While some people do use Snapchat for questionable reasons, figure out a way, with safety and accountability measures in place, to use it for the good of your ministry. Young adult pastors, college pastors, youth pastors should know young adults are on Snapchat, and they’re likely using it for perfectly fine purposes.
Here are three ways your ministry can redeem Snapchat:
1. Encouragement
The verses and inspiration you post on Facebook are great, but they are largely going unseen if you’re ministering to a bunch of high school students. The kids aren’t on Facebook because that’s where their parents are. Ask for the Snapchat contacts of the students or young adults in your group, and start encouraging them there. Send Scripture. Send clips of worship songs. Write an inspiring quote on the whiteboard in your office and send it out.
2. Reminders
You’ve got a worship event on Friday night? Send a clip of a song with text superimposed over it with all the details. Taking the college students to laser tag this weekend? Get your Nerf guns, film a mini battle with a coworker and “snap” it over to the students with the time and place.
3. Story
One of the best features of Snapchat is the “My Story” function, which acts like a picture/video journal. A really cool way for your ministry to use Snapchat would be to post everything you do to your My Story so that Snapchat users can get a feel for what your ministry is like. A high school student could stumble across your ministry’s account, think it’s really cool you’re on Snapchat, see a clip of your Wednesday night service and decide to come.
Note: Use a ministry Snapchat account, not a personal account, and have your team set ground rules such as:
- Always have more than one person in the Snapchat.
- Never send Snapchats to individual students.
- Post every Snap to your SnapStory—a public “timeline” for Snapchat.
- Only post announcements for events—no personal messages.
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Chris Martin is not the lead singer of Coldplay, but he is an author development specialist at LifeWay Christian Resources and founder of MillennialEvangelical.com, where this article was first published.
