Mark 16:15 says, “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

With over 5.4 billion users worldwide, social media allows us to “go into all the world” in powerful and far-reaching ways. Churches and ministries that use social media well can create new and effective avenues for discipleship and sharing the gospel.

Why Social Media Matters for Discipleship

Discipleship in the broader sense is the process of guiding someone into a deeper, more vibrant relationship with Jesus through teaching, encouragement, and personal connection. It’s applying [Biblical] content to people’s lives in a way that leads to continual transformation.

Discipleship in children’s ministry means partnering with parents in that continual process of growing kids deeper in their relationship with Jesus. We may have more hand motions in our worship songs and glitter in our supply closets, but the goal of discipleship remains the same.

Our strategy, plans, and efforts in children’s ministry radiate from this desire to make disciples of the next generation. But if we want to stay relevant to this next generation of kids and families, then the way we deliver the message of the gospel, the tools we use to disciple, must include technology and a digital approach.

My book talks all about digital discipleship in children’s ministry in 7 different areas, but today, we’re going to focus on social media specifically.

Social media matters for discipleship because it gives us the chance to connect, encourage, and build community with families throughout the week, outside of our church buildings. You’ve all seen the stats about declining church attendance and how families only come 1.5 times a month. Social media allows us to continue that discipleship; it just shifts it from inside a building to the online space.

Just don’t forget the point: The point of social media is in the name. The point of social media is to be social. It’s all about connection. Think about it: Social media is where parents spend a lot of their time. It’s where they go for connection, encouragement, and community already. Why not leverage that for your ministry?

Reminder: It’s not about going viral or self-promotion. It’s about meeting parents and families where they are. If you have a highly engaged audience, your reach will grow naturally, but that’s not the goal. Connection and digital discipleship is.

Think of social media as an extension of your ministry.

Every post should do one of these 3 things: connect, encourage, or build community – ask yourself – which category or bucket does this fall into? – and if it does all 3? SCORE!

1. Connect: builds trust, clarity, and understanding

Remember that your audience on social media is the parents in your ministry, not the kids. This should change what you post about. Choose 1-2 platforms to start with and focus on those. How to choose? Be where your people are, and ask them if you aren’t sure. A simple “What’s the social media app you use most?” question can reveal a lot and give you guidance on what platform to focus your energy.

Respond to messages, reply to comments, and more. Use Instagram Stories or Facebook polls to ask fun, thought-provoking questions related to Bible stories or upcoming events. Encourage families to share their own photos and stories related to your ministry’s activities, then repost this content on your account, giving credit to the original posters.

Hooks: The first few seconds someone sees your post matter. One way to connect quickly and encourage engagement is by using hooks. There are several types of hooks to use when thinking about posting, and if you can “stack” them to use multiple at a time, even better! Types of hooks include:

• Visual hooks – What someone sees in the first 2 seconds or right away in your image; for a video you want movement or something interesting/different that grabs their attention.
• Text hooks – The text on the screen that piques their interest to want to find out more, usually a question, important statement, etc. (Check out a list of 50+ text hooks for kidmin here!) 
• Audio hook (less important but still valuable) – What do they hear? Even for carousel posts, adding music can increase its reach, and if you can time text or movement to the audio you use, that helps increase engagement too.
• Caption with a call-to-action – In the caption, share what action you want people to take as a result of seeing your post. In ministry, this call to action might be “say this prayer with your kids” or “share this to encourage another parent today,” or “comment with your answer,” etc. 

The visual hook makes people stop scrolling, the text hook gets them to read more in the caption, then the caption gives them the call to action. 

Use real-life pictures and videos whenever possible. Making appealing graphics and using the graphics provided in your curriculum are great and can save time, but people really want to see authentic representations of your ministry. So as much as possible, share real-life pictures and videos on your ministry social media accounts. Consider sharing behind-the-scenes photos and videos from events, special activities, or Sunday mornings. This gives followers a glimpse into the vibrant life of your ministry. And since Millennial parents place a high value on authenticity, posting real pictures will go far with them. (Find 4 other ways to effectively partner with Millennial parents here.)

Post ideas:

• Behind-the-scenes prep photo
• Volunteer of the week spotlight – Personal shout-outs to volunteers/families
• “Meet our team” post with fun facts
• Share a favorite staff devotional
• Ministry bloopers (keep it fun and real!)
• Countdown to your next event
• Staff or volunteer birthday shout-out
• Thank-you post after an event
• Throwback photo from a past event
• Share community outreach moments

2. Encourage: affirms, reassures, lifts pressure, equips, speaks to felt needs

Parenting is hard work, and many parents find encouragement online. Leverage social media to be one of those encouraging voices for the parents in your ministry. Use social media to speak to the felt needs of parents. This might look like quotes, Bible verses, practical, simple things they can do at home to have faith conversations with their kids, etc. Ultimately, let your social media serve their purpose, not just yours. There’s one mistake I often see ministry leaders make when it comes to their ministry social media accounts: They use social media as a digital bulletin board. If your social media accounts are just posts of reminders or upcoming events, you are missing out on a great opportunity to connect with your people. Instead of using your social media as an announcement monologue, change your posting approach to foster conversation and engagement instead. Use the 80/20 rule – let 80% of what you post be about your people, not you, so about things that serve, inspire, engage, encourage, or equip your parents and families, rather than asking them to attend something or go somewhere. Then 20% of your posts can be service times, event invites, and other reminders. 

Post ideas:

• Prayers for parents and for parents to pray over their kids 
• Simply remind parents they’re doing a good job with an encouraging quote (even if it’s “Hey parents, you’re doing a great job, and we’re cheering for you.”
• Quick devotionals or verse of the week (your curriculum probably already has this!)
• Prayer prompts or “how can we pray for you?” stories
• Add a question sticker each Tuesday to your stories that invites parents to share prayer requests, then respond to those messages
• Encouraging quote from a sermon or lesson
• Parenting tip of the week
• Celebrate small wins (“3 new families visited this month!”)
• Share a testimony (written or video)
• Highlight a worship song of the week they can listen to at home
• Reminder: “God sees you. You are not alone.”

3. Build Community: invites shared mission, values, and belonging

Invite families to interact and participate, not just observe. Social media should feel human, relatable, and fun. It is okay to show personality and joy. Use your Ministry Graphics Standards Guide (here’s an example) to determine your tone and lean into it! Use polls, questions, this-or-that posts, and comment prompts. Share user-generated content when possible, with permission. Highlight events afterward with photo dumps, thank-yous, and stories. Create a social media team of parents or volunteers whose role is to interact with posts through commenting, sharing, liking, saving, and more. This is not about chasing metrics. It is about connecting people to each other and to Jesus.

Post ideas:

• Fun polls (“Do you decorate early for Christmas? 🎄 Yes or No?”)
• “Caption this!” funny photo from Sunday
• Invite families to share how they do family devotion time
• Share a question box (“Ask us anything about kids’ ministry!”)
• Invite followers to tag a volunteer they appreciate
• Post a ministry-specific hashtag challenge (#FamilyFaithFriday)
• Create a photo scavenger hunt for an event (post and tag!)
• Share kids’ drawings or crafts (with permission)
• Favorite family dinner recipes — ask followers to comment theirs
• Invite followers to post a photo using your event hashtag

SIMPLIFY IT

Lean into short, B-roll content. B-roll is short, supplemental video footage (like scenery, close-ups, or action shots) used to add visual interest and context. You don’t have to have a 2-minute or even 1-minute video of you talking for every reel. Use short clips of 3-7 seconds from a Sunday morning and add quotes, information, Bible verses, reminders, etc. as text over the b-roll. This works for carousel posts too! Choose one picture. Add a text box over the picture. Change the text on each graphic in the carousel series. This is great for lists, continuing sentences, etc., like 3 prayers to pray over your kids today, 2 questions to ask your kids in the car on the way to school, 4 verses kids 5 and under can memorize, etc. Use this Sunday morning checklist of b-roll footage to capture. Hand this list to a high school volunteer and let them shine!

Let go of perfection. You don’t have to look or be perfect on camera or with every post. Take the video of yourself even on days when you’re not wearing make up. Don’t clean your whole office just so it looks “nice” – use the mess! If you’re making a talking reel and have to film one sentence at a time, that’s OK! That’s what editing is for. The main things to focus on with videos or pictures: lighting and audio. Stand in good lighting and make sure you can be heard clearly. Everything else? Not as important.

You don’t need fancy gadgets or gear. All you really need is your phone and some decent lighting (like near a window). Just make sure there are no bright lights behind you (keep the light source in front of you whenever you can). The only thing I’d really recommend having is a stand (just so you don’t waste a ton of time leaning your phone against random things). This is the stand I use, and I love it! As far as video editing, I do all my editing in the Instagram Edits app or the native Instagram app itself. Here’s a quick video tutorial of how to set up your reel in the native Instagram app.

Share content from other trusted accounts. Don’t feel like you have to create all the content on your own. Follow other kidmin leaders and their ministry accounts for ideas and content. Find a few accounts who are working to support and encourage parents and kids in their faith, and share them to your stories or repost them (just be sure to credit and tag the original poster). Some of my favorite accounts to follow include @gominno @parentcue @childdiscipleship @parentingforfaithbrf @familyfaithbuilders @littleshootsdeeproots @crossformedkids @renewanation and so many more. Find the ones that fit best within your context and share! I’ve also had lots of fun with remixing different reels and making them relevant to children’s ministry, so if you stumble upon a post or a reel that makes you laugh, ask why, then remix it and tie it into something relevant for your church. This not only helps you share content people will engage with, but it helps your families connect with new resources too! Don’t forget to follow @deeperkidmin on Instagram, and be sure to check out our “Min Reel Ideas” Highlight for a library of ideas. 

SCHEDULE IT

Schedule it, both in your calendar and scheduling posts. Batch content (make and schedule multiple posts in one sitting) to take social media off your plate. You could match and schedule content 1 week, 2 weeks, or even a whole month at a time. Set aside time in your calendar, even just an hour, to focus on posting on social media. Batch your filming too! If you’re intentional even just one Sunday morning a month, you can capture b-roll footage that you’ll use all month long, without having to constantly be filming.

SYSTEMIZE IT

Post consistently. You don’t have to post every single day, but aim to post at a rate you can sustain long-term. This requires a plan. Use something like this kidmin social media planner that helps you stay consistent. Develop a content calendar or rhythm for posting, and make it easier by creating certain themes or series, like “Memory Verse Monday” or “Testimony Tuesday.” When you have a plan in place, it helps you not feel like you’re starting from scratch every time. 

Reuse, repurpose, and remix. Don’t be afraid to re-use or recycle posts that did well; copy that formula or template and repeat. (You can even use our free Reel Recipe template to help!) Take the time to set up Canva templates that you just change the text each week or swap out pictures so you’re not trying to reinvent the wheel every time. These templates don’t have to be complicated or flashy. Pick a color from your logo and put text on top. Choose a picture from Sunday morning and put a text block over it; repeat until you have a carousel post. Take a parent resource you want to highlight and turn it into a series of social media posts. That email newsletter you send each week? That can be a weekly post too!

Give your social media intentional attention for 6 months and track metrics. If you’re still not getting the reach or engagement you want, YOU get to decide if it’s worth your time investment or the investment of someone on your team. Use your analytics (insights) to see what content resonates and use that content as a template to re-create similar posts. When it comes down to it, maybe you leave the social media to another staff member, but if you do, how can you have intentional conversations with that staff member and work together to make sure the children’s ministry is consistently represented and parents are reached via the church’s main social media? 

Free Resources included in the breakout:

• Reel Recipe Template
• Weekly social media planner 
• Posting calendar sample + template
• KidMin B-roll reel ideas 
• Ministry Graphics Standards Guide (Click Here to access the guide as a Canva Template to start creating your own! Note: Free Canva account required.
• Text Hooks
• Quick video tutorial on creating a reel in Instagram