Last month, I attended a nifty new conference called Social Ecclesia with a few of my co-workers. The premise of the event is to help churches with their social media strategy. I think it’s a pretty great idea. These one-day mico-conferences are being held several times per year right now, and are well worth your time and effort if you are a church leader looking to learn more about developing a social approach to sharing the hope of the gospel.

Here are some of the notes I took away from the day.

Justin Wise

• Authority in the social media age is determined by “who’s around” not “top down”
• Media is interactive. It’s relational. Engage.
• Just because people are seeing content doesn’t mean it’s working.
• A new media culture values customization (iTunes, Netflix, DVR, Twitter, FB, etc.). You can tell when you put content in front of them that they don’t want. They check out.
• Offline and online is blurred. Teens see social media as a regular part of life.
• Social media is the new greeter at your church.
• The FB generation doesn’t want to go to a church that works like a corporation. They want a flexible, interactive community with a cause.

Carrie Kintz at Focus on the Family

• Van Gogh: I feel there is nothing more artistic that to love someone.
• People are expressing their brokenness on social media because they don’t feel welcome at the church.
• “We’re all stories in the end.” – Dr. Who
• People who volunteer somewhere have happier lives. We are made to serve.
• To feel loved we must feel known.
• The church has hope. We need to share it more on social media. (Matt 5:14-16)
• Don’t let disaster be the first time someone hears from you or your church.
• Interact with your city’s hashtag.
• Pray.

Matt McKee

• Questions change the conversation.
• How do we leverage social media for the sake of the Gospel?
• Does the promise meet the practice? If it doesn’t, we fail. This is super important for churches to understand.
• Online communication should drive offline conversations.
• Church isn’t limited to an hour each week. Do you have a strategy for both?
• Ask what problem are you solving?
• Online presence: 70% interaction 20 content, 10 stats

Tony Morgan

• Your communication doesn’t matter if you don’t know what a devoted follower looks like and can’t help move them there.
• People can’t handle too many options. It gets confusing.
• Increase church activity doesn’t equal spiritual growth.
• Do your programs reach people outside the church or only satisfy insiders? Ask, “Which ministries is God blessing?”
• Are your steps clearly communicated?
• People are attracted to environments where life change is happening.
• People generally go where they are invited.

Haley Veturis at Saddleback Church

• Saddleback.com/weaps – their social media plan
• 3 out of 4 Americans use social media
• 2/3 of the global population uses social media
• 13 hour sof video uploaded every minute on YouTube
• 100K YouTube videos viewed per day
• 3 million Tweets per day
• 5 million minutes per day spent on FB
• Saddleback social media strategy: Connect. Teach. Share.
• Engage with the people you care about first. Educate community with great content from teachers and speaking pastors. Expose the community to ministry opps.
• Follow your followers!
• Go above and beyond when you can. (Disney does this well.)
• Keep a pulse on the heartbeat of your community.
• Empower others to be your advocates.
• 5 Steps in 5 Minutes
• 1. Identify a social media champion for your church.
• 2. Check for consistency across channels.
• 3. Identify your audience on each channel.
• 4. Follow your followers.
• 5. Unlink FB/Twitter accounts.

Dave Willis

• Do people think your phone is your god because you never put it down?
• Don’t use social media to impress people, use it to impact people.
• Choose to be an encourager.
• If you don’t intentionally pull away from social media periodically, then you’re living your life in a digital prison.
• The impact of your influence will be determined by the effectiveness of your methods and the purity of your motives. Psalm 19:14
• Criticism is the price of influence. (Luke 6:26, Rom 12:18)
• Show respect, even to those who don’t deserve it, not as a reflection of their character, but of yours.
• The best way to build credibility with people is to consistently practice generosity.
• Always be more interested in gaining followers for Jesus than you are in gaining followers for yourself.

James Andrews

• The power has shifted from corporations and institutions to individuals and communities.
• Customer service is the new PR. Effort matters.
• Social media is the new main street.
• Create conversations
• Start with goals before tactics.
• Be great listeners.
• PR/Marketing role is to create, monitor, participate and filter
• Influences and audience aren’t necessarily the same thing.
• Be you.
• Remember there are NO rules.
• Don’t focus on numbers.
• Convert social connections into real connections.
• Give something back. Don’t just take.
• Experiment continuously.
• Make it easy for people to create data.