Social media is ubiquitous, which is why it’s necessary for churches to be on it if looking to build and strengthen their following in 2025. That being said, it can be overwhelming maintaining multiple social media accounts, especially if you’re unsure what you should be posting and how you should be engaging your community. Here are our tips for maintaining a social media presence for your church.

Post Consistently and With Variety

Posting consistently does not mean posting every single day, but rather making sure that your community is hearing from you on a steady basis. Aim to post two or three times a week on each platform your church is on.

Also, make sure posts vary in content type. Posting the same basic content a few times a week is not going to engage your community, but being intentional about the types of content you share and mixing it up will encourage people to stay tuned.

One way you can make sure this stays consistent is by creating a social media policy that outlines how frequently to post, how to engage with comments and messages and what post types to use on which platforms.

Engage with Your Community

Social media can go two ways: it’s not only a matter of sharing content for your community to consume but also engaging with them in meaningful ways when they comment or send messages on these platforms. Don’t think about social media as addressing an audience but rather facilitating a community. Social media is another tool by which you can fulfill the church’s goal of building community.

Another way to engage with your community is to tag the pages of community partners and organizations. This not only lets them know you’re active on social media but is a great way to expand your reach by gaining the attention of their audiences, who could become prospective members of your church.

Hashtags are another way to engage a wider community online; be sure to add relevant hashtags so that when people search for topics you’re posting about, they find your content.

Be Mindful of Platforms’ Strengths

Not every post you create needs to go on every platform that your church is on. You may have Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, but just because something makes sense to share on Instagram doesn’t mean it has to go on TikTok as well. Facebook and Instagram are great for photos and graphics, while Instagram and TikTok support shorter form videos, and YouTube is best for longer form videos such as full sermons.

Also keep in mind that certain platforms have capabilities specific to them. For example, one strength of Facebook is that you can create events for your church. Followers can mark themselves as “going” or “interested,” and then receive updates related to that event apart from the posts on your page about it.

Long-form video on YouTube

Short-form video on TikTok

Tell Visual Stories

You can only post so many inspirational bible verse graphics before people tune them out, so it’s important that churches use social media to also share real, meaningful stories from their community, supported by authentic visuals. Have an event coming up? Set up a photo booth or have a church volunteer take photos and share them to Instagram and Facebook. Have a special performance? Take videos and share them to YouTube and Reels. Show people what your vibrant church community looks like, and have that communicate who you are and what you’re about.

Share Content From Your Website

Your website can be a hub for blogs, sermons, bulletins and any other content you want to share online. This makes it easy to share that content on social media because you can link directly to your website to the appropriate page or section. Your social media pages and website should talk to one another, so also make sure links to your accounts are prominent on your church website.

The UCC Everywhere (UCCE) program is a state of the art website builder for church leaders within the UCC. For a monthly or annual subscription fee, churches, Associations and Conferences get their own site along with other digital marketing tools and support to make sure their message is reaching faith-seekers in their community via the appropriate virtual channels.