These considerations can help your church in outreach for spreading your message

If you have been ordained online and are excited about developing your Internet ministry or online church, you are probably already aware of the potential that social media pages have to get your message to a large number of people. You may not, however, be quite sure of how to proceed in developing good online relationships with larger organizations that have the potential to raise awareness of your group in a significant way. The right approach is all that it really takes to begin to develop mutually beneficial online relationships.

For instance, if your Internet ministry has a Facebook page (or the lesser used Google+), you will want to use that to aid in your goal to spread your message and grow your church. As such, you may be tempted to post a message on the walls of organizations and businesses that can help you reach out to a wider audience. Doing this without requesting permission from the owner of the page could result in the creation of hard feelings; that person may feel as if you have spammed the page and might retaliate by banning you. Social media services discourage this sort of activity by making convenient ways for page owners to report this with negative effects on the spammer. Approaching the owner with a clear message of what you may have to offer one another before posting on his page can help to prevent this type of situation from occurring. You may want to consider joining larger, like-minded groups and engaging in discussion with the members to show your sincerity before suggesting a partnership.

If you have been ordained online through an organization such as the Universal Life Church, you probably already know that the country is experiencing a significant increase in alternative spirituality and that participation in traditional religious venues is on the decline. Naturally, those who are exploring their own spiritual paths rather than following a trail blazed by others have an authentic desire to interact with other seekers, and the Internet offers an excellent opportunity for them to do so. If your social media page encourages active engagement, you will probably attract a good following. The important thing is to allow those who participate in your page the opportunity to have meaningful discussions.

Posting engaging content and encouraging discussion will increase your Internet ministry, and those who comment on, share and “like” the posts on your page will help to share your existence with others and increase your visibility. Each time one of your posts is shared, it significantly increases your audience, and people who have never seen or even heard of your page will find you because of activity by friends who are a part of your group. You are likelier to achieve this by posting varied content formats, such as pictures, videos, text, and polls. Also, the quicker a reader can grasp the gist of your post, the likelier it is to receive an action-response. The more any one individual participates on your page, the better the chances they have of not missing any content you post, as merely “liking” a page is not sufficient to receive updates for all their posts.

As in any other type of spiritual organizations, actively engaged members are necessary for the development of a strong sense of community. The Internet gives you a wonderful opportunity for increasing the platform for your online church by allowing members from all over the planet to connect with one another on their search for their individual spiritual path.