I used to hear stories of people walking into churches and just ‘knowing’ they were home, even if they had never gone to church outside of weddings, Christenings and funerals.
I'd heard stories of people feeling ‘called’ to a specific church, whatever ‘called’ meant. I’d heard stories of people choosing a church because it felt like family from day one.
I'd love to tell you that was my story
After deciding to try church, I went to the best source of information I knew: Google. As I typed “churches near me” into the search bar, thoughts resounded to ‘if they have a good website, that means there’s probably young people there right?’. My decision to visit this church wasn’t super spiritual and I didn’t feel that it was God telling me to pick that one, it just simply made sense. A good website, to me, a 17 year old almost - uni student, was inviting.
With more students than ever signing up to #TryChurch for the first time, what should be our priority in connecting and inviting?
Ben Elliot from The Well Church in Sheffield puts it brilliantly.
Your online presence should reflect the story of your church
For many students, the first interaction that they have with a church will be online. They will scroll through an Instagram page or check out a website. First impressions no longer just exist with a “hello!” from the welcome team on a Sunday, but often begin with a simple post.
Does this mean your online presence has to be perfect? Definitely not.
Does this mean the vision of your church should be demonstrated through your posts? Yes, it does.
Before posting, it may helpful to ask this question. “How does this post reflect the God story our church is playing a part in?”
Whilst the Freshers were arriving in Sheffield, The Well Instagram page featured not only event invitations and service times, but also people’s testimonies. Videos explaining the power of God in real people's lives invited onlookers to empathize, understand and explore more. Not only were stories shared, but online passers-by were included in the narrative. They were invited to be a part of the bigger God story by maintaining the outwards - looking vision that the church upholds.
- Who do you want to reach out to?
- What is the vision behind your posts?
- What story do you want to tell?
