20/12/2022
For our final blog of the year, we want to inspire you for using social media in the run up to Christmas by showing you what other churches have been doing.
It’s never too late to get the invitation out. Doing some posts like this in the last days before Christmas can encourage people to consider coming to your services on 24 and 25 December. Plus, if people can see, comment on and share posts about services or events they have already been part of, it can strengthen the connection people have with your church.
A bonus is that it also means you have captured the photos you could use next year to help with early promotion of your services.
8 ideas for last-minute #FollowTheStar social posts
1. Keep it simple - an open door
Keep it simple with a warm, lit welcoming doorway, like Hampsted Parish Church on Twitter (below) or St John’s Church, Farlsey on Facebook.
2. Show the preparation
Show the preparation, like St Paul’s Macclesfield on Twitter (below).
3. Starburst video
Use the video generator on the AChurchNearYou.com Resource Hub - like Pakefield Church on Twitter (below).
4. Capture the smiles
If you can manage it and get permission, smiling faces get more engagement on social media than shots of the backs of people’s heads. Here’s an example from All Saints Hampton on Instagram and one from St Thomas with St Stephen on Twitter (below).
5. Make it a prayer
Make it a prayer, like St John the Baptist, Hove on Twitter (below).
6. Say thank you
Say thank you afterwards to everyone involved, like these examples:
St Mary Magdalene Church on Facebook
St Anne's Church, Worksop on Facebook
7. Transformation moment
Show a transformation moment - a 'before and after' of some kind - like St Bartholomew church Winchester, who posted the same Christingle making reel on Facebook and Instagram.
St Bartholomew's church Facebook
St Bartholomew's Church (@stbartholomewschurchwinchester) • Instagram photos and videos
8. Look back - to look forwards!
Use a roundup of your services so far to invite people to your Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, like King’s Cross Church on Instagram or Blandford Forum Parish Church on Twitter.
Keep tagging us using @churchofengland and #FollowTheStar and we’ll keep retweeting and reposting you from the main Church of England social media accounts.
See you on social!
The Digital team