Your Great Invitation: Get inspired by other churches

20/12/2022

Find inspiration for those last minute Christmas social media posts! See what other churches have been doing to offer ‘the Great Invitation’ to their community.

For our final blog of the year, we want to inspire you for using social media in the run up to Christmas by showing you what other churches have been doing.

It’s never too late to get the invitation out. Doing some posts like this in the last days before Christmas can encourage people to consider coming to your services on 24 and 25 December. Plus, if people can see, comment on and share posts about services or events they have already been part of, it can strengthen the connection people have with your church.

A bonus is that it also means you have captured the photos you could use next year to help with early promotion of your services.

 

8 ideas for last-minute #FollowTheStar social posts

1. Keep it simple - an open door

Keep it simple with a warm, lit welcoming doorway, like Hampsted Parish Church on Twitter (below) or St John’s Church, Farlsey on Facebook.

2. Show the preparation

Show the preparation, like St Paul’s Macclesfield on Twitter (below).

3. Starburst video

Use the video generator on the AChurchNearYou.com Resource Hub - like Pakefield Church on Twitter (below).

4. Capture the smiles

If you can manage it and get permission, smiling faces get more engagement on social media than shots of the backs of people’s heads. Here’s an example from All Saints Hampton on Instagram and one from St Thomas with St Stephen on Twitter (below).

ASH Church on Instagram: "Just some of the brilliant Christmas Jumpers we saw at this mornings services! We are feeling super festive as we head towards Christmas.…"

5. Make it a prayer

Make it a prayer, like St John the Baptist, Hove on Twitter (below).

6. Say thank you

Say thank you afterwards to everyone involved, like these examples:

St Mary Magdalene Church on Facebook

St Anne's Church, Worksop on Facebook 

 

7. Transformation moment

Show a transformation moment - a 'before and after' of some kind - like St Bartholomew church Winchester, who posted the same Christingle making reel on Facebook and Instagram.

St Bartholomew's church Facebook

St Bartholomew's Church (@stbartholomewschurchwinchester) • Instagram photos and videos

 

8. Look back - to look forwards!

Use a roundup of your services so far to invite people to your Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, like King’s Cross Church on Instagram or Blandford Forum Parish Church on Twitter. 

King’s Cross Church on Instagram: "What a cracking two weeks of carols! ☃️🎄🌟🎁🎅✨🐴 You can watch back last week’s service now at YouTube.com/kxchurch and please join us on…"

Keep tagging us using @churchofengland and #FollowTheStar and we’ll keep retweeting and reposting you from the main Church of England social media accounts.

See you on social!

The Digital team