Are you using Facebook groups for women’s ministry?
Facebook groups can be a great tool to use to connect with your women online.
While not all of your women may utilize Facebook, a large number of them are already gathering in groups online.
Why not go where your women are already gathering?
Many women’s ministry teams have found closed Facebook groups to be an effective way to communicate with and support the women in their church.
Unlike Facebook pages that primarily talk to your women, Facebook groups allow you to talk with your women.
Facebook groups are interactive.
When you first set up your Facebook group, you’ll need to decide what type of group you want to use.
Facebook groups can be:
- Private (aka Closed) – Anyone can see the group and who’s in it. Only members see posts.
- Public (aka Open) – Anyone can see the group, who’s in it, and what members post.
I recommend you set up a private Facebook group. Not only will that give your group some privacy, but it will prevent unwanted comments from Facebook trolls (people who post ugly comments).
Just to be clear: A Facebook page and Facebook group are not the same. Everyone can see posts on a Facebook page. You want to set up a group, not a page.
Groups can have 1 or multiple admins and moderators (people behind the scenes who have control).
Here’s a chart that explains the difference between a moderator and an admin. You need both.
In addition to everything that group members can do, group moderators can:
- Approve or deny membership requests
- Approve or deny posts in the group
- Remove posts and comments on posts
- Remove and block people from the group
- Pin or unpin a post
I encourage you to set up group rules for your Facebook Group.
Some things to consider:
- What is the goal of your group? Put it in writing for all group members to see. Publicity? Connecting? Sharing? Recipe swapping? Selling items? All of the above?
- What is/isn’t acceptable to post? Jokes? Events at other churches? Home parities? Baby shower invites? You can set up your guidelines both in a document and pin them to the top of your group newsfeed.
- How will you deal with over-zealous group members who post frequently?
- What type of group will it be closed or public? Take into account your purpose and the privacy of your women.
- Who will serve as admins for your group?
- Who will serve as moderators for your group?
- Who will be responsible for stepping in if there is a problem?
- How will problems be handled?
Type out the rules for group members so everyone knows what is expected and allowed.
Please handle issues that come up off-line, if at all possible.
Call the person and let them know your concerns. Please do not email them – they can’t read your concerned tone.
Reprimanding anyone publicly could do a great deal of damage. Learn from my mistakes. Extend grace, love, and forgiveness whenever possible.
What could you share in your Facebook group?
- Bible verse graphics
- Inspirational quotes (consider this before posting quotes please)
- Event publicity
- Request feedback (using the polling feature)
- Short devotionals
- Memes
- Links to Biblically sound resources
- Photos of past events or teasers for an upcoming event
- Videos
- Icebreaker questions
- Blog posts
- Worship Videos
- Spotify Song Lists
- Prayer prompts
- Ministry updates
Scheduling your social media posts will help your group run smoother and ease the stress of the Social Media Coordinator or team member tasked with keeping the group engaged.
I’ve created several social media graphic kits that you can purchase to use in your Facebook group. You’ll find seasonal sets as well as general spiritual and icebreaker questions that will help stimulate conversation.
I personally use these kits for our church’s women’s ministry Facebook group. In less than 30 minutes, I am able to schedule 3-4 posts each week. There’s no need to spend HOURS creating your own graphics! Click here to check out the social media graphic kits.
I pray we’ll embrace the opportunity to point women to Christ not just when we meet together in person, but also when we gather together online.
Your turn to share: Does your ministry have a Facebook Group? How is it working for you?
You may also want to read:
How to Create Social Media Graphics
How to Create a Women’s Ministry Social Media Plan
How to Schedule Social Media Posts
Tips for Creating Live and Recorded Video
We allow prayer requests on our Women’s Group Facebook page. in the past 3 months we have had ‘prayer requests’ that have included requests for financial assistance. In the first instance there was a lot of response and the requester received quite a bit of money and then posted pictures and information about what had happened. In the second instance, there was not much of a response and the third time hardly any. Some of us did respond offline and offered what assistance we were able.
I brought this up to the leadership team and that there needs to be some type of policy on these types of prayer requests – how would you suggest they be handled?
Barbara, if you don’t already have a description for your Facebook group and group guidelines, I would suggest putting those in place as soon as possible. Financial requests should fall outside of the purpose of your group and I would suggest moving forward that any and all requests be forward to the appropriate person or committee at your church. Most churches have a process in place for handling financial needs. I hope that helps!
Hi Cyndee
Your website and rethinking book are such a rich source of encouragement. Thankyou
Please point me to some places to get photos like the ones you feature of women, clear pics , uncluttered
Thanks.
Christine
Christine, thank you! <3 I purchase credits for Depositphotos and use those for most of my graphics. However, Canva has recently added a graphics library to their paid plan and there are some great options there too!
Cyndee, This is a helpful article. I do most of the things you recommend on your posting ideas list. What I never thought about was asking some women to do a devotional.
This article was also affirming because I see that I do most of the posting ideas. It is good to see that I am on the right track.
Our group is a closed group and that has made the ladies feel more comfortable about sharing their concerns and photos.
Susan, I’m so glad you found this article helpful! 🙂 Thank you for your comments.
Your page has been a divine saver for me.
I’ve learnt so much.
Just about to create our group and this is beyond helpful.
Thank you
Thank you! <3