Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

One hundred billion connections are made on Facebook. Every day.

Granted, 99 billion of these connections are cute things kids say (mine, of course, are hilarious and witty), snarky digs at Obama or Romney, or updates about how many miles people have run (seriously, are all marathoners on Facebook?)

But that leaves a billion or so opportunities to make a connection.

I’m not talking about overt evangelism (heaven forbid). I’m merely suggesting that we use Facebook as another tool to tell our stories.

General Convention agrees. At the gathering in Indianapolis earlier this month, bishops and deputies adopted a resolution challenging every diocese and congregation to actively engage social media. This isn’t The Episcopal Church going bravely into new frontiers – it’s about joining the 835 million (!!) users of Facebook.

Jesus didn’t talk about faith using 25-cent, seminary-sourced words. He told parables because that was a way of connecting to the broadest audience. Stained glass windows have been called “the poor man’s Bible,” depicting stories of the Bible for all people, regardless of whether they could read. 

Facebook is just another tool to tell the Gospel. 

If there are still people in your congregations who are dragging their feet, share this video. It gives a compelling picture of the reach of social media in a single day. If they are still not convinced, it’s time for medieval torture. 

Kidding. Mostly. 

As you get started (or are reviving your Facebook presence), here are some tips: 

• Invite friends on your personal Facebook account to “like” the church’s page.
• Post regularly: At least once a day. Use Hootsuite or other Internet-based tools to schedule your posts in advance so it’s not cumbersome.
• Upload photos of events: Use first names only or a generic caption: Enjoying a night at the festival with friends from St. Switham’s.
• Create event invitations: Use the tools within Facebook to promote your activities. Vacation Bible Schools, movie nights, fundraisers. And worship.
• Integrate with website: Use Facebook icons within your website to link the two. You can also embed different tools (such as a photo montage of your followers onto the site). Facebook Help gives you easy instructions on finding the html code to paste within your website.
• Deploy timeline: This is a perfect way to tell the history of our congregations without boring folks. Use the timeline with pictures to share the rich traditions and history of your church.
• In a unique way, Facebook and other social media outlets are a perfect match for The Episcopal Church. Our ethos as Episcopalians is about connection every which way – to the wider church, to each other, to our neighborhoods, to the Anglican Communion, to the bishop, to other faiths. Facebook lives into this notion of connection every which way.

The Rev. Ron Pogue, founder of the popular Facebook page, Unapologetically Episcopalian, put Facebook into this context: “It’s a place where thirsty people come and drink.” 
I hope we’re ready with water.