Why Personal Invites still matter

I’m an Online Pastor who loves to use social media and other digital tools to reach more people for Christ. I am also the Admin of a Facebook Group called Digital Bootcamp where we help any and all ministers learn digital tools better so they can reach more people for Christ in their ministry. So what I am about to say next may surprise you but I firmly believe it.

I know that with any social media has the opportunity to go viral and reach so many people. Social media is an amazing tool and should be used. However, if you rely solely on social media and not on personal invites, you are missing some real opportuneness as person invites still very effective. Here is why they are so effective:

• They are personal. I know that sounds odd but personal invites are exactly what they are meant to be…personal. They are invitations from 1 person to another “in person” or over the phone where there is a personal interaction going on. With social media you are just sharing the post and depending on the algorithm of the social media network, it may or may not ever get seen by your fiends.
• They are harder to turn down. With the lack of personal interact going on when you share a social media post, it is easy for someone to just simply look at your image and then say, “that is cool” and do nothing with it. But with a personal invite, the invitee has to make a decision and say, “yes” or “no” to what you are inviting them to. Saying “no” to a valued friend is always harder to do, no matter how much they may or may not like Church.
• They help the person asking take a step of faith. This is a great step of faith for the person asking. They put a lot on the line when they personally invite a friend, neighbor, family member or co-worker to Church. Nothing against posting an image or post from your Church, but it doesn’t take a huge step of faith like walking up to someone or calling someone personally inviting them to Church or a Church. It’s much more personal
• They are FREE. Yes I know when you post on your personal social media accounts, it is free. But, if you want to get a lot of reach on Facebook, you have pay. A personal invite is complete free. So you are saving money. 😀

Now again, I’m all for social media and using online tools to reach more people for Christ. The amount of reach (espeicaly paid reach) you can have on social media is enormous. So we have to utilize social media as best we can. However, we shouldn’t lose sight of a very effective, time-tested tool…the personal invite. They are more personal, harder to turn down, encourage the person asking to take a step of faith and they are free. These are all great reason that you should use social media AND personal invites to help grow  your Church.

What do you think? Are personal invites more effective than social media posts? Share your thoughts below or social media using #ymsidekick when you post.