Five Reasons Pastors Should Use Twitter
Lets face it, most pastors don’t use twitter. Many never will, and that’s fine but I think there are a some solid reasons why people in ministry should give it a try, so here we go:
1. Sermon Prep / Current events
To remain culturally relevant when we preach it requires we stay up to date on what is happening in our world on all fronts. Staying in touch with what is going on locally, regionally, and internationally impacts the people God has us serving. To serve them better in our preaching means we must stay current. Twitter can help us do just that by keeping us up to date on things that impact our congregations. To do this I specifically follow two twitter feeds:
- One – http://twitter.com/cbs3 for local Philadelphia regional news
- Two – http://twitter.com/cnnbrk for a broader everything news source
2. Connection Point to a Different Crowd
As pastors in ministry, we naturally connect with certain people in our churches through specific activities. We’ll connect with athletes through a softball team or by watching football, neighbors through working in our yard, and more than likely there are some techies or socially savvy people in your church already using twitter.
3. Think Differently
Trying new things stretches our thinking. Twitter is definitely different. The limitations on the length of your posts force you to be precise and change your communication style, at least on this medium. Let’s face it, most of us that preach and teach usually have too much to say and we could all benefit from some boundaries!
4. Fast and Easy
Twitter really requires little time investment. Especially because you can use it via your cell phone on the go. There are also lots of other tools to use to make twitter fun and even easier. Here is a post I wrote a while ago about some tools to make twitter easier – CLICK HERE.
5. New Relationships
This is probably one of the best reasons to use twitter. Lets face it, ministry is hard, and at times can be really lonely. What many of pastors forget is that we are not alone and there is no reason to try to work through these challenges without the help of others. Many people have been where you are, right now, in ministry today. Using these great social media tools we have the opportunity to make connections with other pastors and subject matter experts for advice and encouragement. CLICK HERE to connect with me on twitter!
One of my good twitter friends, Marybeth Stockdale, recently posted a basic instructional video to help you set up a twitter account. You can check that out by clicking here.
If you are passionate about ministry and are looking to connect with others on twitter, leave a link below in the comment section to your twitter profile page. I’d love to connect and others that visit this post will have an opportunity to connect with you too.
Other Related Posts:
Is Social Media A Fad?
Chasing Twitter Followers
Tools To Make Twitter Easier
Great post Frank,
I too recently wrote a post about pastors using twitter in ministry and to be honest most of the pastors I WAS following simply had nothing to say.
I think your post makes some excellent points that Many pastors could take on board when using twitter in their ministry.
Keep up the good work.
Great to hear other pastors giving tips on the benefits of using twitter in ministry I been using twitter for a few months now and I am able to connect with my followers even on our radio program I actually read their twitts on the air, I usually give tips what the msg would be touching ahead of time to create expectation, keep posting guys and God bless is a pleasure following you
Glad you found the post helpful and I hope it encourages others in ministry to test the waters of twitter.
Question: What are your thoughts on pastors sharing and commenting on the problems that their congregation brings to them anonymously. That is to say discussing, polling and talking about the issues that individuals are going through via Twitter. Does the benefit to the congregation outweigh any confidentiality assumed by the individuals? How does this affect individual counseling? Are the congregants entitled to believe that their situation will remain confidential? Does the fact that the names are not revealed keep confidentiality intact?
Just curious what your thoughts were?
In my personal opinion I don’t think I could ever feel comfortable polling others on the web or “tweeting” about people I’ve been counseling with, even if I left names out of it. Now I do from time to time ask for prayer through tools like twitter. My brother lives in Hawaii and recently might have had to deal with a Tsunami due to the earthquake in Chile. He had an issue and I publically addressed it for prayer via twitter, but people’s personal problems that are expected to be dealt with in confidence should’nt be broadcast over social media. Feel free to send me and email if you’d like a more private and specific response