Do you wish you had access to a community of like-minded people who could help you with the struggles of ministry life? Enter Facebook groups. Someone posts a problem or poses a question and they receive answers, solutions and discussion, sometimes within minutes.
The past 6 months have been extremely taxing for most ministry workers and church leaders. Now, more than ever, we need to lean on each other for support.
Tech got you down? Social media giving you the blues? Have a problem no one on staff can fix? Post it on a group where people are willing to help and see what they come up with.
Not sure where to get started? Follow me…
For Church Online: Online + Digital Church Leaders & Being the Church Online
Both of these groups deal with everything about church online. There’s some livestream help, media help, tech help — it’s all there. Come here to get started on all things church online.
Being the Church Online is run by Jeff Reed of Stadia Church Planting and TheChurch.Digital. Jeff already hosts The Church Digital Podcast and is launching the Beta Show this week as well. The admins on Online+Digital Church Leaders include Tyler Sansom, lead pastor of Church Anywhere.
For Communications: Church Communications
As the description states, this group is a place for “branding, graphic design, the web, social media, print design, and other related topics.”
This is a great place to get ideas. They do feedback on logos, branding and graphics especially well. The group admin, Kenny Jahng of Big Click Syndicate, contribute a lot of his own material (videos, etc.) to help troubleshoot common challenges.
For Social Media: Church Social Media Managers & Church Marketers
These groups offers help with all social media platforms. I also see a fair bit of talk regarding church websites and livestreams.
Among the admins on Church Marketers are Ryan Wakefield of Church Marketing University. There is a lot on this group aside from marketing. I see job posts, tips on admin and questions about everything even loosely related to marketing for churches.
Random perk of Church Social Media Managers…photoshopping. A member will post a pictures and say, “Can you help me remove this *insert item* in the background?” What follows is 100+ comments from members who have photoshopped everything from dinosaurs to the bridge of the Enterprise to Nacho Libre into said photo. It’s hilarious. And you will eventually get exactly the photo you’re looking for after laughing really hard.
For Admin: Church Executive Administration & Operations
This is the place for questions about job descriptions, financials, guidelines, human resources, SOPs, etc. I see useful information posted on this group almost everyday.
If you have a question on anything that happens in the office, chances are you’ll find answers in this group. This group is run by Deborah Ike of Velocity Ministry Management and, the newly launched, Church Operations Toolkit.
For Tech: Church Sound & Media Techs & Churchfront
These are the go-to groups for nitty-gritty tech questions. Here you can ask about specific software bugs, post pictures of your screen and get advice about gear.
Both groups are filled with some of the most helpful people you’ll find in a group. They are extremely responsive and many posts get upwards of 20 responses. It’s rare to see a question here that goes unanswered.
For Creatives: CRTVCHURCH Group
CRTVCHURCH group’s simple description is “Bringing church creatives together.” They certainly live up to it. The group’s main admin is Nik Goodner who founded CRTVCHURCH.
There are questions about fonts, design, branding, set design, software preferences, tech advice, social media and more. There also may or may not be a running joke about comic sans being the best font ever… If you work in a creative area of the ministry, you’re sure to love this group.
For Youth Ministry: Youth Pastors Only & Download Youth Ministry Community
First of all, hats off to the Youth Pastors. They are working their tails off to serve the congregants without fully-formed frontal lobes and it’s not easy.
Youth Pastors Only is run by several people in youthministry360 and Download Youth Mininstry Community is run by (you guessed it) Download Youth Ministry. Both groups are full of authentic posts and people really working to reach teens for Jesus.
People in these groups ask for advice on navigating difficult situations, share triumphs (and fails), and post the best stories I’ve ever read on ministry. There are a lot memes in both groups which I view as a huge plus.
For Worship Leaders: Worship Leaders + & Worship Leaders Collective
These are both super responsive groups where members post all sorts of worship related questions and situations. Need a song with a specific theme or line? Post here and get upwards of 150 answers. The admins just ask that you stay away from controversial topics, like capos and music stand preferences.
This week, people are discussing the Biblical accuracy of Christmas songs, copyright questions relating to CCLI and hilarious stories about the worst thing that’s ever happened while doing worship. Be warned that anyone caught with a tambourine or clapping on 1 and 3 will be summarily ejected from the group…
For Church Planters: Practical Church Planting
It’s just what it sounds like, a bunch of church planting hammering out the strategy of getting boots on the ground. The group is run by Dylan Dodson and Brian Androsian who host a podcast with the same name.
This group focuses more on application than theory, which is invaluable when you’re starting from scratch. You can also get advice about the common struggles of church planters like being bivocational, transitioning out of a current role and how to put down roots in a new place.
Last but not least…
For Church Leaders: Church Leader Community
This group is run by Life.Church and has resources for all areas of ministry.
It is not a “leadership group” persay in that it doesn’t talk only about leadership. Any question you might have here, from tech to media to operations to engagement, you’ll find something here.
Join one or be a creep like me and join them all. Find us at ShareTalent.co for more awesome people (they’re called freelancers) who can help your church be as awesome as these groups.
.png)
.png)
