A welcome distraction in my day is emails I receive from many of you about different things we do at Park. I’ve decided to share the emails and my responses with all of you since I’m sure it could serve you and your churches, as well as answer some questions you are asking!
Here goes…
From Jenni in Indiana:
Hey Tim!
Our pastor has started using Twiiter and we are very new to it. I wondered if you could give me some help with this. Here are my questions…
- Is it better for the pastor to Twitter, or would it be beter for our church to Twitter?
- Our pastor doesn’t know how to handle managing all of the responses he’s getting on Twitter. He feels bad about not being able to be in open dialogue with everyone but there’s no way he can personally respond to everyone. He is very compassionate and doesn’t want to offend anyone. IS there a way he can keep Tweeting but not offend people if he doesn’t respond to them?
Hey Jenni,
Depending on your pastor and how you think he can manage Twittering for himself, I think both your pastor and your church should Twitter.
One of the great things that Twitter can do for a pastor is make him more “human” to people; it’s a great way for people to get an inside look at his life, things he’s thinking, what he’s doing with his family, etc.
Many pastors who Twitter share a balance of info on their ministry and their personal life… and that’s a great thing.
Your pastor might not be able to respond to everyone, but that’s ok. You don’t have to respond to everyone who responds to you on Twitter. If, for instance, he posted something and many people replied to it, he could simply post a Tweet that says, “thanks everyone for your feedback on that…” I think that most people understand that it’s impossible to personally reply everyone.
I would say let your pastor’s Twitter be focused on him… his world, his life, things he’s thinking, leadership insights… and our pastor, who Twitters (@JaxnC) will often use it to ask questions/research for his messages to get people’s input or feedback.
Also, just like our church, he follows back everyone who follows him that lives in Chicago or appears to attend our church. Following people back creates a great tool for him to be able to see what people are talking about!
Before your pastor jumps on the Twitter bandwagon, I’d recommend you have him join, follow some of the different Twittering pastors that are out there, and let him get a feel for how other pastors use Twitter. If he thinks he’s up to the task, then open the floodgates. [Also, exercise your own discretion. You know your pastor best and know if he could manage a Twitter following!]
For our church Twitter account, we post information about events, news, and use it as a way to communicate to our church throughout the week.
Also, on Sundays we monitor it and as people mention us or reference us, and we respond back to them or retweet things people say about their experience… it adds a great personal touch.
Leverage your church Twitter account as a way to extend your message and as a communication channel to reach people throughout the week.
Hope this helps!
Tim
