Welcome to Trinity Social Media

Unity in the Body of Christ

John 17:20  ”I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Bible Community Experienced Online

As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to a special community through our relationship with Him–a Christian Community through His church.  The mission of Trinity Social Media is to facilitate the building of unity and community in the local church through social media so that the whole Body of Christ is strengthened.

Before He created time, God as Trinity lived in perfect community.  When He created man in His image, He created him in community with Himself and with each other.  The fall ruined our relationship with God and severely damaged our ability to live in community with each other.  As followers of Jesus Christ, our relationship with Him is restored, and through Him, our relationship with each other as well.  But, living in Christian community in this cursed world remains difficult.

Online Church Community

 When your local church participates in social media, you help to build that community online  around the word of God and around your doctrine.  Social media provides a place, a platform where needs are shared and met; where prayer request are issued, where photos can be shared, recorded sermons and blogs published, video viewed—all promoting Jesus Christ to your congregation and to their friends and connections.  Giving you a greater reach both locally and potentially globally.

• But, Social Media has to done correctly, strategically.  Sharfaith in their January 2011 Blog post, Church Social Media Bad Practices list 9 social media practices that most churches do poorly:

• Forgetting that you’re on social media.  Many churches establish a presence but then never update, engage, or share content.

• Neglecting to use social media for its intended purposes. Social media is a collection of communication tools to help facilitate the building and maintaining of community—not just a place to show photos or make announcements.
• Not responding to people’s inquiries on social media.  When contacted by someone, a church must respond in the same way they do when the phone rings.  Needs, questions, concerns need that same quick response.
• Not drawing a clear line between an individual and an institution.  When a pastor, church leader, or staff member engages with social media from their personal account are they speaking for the church or personally?  If they post something to the churches Facebook page, whose voice are they using.  Those lines can get blurred and confused.
• Going berserk with social media.  Opposite from some of the problems above is over-engaging.  If you blast people with updates, they will ignore, delete or unfriend you.
• Being too salesy with your message. Don’t communicate with your body of believers like you’re a vendor trying to convince them to buy something.  Promoting activities is important; being pushy is not.
• Ignoring the conversation. When you engage your community, you have to listen to them and address the issues and concepts that are part of that conversation.  Social media is not a one-way-communication platform.
• Ignoring the “social” part of social media.  A church on social media needs to in fact be sociable—make friends, share, have sense of humor when appropriate—the buzz word is “ENGAGE.”
• Offer something of value. You can share so much that is valuable on social media:  prayer requests, scripture, bible verses, sermon and class recordings, blog post, needs, etc.  Good content engages and teaches your community of believers.

At least part of the problem is time related–you and your staff simply don’t have the time to engage your community the several times a day needed to properly engage the flock God has entrusted to you.  The professionals at Trinity Social Media take the time to build and maintain your social network strategically so that you avoid the mistakes many churches make.  Why should a worshipping body take part in social media?  Your members and attendees already are.  Chances are that the number of people walking through your doors on Sunday morning who are on Facebook far outnumber those who are not (not to mention Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, YouTube, etc.)  Social media is where much community is built today.  It is where conversations occur, debates occur, and it is where needs and content are shared.  Social Media is where your congregation gets much of its information today and your voice needs to be heard there.  But, it needs to be heard correctly and passionately.   In their blog post from late 2011 entitled, How to Think about Social Networking in Churches, Matthew Lee Anderson, Brandon Vogt, and Doug Groothuis share five benefits to social media.  Done properly, it:

1. Amplifies community, mission, evangelization, and spiritual growth
2. Transcends geography
3. Transcends time
4. Sparks offline community
5. Opens the doors of fellowship to those outside the community

At Trinity Social Media, our professional community management team works with your pastoral staff and church leadership to engage your members and attendees to help your community when you don’t have the time or resources to do it yourself.  Because our full focus is on your social media strategy, we engage and participate to maximize community creation and growth while sharing your content so that the body of Christ is built and edified.