Jesus was and still is one of the greatest storytellers of all time.
The parables He told were stories that helped people understand who He was and why He came. So it makes sense that we use social media, the fastest from of communication in human history, to share stories of hope and inspiration.
“Storytelling is something that we do naturally. More often than not, we don’t even realize that we’re doing it.” — Sprout Social
One of the best forms of communicating with church members, as well as seekers, is through digital platforms. Today people from all over the globe have access to web-based content or smartphone apps. This makes spreading information quick and easy. By sharing information through a storytelling format, you can better engage and connect with your congregation. Creating a more personal relationship.
1. Use Your Church Facebook Page to Tell Stories
Depending on your location your church website should be the number one place to tell the story of your church but more likely than not Facebook and Instagram are where individuals are going to go for information. Social media gives you the opportunity to share your mission, goals, events, and more importantly engage with your followers outside of church. Use storytelling techniques to show importance of the ministry, share stories of inspiration and reach those that you can not get to physically.
2. Add an App to Share Stories
Customizing an app is a great way to connect with your congregation. It’s more private than social media , which allows for a more tailored approach. It is also accessible anywhere and anytime with a smartphone. One of our favorite things to share is a Daily Devotional, which can help build a community as well as provide a daily connection.
3. Email to Share Stories
Shared content is distributed twice as often in email than on other platforms. This statistic shows that members are engaging in email. Use that engagement to your advantage when sharing important information or for outreach. If members can relate to a story shared within an email, they are likely to forward to family and friends.
Social media hashtag trends provide an opportunity to connect with others. Hashtags are an important way to expand your audience and a great way to share a story. People can also choose to follow hashtags, which means they could see your hash tagged post in their feed even if they don’t follow you (yet).
Instagram and Twitter hashtags can be a great way of building your community online so people are motivated to engage with your ministry.
5. Teach through Stories
What better way to reinforce the core values of your ministry than through a story. Identify, capture and share the gospel and create the opportunity to engage. Engagment happens not only through telling stories relating the facts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, but ones relating the facts of our personal struggles, and victories.
Want learn how you can be a better digital storyteller? Check these out.
Media for Christian Ministries Courses , Classes and Certificates
How to use your phone for storytelling
Have a question? contact us cgma@staruniversity.org
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