twitter as a Conversation
Chapter 3 - Twitter for Pastors
Chapter 4 - Setting Up Twitter in 1 Minute or Less
Chapter 5 - How to Tweet
Chapter 6 - To Follow and Be Followed
Chapter 7 - Making Twitter Even Easier
Chapter 8 - Churches Using Twitter
Chapter 9 - Unexpected Bonuses
Chapter 10 - Deciding on a Twitter Strategy
A Great Price!
I must say that I was honestly surprised by the price of the e-book. As a digital media strategist in my day job and in my ministry, I do purchase internet marketing e-books from time to time. When I clicked through from the Twitter for Churches home page, I was honestly expecting a price like $19.95, $29.95, $49.95 — those are the sorts of prices I usually see when considering an e-book. Anthony’s book sells for $5.00. Believe me, it’s a great value!
Buy The E-Book Now — You Won’t Be Sorry!
In conclusion, let me just say that I believe Anthony’s new e-book is a no-brainer purchase for churches and ministries. If you purchase it, you definitely will not be sorry!
I believe that the internet provides today's church with a historic opportunity .... to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love in ways which could only have been imagined in times past. The objective of this website is to explore the various ways in which today's technology can be used to spread the gospel around the world.
