Have you ever said, “Our church will have a Facebook page someday.”

Well, someday can be today!

Creating a Facebook page for a church isn’t difficult, but it can be intimidating for those who aren’t familiar with social media. The Florida Conference has produced a 7-minute long video tutorial that will have your church up and running in no time.

The tutorial guides you through the process of creating a Facebook page for your church, and you can pause or rewind the tutorial at any time.

The latest statistics report that Facebook now has more than 1 billion active users, with the average user being connected to more than 80 pages, groups and events. Some researchers estimate that people spend more than 10.5 billion minutes daily on Facebook.  According to Rev. Laurie Haller of the West Michigan Conference, “every congregation in The United Methodist Church has a new front door. It’s the internet.”

“This video tutorial is the first in a series about social media that the communications team will produce,” said conference director of communications Gretchen Hastings. “Equipping Florida churches to use Facebook is a top priority. Because it is so easy to use, Facebook can create an internet presence for smaller churches that don’t have the staff or technical skills to create and keep a website up-to-date with fresh content.” 

Future tutorials may include:

• Understanding privacy and creating your Facebook privacy settings;
• Content creation, including how to post pictures and videos.

If you have suggestions for future social media tutorials, questions or comments, please send them to dwalter@flumc.org.

Facebook Content

Not sure what to post on your Facebook page? Aim for a good mix of content. Some posts can be purely for information purposes. Pose some conversation starters. Ask for feedback. Include photos and videos. Post links to stories that are relevant to your congregation, whether related to your local community or the larger global church.

You can also click here to join the Florida Conference Facebook page and share its daily inspirational posts with your Facebook community.

Other than the news about your church and community, here are some other content suggestions:

• What is your favorite hymn?
• Do you know why so many church doors are red?
• What brought you to our church?
• "We each have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us." (Romans 12:6). Do you know your spiritual gifts? Discover them here.
• What's your favorite thing about our church?