So we’ve finally made it to 2021 – a whole new year!
(Although tbh, it looks oddly similar to 2020).
But this year is not 2020.
Which means we need to treat it differently than any year before it.
This is the first year we are entering into quarantine, knowing that it will likely be a few more months of atypical life and ministry before we find ourselves on the other end of the coronavirus pandemic.
This year is also starting out after 8+ months of life being absolutely flipped on its head.
So with 2021 being so unique… How do we care for people in days like these? How do we reach them online?
As always, that’s exactly what we’re here to help you find.
Click here for the video version of this post!
- Beware of Burnout
Burnout probably sounds like an old friend at this point, right?
Not only are you likely burned out from this overwhelming year, but your people likely are too.
People are working jobs that they don’t feel safe in, teaching at home on the side, and lacking most normal outlets, coping mechanisms, and socialization.
We don’t have to tell you.
We know you know it’s been a weird year.
That’s why taking care of yourself and your community’s mental health needs to be on the top of your priority list for 2021.
For yourself, be aware of how you are dealing with the circumstances surrounding you.
If you haven’t found a professional or community where you can properly process this new reality, now is a great time to do so.
It is also helpful to remember and spread the word that it is okay to take a break.
It is okay if you can’t do what you normally would be doing this time of year.
It’s okay if your volunteers need to take a week or a year off.
It’s okay if your church’s ministry changes again and again.
It’s okay.
Part of caring for ourselves and acknowledging burnout is allowing ourselves to change pace.
To whatever is manageable today. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, just for today.
Finally, we’ll continue to urge you to share your digital ministry efforts with those around you. If you’ve read this far, you at least have some idea of how important it is for you to be online.
Do not bear the burden of reaching your people online alone.
Find those with gifts in areas where you could use assistance:
- Creating
- Posting
- Dreaming up content
- Managing the behind-the-scenes technology
If no one is coming out of the woodwork to help, start making phone calls.
If you don’t have the time or energy to start making phone calls, ask someone for help making phone calls.
Digital ministry is ministry.
Ministry takes all of us working together.
- Humanize Your Social Media
As Lisa Jenkins says over at Social Media Examiner:
“People connect with people.”
Church leaders know this intimately when it comes to day to day ministry, but it can be easy to forget when you’re behind some foreign social media platform.
Instead of posting just random quotes and photos on your church social media and website, do what you know best: connect your people with people.
You, your staff, your leadership, your community members.
Share photos of yourselves.
Share your opinions.
Share an update of what you’re doing that day.
Share opportunities for others to connect with you deeper.
Your people are overly saturated by brands, sales, and advertising.
They may need a reminder about the upcoming event or worship service you have going on, but don’t let that be your only form of social media posting.
In fact, we recommend you strive for 80% non-advertising posts, many of which could be humans saying or doing something.
- People are Looking for Your Community
There is someone who will Google search “churches near me” this week, desperate for a way to connect to God… to others seeking the same.
This is why it is absolutely crucial that your ministry has a website.
People are looking for your community in these difficult times.
They need to be able to find you.
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Bluehost made it super easy for the non-website experienced member of Digivangelism to set up our initial site (since perfected by our website pro!). Bluehost connects easily with WordPress which has endless video and text tutorials for nearly anything you could ever want to do with your site.
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The important thing to keep in mind with all of this is that people will be looking for your church.
You don’t want to make them hunt for it.
Now is the time to audit your community’s website and social media to make sure it is as clear as possible for newcomers to understand who you are, what you are about, and how they can get involved.
The best way to do this?
Ask someone who does not attend your church to look over your profiles and website. Have them keep an eye out for anything that is confusing or missing. Encourage them to imagine they were checking out your church to attend for the first time.
Their findings may surprise you!
- Quality vs. Quantity
As social media becomes more and more saturated and as you become more and more burnt out in quarantine, hear the Good News:
You don’t need to post every day.
You really don’t.
What is far more important is that you seek to connect with your people with every post that you make.
This doesn’t necessarily mean a top quality professional photo or graphic either.
Instead, take some time looking at your analytics to determine what type of posts get the most engagement.
Once you know what has worked well in the past, make a new version of that type of post.
It is far better that you take a few more days in between posts to come up with a valuable, insightful, or helpful post, than it is that you just keep cranking out subpar content.
As social media becomes more and more saturated, it will be easier and easier to ignore content that was posted with minimal effort.
Take some time to understand what your people respond well to and focus on the quality of your post, not quantity of posts.
- Impact vs. Attendance
We know that you want to check attendance each Sunday.
For some churches, attendance is a very important part of your identity. You can literally feel your worth increase or decrease based on how many bodies you had in your pews.
But now is the time for rethinking how to track your impact each week.
Maybe only 3 people show up to your attempted in-person event, but how many people were your leadership able to reach out to each week?
Maybe you don’t have as many on your Zoom meeting this week, but how many watched more than 1 minute of your service on Facebook or YouTube after it was shared?
Maybe no one responded to your email, but 12 people liked the devotional video you shared and 7 of them commented.
It is in this coronatide where virtual visits are more important than visible participation. Direct Messages become more important than dedicated members. Engagement becomes more important than eagerness to volunteer.
Give some space for your people to engage with you and your community in ways that do not always mean attendance in worship.
And let that be enough.
- Repurpose Your Content
We’ve talked about people being overwhelmed in this article.
Why not make social media a bit easier on yourself by repurposing some of your content?
Before we dive into what different forms this can take, be sure you check out this article on Repurposing Your Sermon Content.
This can be either visual content you’ve created such as a video or graphic OR it could be written/spoken content such as a sermon, devotion, or shorter words of wisdom.
If you are sharing a video or graphic, consider sharing this same creation in multiple places.
Graphics created for Facebook often work well on Instagram and may even find a home in your weekly email, website, or worship service slideshow.
Videos recorded for Facebook could also be uploaded to YouTube to build your channel’s repertoire.
If you are going live on video, it may be worth trying out multiple platforms. Can you set one device up for Instagram while another is live on TikTok? Or perhaps one is on Facebook Live and the other is streaming on YouTube?
Finally, if you are writing a message, devotion, or brief words of wisdom, consider if there are multiple ways you can share this with your people.
Can you write it out for an email blast but also share a video on your Instagram Story?
Can you make it into a TikTok that you also share to Instagram Reels?
Can you tweet some of it on Twitter while the rest gets posted as a Facebook Live?
There is an overwhelming number of options for how this might look for your community. The best option is utilizing the one (or two, or three) platforms that your people are using.
Start small and start where your people are.