Creating a website that is full of Gospel-centered content is vital to any church. People often head to Christian websites to glean from the information provided. They want to learn, and they want to grow. What if you could give the people what they want by designing your website to be more intentional and transparent? One way to make this happen is through using videos on your church website. The use of videos can enhance church communications.
I can hear you thinking, “What a great idea, but how do I practically put videos on my website?”
Well, I’m glad you asked because our team exists to help you stay intentional and transparent with your ministry. So, to aid you in using videos on your church’s website, here are some best practices in using video for intentional church communication.
How to Be Intentional with Videos to Enhance Communications
Sermons
Sermons are one of the key ways you can use videos on your website. Recording each message and posting it for people to view on your website provides a great way to keep people engaged. This is also an excellent tool with the summer months approaching. During these months, people regularly take off on vacation or have their own string of constant visitors to host. Often this leads to a decrease in church attendance. If you want to keep your members engaged and active, try posting your sermons on your website.
To check out more ways to reach your audience through online sermons, check out 6 Tips To Reach More People With Your Sermons Online.
Bible Studies
If you are a church that has many members going into different parts of the city to do missions, one way to assist these members is through online Bible studies. By hosting weekly Bible studies online, you can equip your urban missionaries with a variety of tools they can use to reach the masses. Online Bible studies can also be used by missionaries around the world. Imagine creating a space where local and global missionaries can gather the tools they need to share the Gospel outside the boundaries of your church walls.
For more information on starting an online Bible study, check out these 9 Tips for Starting Online Small Groups.
Weekly Pastoral Check-Ins
As a pastor, you are the leader of your church. People look up to you and care about what you have to say. If they didn’t, they probably wouldn’t be sitting in a chair listening to you once a week, every week. Why not take your leadership one step further and have a weekly check-in? On your website’s homepage, you can promote a short video once a week where you speak a word of encouragement to your members. You can even take your Sunday sermon one step further by using this weekly check-in as a way to remind your members of the Gospel truths they learned the Sunday prior. Having an approachable pastor is important to most people, and creating a weekly check-in where your members can see your face and be encouraged is one step in the right direction.
If weekly check-ins are not your thing, maybe you can consider starting video podcasts. Podcasts themselves are great, but taking it one step further by adding video to your message increases your approachability.
You can also use these weekly check-in videos or video podcasts on your social media accounts. Allow your members to easily see you as they scroll through Facebook or Instagram. Using these on social media can also provide more opportunities for your members to share your messages so people outside your church walls can hear these truths.
All of these pastoral videos can enhance your church communications and make people feel more connected.
Here are 10 pastors who are excelling in the world of weekly podcasts. Hopefully, this list will encourage you too!
Welcome
Imagine being new to your church. Before heading through the front doors on a Sunday morning, you start by heading to your church’s website. As soon as you see the homepage, you’re greeted with a short 10-second video from the pastor welcoming you to your church. Rather than feel like you know nothing about the church, you now feel like you know at least one person at the church. Creating a welcome video for people visiting your website is more than just welcoming them to that digital space. It is providing people a way to get to know you and your church before they enter. You want people to feel comfortable when they visit, so why not create a comfortable digital space, too?
Tour
Attending new churches can be nerve-racking for many people. These individuals don’t know where to go, who you are, or even what to do once they get there. Why not create a simple video that gives a short tour of your church? Introduce them to the doors to walk into. Show them the main worship hall. Lead them to the new member desk. Show them anything that could be beneficial to them when they visit your church. A simple video that shows people around might help lessen the anxiety of those who are nervous to visit.
For inspiration, check out this church’s tour video.
Ministry and Volunteer Spotlight
One way to use videos to enhance communications is to highlight your ministries. Creating videos for each of your ministries also helps your members understand what’s happening at your church. You can use these videos during a Sunday morning service, on your social media accounts, or just simply post these videos on each of your ministry’s website pages.
In these videos, you can also promote specific volunteers in each ministry. Showcasing volunteers allows people to see how they can serve at your church. It helps them to see what it would be like to serve in different ministries and can even inspire them to volunteer, too.
If you want more insight into recruiting volunteers, check out our article on The Secret To Recruiting And Keeping Committed Volunteers.
Next Steps
Hopefully, we’ve inspired you to use videos on your church’s website in a creative and unique way! Sharefaith has many resources available to you to not only improve your website but also ingenious ways to engage and grow disciples. If you’re ready to use video to improve church communications, head on over to our website and check out all the tools available to you with a simple click of a button.