Becoming More Than a Face in the Crowd

I attend Cornerstone Baptist Church in Florence, SC, and our church facilities are a stone’s throw from Interstate 20. Being so close to an interstate overpass affords us quite a lot of visibility. Thousands of people drive past our facilities daily, and we want them to notice our church.
We put the basketball courts, the pavilion, and the playground on the interstate side of the building. Why? So passers-by will know that we like to shoot a few hoops and swing from monkey bars. They can see the soccer fields as they whiz by, weaving in and out of traffic. They may not know our service times yet, but they have a 70 MPH idea who we are.
Sure, many of those passing by will never visit our church. They are from communities elsewhere, even other states, but a healthy percentage are from our community or from neighboring communities. They frequent our overpass, and they need Christ!
That’s what a page does for your church in the Facebook community. There are more than 500 million people cruising Facebook–200 million more than the current population of the U.S! That’s a lot of traffic from around the world! If we’re going to have an impact in that community, we need some “facilities” (some presence) by an overpass somewhere in Facebook, so the world can see what we’re all about.
Your church’s Facebook page is that presence. It’s your church’s personality in this new, amazingly worldwide community. Just like my church invests more in the interstate-side of our facilities, I encourage you to invest more in the Facebook-side of your ministry. How else will all of those people know that you like to play basketball and swing from monkey bars (if you do?). Even more importantly, how else will they know that you have the keys to eternal life!

The Nitty Gritty: Pages vs. Groups

I’m sure many of you already have a group on Facebook. Most have many groups. That’s excellent! Your pages may not replace those groups, but pages afford some additional features that groups do not.

• Pages are completely public–they are visible even if you are not logged in to Facebook.
• You cannot message a Facebook group once it reaches more than 5,000 members.
• You can get usage statistics on your Facebook pages.
• You can name your Facebook pages.
• You can now use Facebook as your page (new functionality).
• You can add custom apps and custom web content to your pages.

More Info

Below, are a few links to help you get started, if you don’t already have a page, or to help you strengthen your existing pages.

Create a Facebook Page

Help with Facebook Pages

Name Your Facebook Pages

Help with Recent Facebook Page Updates

The Facebook Page for Facebook Pages

The Facebook Page for Non-Profits

Facebook pages can be a powerful part of your outreach ministry. I hope you’ll take advantage of these tools. Please share your experiences with me. I look forward to hearing from you!