In the right hands, Facebook can save lives.
One Friday night in the spring, an underage student and member of a Grand Strand church posted on the social network that he was contemplating suicide. By Saturday morning, ministers and members of the First Presbyterian Church of Myrtle Beach were calling and messaging the student to make sure he was all right, said Chris Denny, an associate pastor at the church located at 1300 N. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach.
"Some of the adults that were in his life were able to follow up via Facebook and also via phone to say, 'Hey, what's going on? Are there ways we can help?'" Denny said.
Businesses were quick to start using social media like Facebook and Twitter, but many churches are just beginning to tap into social media to interact with their members and communities, said Kevin Ring, a consultant who researches how churches use social networking
Ring's company, Michigan-based Unconventional Method, surveyed about 250 church ministers and members across the U.S. and found that churches face different challenges than businesses in using social media, he said.
"Really they are limited in terms of their resources, and particularly time and money, figuring out what they can spend using these tools," he said. "Secondly, what they are trying to accomplish is not as clear cut as a businesses goals might be."
Most churches have established a foothold in social media since 2009 by starting a page or a profile, but did not have a clear goal in mind of what they were trying accomplish, Ring said. That process is just beginning.
Denny has his own Facebook profile and the church also has pages for its youth and children's ministries that are testing the waters, he said. They plan to launch a young adult page soon, he said.
"We're looking at how can we expand that communication tool," Denny said. "Long term, I even imagine it may overtake the use of a printed newsletter but I don't think we're quite there yet."
First United Methodist Church of Myrtle Beach, 901 N. Kings Highway, has about 900 active members who attend services and about 275 people are fans of their page on Facebook, associate pastor Jonathan Tompkins said. Staff update the page daily with quotes from the Bible, suggested readings, event announcements and photos. Group members can "like" something the church has put up on the page.
Tompkins had used Facebook before he became a minister and decided he would stay on once he took up a position at a church, he said. He accepts all friend requests from members of his congregation, he said.
Being in such a public position means he has to be careful when using Facebook, Tompkins said. He usually will stay out of it if people post rants on politics or other controversial subjects, he said.
"When I went into the ministry I told myself I would have a presence on Facebook, and I would be open about things," he said. "But also I can't just express every single little thought that pops in my head."
First Presbyterian's youth ministry page has about 450 fans and is a much faster way of communicating than more conventional means, said Todd Harms, director of youth and mission and First Presbyterian.
"We do various odd jobs for our church membership, and I can spend my whole afternoon texting or I could just get on Facebook and send out a message," Harms said.
He has a Twitter account as well that's linked to Facebook so the same information goes to both pages, he said.
Harms and Ring said that while most people think youth are the first to adopt social media, there may be more opportunities to interact with adults online. The largest demographic of consistent Facebook users is middle-age women, Ring said.
Many users don't think to post about their churches, so ministers and church staff should tell them what they're trying to accomplish and encourage them to start conversations on the church's pages, he said.
As use of social media continues to grow, expect to see more churches integrating social media into their websites or even establishing their own private social networks for their members, Ring said.
"Some of the sensitive issues that churches deal with can be aired online," Ring said. "Churches have both an opportunity and the obligation to not just approach the web and the social media in the same way that they see businesses and popular websites doing."
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