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According to Pew Research, 85% of all adults in the United States use YouTube, with over 90% of adults under the age of 50 using it. Above Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or anything else, YouTube is the most used social media platform across all demographics.
If you are not on YouTube as a tool, you’re missing an easy way to reach a large number of people. YouTube is an incredibly versatile platform that can help your church reach new people, share the good news, and connect with both current church members and potential visitors. Even if you’re new to YouTube, it’s one of the best ways to expand your church’s online presence and share your message with a larger audience.
If you aren’t on YouTube yet or if you’re looking for inspiration on how to improve how you use the platform, read on. If you’re feeling intimidated by trying to create video content, know that you probably are already partway there and don’t even know it!
How Is YouTube An Incredible Tool For The Local Church?
Social media in general is a great way to reach beyond your physical location. The internet doesn’t have the same barriers that your physical building does, so it’s easier to build a community with a shared desire to grow in Christ.
We live in a culture that consumes content at an incredibly fast rate. Videos are one of the biggest forms of consumption, which is part of why YouTube is the social media “king.”
Churches can leverage this “king” to share a variety of videos, from sermons to Bible studies to worship sessions to devotionals and beyond. The algorithms that drive YouTube and other social media platforms want their users to see content that’s relevant to them, so you can rest assured that as you make more videos, the algorithm will learn what your content is and get it in front of the people who want to see it. Some of these people may be geographically close to you while others are going to be spread across the country and around the world. This makes YouTube an incredible tool for your local church to have both a local and global impact.
Why Should Your Small Church Engage With The YouTube Audience?
On YouTube, you’ll find that there are no “dumb questions.” Things that people feel silly searching for are the same things content creators have made into a video to give an explanation about.
People are searching for answers about God. They want to find hope. They want to know more about this Jesus that they may or may not have heard about. As I said before, video content is a largely consumed type of content, so if you create a YouTube channel for your small church and start posting church videos that provide hope, answer questions about spirituality and faith, and share the love of Jesus, you will reach new people.
Your YouTube channel can (and should) be a reflection of your in-person community, so as people connect online, especially those who are local, can know that they have a place where they can safely connect in person and more completely experience the hope that comes from a community centered on Jesus. An added benefit of creating videos for YouTube is that it is incredibly easy to share YouTube videos on your church website and other social media platforms. Even on Facebook or Instagram, video content tends to perform better than static text or images, so if you’re making YouTube a part of your social media presence, it makes it easier to maintain and grow your other platforms.
8 Ways To Start Effectively Using Youtube As A Tool
1. Live Stream Church Services
We’ve talked before about why you should be live streaming your services (you can find that blog post here). For both your long-time church members who aren’t able to be in church on Sunday morning and for potential visitors, live streaming your services allows people to be a part of your church service as it’s happening, even if they can’t be there in person (or aren’t ready to be there). When you live stream your service, you allow members who are homebound (either permanently or temporarily) and members who are traveling to be part of your service.
If you are already live streaming your service but aren’t using YouTube, I highly suggest seeing if it’s possible to make the switch or stream simultaneously to both Facebook and YouTube if you’re tech-savvy enough and have the budget to do so (since a dual live stream usually requires a paid service – only live streaming to YouTube is free). Facebook tends to block and restrict distribution of church services because of their copyright settings while YouTube tends to allow it but prevent monetizing the video (which it’s unlikely you’re trying to do anyway).
A Note About Copyright
If you’re going to livestream your service, make sure you have the correct licensing to do so. A basic CCLI license is not enough – you will need to add either the CCLI Streaming License if you perform all your own music or the CCLI Streaming Plus License if you use backing tracks or sing to a soundtrack. While the chances of actually getting caught with incorrect licensing are small, they aren’t zero and the cost of paying copyright infringement laws far outweighs the cost of paying for the license each year.
Back Into Live Streaming Your Service
If you are going to live stream your service, you can spread the word beyond YouTube. You can have a page on your church website with the live stream video embedded so that people who are uncertain of what your channel name is or how to find you on YouTube can connect through your site.
You can also share that livestream link on Sunday morning to your Facebook page. This is especially helpful if you have been live streaming from Facebook and made the switch to YouTube so that those who had traditionally gone to your Facebook Page to get to your live stream are still able to find it.
You can also share when you go live each Sunday (we like to go live about 5 minutes before the service starts and run some preservice slides that have relevant announcements) so that people know when they should tune in.
2. Upload Sunday Sermon Videos
If you don’t have reliable internet or the manpower to live stream your videos (or there’s another roadblock to live streaming), I highly encourage you to still find a way to record the Sunday sermon and upload it to YouTube later. Your sermon video is one of the best types of content that you can create because the pastor was going to be giving a sermon whether it was recorded or not, so it’s minimal extra effort to distribute that sermon virtually.
Sharing your pastor’s sermon is probably the best way to give people a glimpse into your church’s message and ministry. It’s a valuable way for those who missed the Sunday service to stay in the loop, especially if your pastor is preaching through a series.
An even bigger benefit of recording and uploading your Sunday sermon is that you can use pieces of that to create YouTube shorts (which also work for Facebook/Instagram reels and TikTok clips). We’ll get more into the wonderful world of short videos later.
While the virtual world is great, it would be great to have those people consuming content online, join you in person (if possible – again, you’re going to have a broader reach than just your local town). At the end of the video of your sermon or service, it’s a great idea to include a slide or video clip that invites people to join you in person!
This can be an image that you tag onto the end of each video, or you can take time to record a little video message each time. Either way, it provides people with a practical “next step” and helps remind watchers that while joining the service online is good, it’s better whenever possible to join in person since the virtual world lacks the human connection.
3. Create Short Devotional Or Bible Study Videos
Not everyone has time to watch a full sermon (though that’s something that’s easier on YouTube since viewers can speed up a video and watch it as fast as double time). Creating short devotional or Bible study videos that focus on a specific passage can be very impactful for a number of reasons.
Shorter videos can be easier to watch if time is short. Shorter videos are also easier to record because they don’t take as long to record or upload. YouTube’s algorithm has a tendency to promote shorter videos because they are a little easier to encourage engagement and people are more likely to share them (which makes the YouTube algorithm happy so it’ll share your video even more).
While posting consistently is always helpful, it’s not a requirement. If you want to do a devotional series that only lasts through Advent or Holy Week or some other specific time in your church calendar, that’s totally acceptable. You can try it once and see what the response is and if it’s showing a positive reception, you can keep it going. Starting with a short series is a great way to experience success while not being an extra burden on your already full plate.
4. Post Testimonies And Testimonial Videos
Testimonies and testimonials are powerful. They are one of the easiest ways to get others involved in “creating content” for your channel because it’s simply other people telling their stories.
If someone is about to be baptized or go through confirmation in your church or they’re about to become a member, approach them about the possibility of them sharing their story. They can share about the impact Jesus has had on their life and they can share about how your church has made an impact. It requires only a little preparation but can go a long way. Plus, people are far more likely to be willing to record a story than get up on stage and talk in front of people, so it’s an effective way for introverts and those with anxiety to share something they might not have otherwise.
Sharing testimonials from church members is a powerful way to demonstrate how God is working in people’s lives. These videos can encourage both current members and potential visitors, showing that your church is a welcoming community. For best results, keep testimonials personal and heartfelt, and include an invitation for viewers to join your church.
5. Start A Q&A Series
People flock to YouTube all the time to get their questions answered. You can easily jump on board that trend by creating a Q&A series on your YouTube channel. A Q&A series helps your church connect with those who are searching for answers. It helps offer encouragement when you address issues that are currently on people’s minds. It gives visitors a glimpse into your beliefs and values.
As you start, you can answer common questions about faith, God, and the church. You can answer questions that people have asked in person and then as people engage with your series, they can submit questions for you to answer. A great way to gather questions is by encouraging viewers to submit questions to your church email address or by leaving a comment. This will keep the series interactive and relevant.
6. Create A Welcome Video For New Visitors
YouTube has set up your channel page to help you interact with both subscribers and visitors. When people visit your YouTube channel, the first video that they can see is called the “Channel trailer.” This is a really great place to offer a welcome video that both thanks people for coming to your channel and invites them to join you in person. This video can be brief (something like “Hey, we’re glad you’re here! Our mission is _____ and we’re located _____! We would love to have you join us in person), or you can go more in-depth. You can introduce staff, share church services and programs, explain who you are and what you do, etc.
However much you decide to include in your welcome video, it’s a really great and important video to have in order to help visitors get an idea and feel of what they can expect from your church. It helps visitors feel more at home and comfortable with what they can expect.
7. Share Highlights From Church Events
Church happens outside of Sunday morning. There are special events. Holiday services. Youth group outings. Community outreach programs. If there is someone at these events taking pictures and/or videos, you can turn them into a little slideshow that gives a neat look into life at your church.
These videos don’t have to be long, but they can be vibrant and full of the joy and love that your church has. They can be a great way to showcase the life within your church beyond just your pastor or worship team or whoever else is on stage on Sunday morning in front of the livestream camera. They can show some beautiful insight into the fellowship and community your church has to offer. They will also likely be more readily shared because people love to see and share videos and pictures that feature them or their family and friends, so the distribution becomes wider.
Most phones can create a little video out of a selection of images and videos and put it to music for you. Even Facebook offers to create a slideshow reel when you share a stack of pictures. This means that the work to put together a slideshow is minimal yet will have a great return on investment.
8. Utilize YouTube Shorts For Quick Encouragement
I promised before that we’d get to YouTube Shorts. These are vertical videos that are one minute or less. They are perfect for delivering quick, encouraging messages, sharing a funny anecdote, or distributing a reminder. You can share a verse of the day with a super short devotional or prayer, you can invite people to Sunday services or a special event, and you can give an update on a church event.
One of the biggest ways I like to use YouTube shorts is to take brief “highlights” from the Sunday sermon that serves as a teaser to draw people into watching the full thing. As we’ve said before, short-form video content tends to be more readily consumed and shared, so it’s a great place to get your main video content (sermons) in a shorter, easy-to-digest format.
One of the things I love about YouTube shorts is that you can link them to another video. When I upload a sermon clip, I always link it to the full sermon, and in the video description, I encourage people to watch the full sermon. Even if they don’t, viewers are getting a hopeful, encouraging sound bite that they can take with them.
We’ve seen the greatest growth in our YouTube followings by uploading shorts. Before we started, our church stagnated at 16 subscribers for over a year. Within the period of a few months of uploading a couple of sermon shorts, we had well over 100 subscribers, and those viewers are coming back for more.
If you don’t have the know-how to make your own shorts out of sermons, this article is a great place to start. You can also check out the video below!
If you don’t have the time or energy to make your own video clips, the wonderful world of AI has made it significantly easier. Companies like Sermon Shots do all the work for you so all you have to do is upload!
The question when it comes to YouTube shorts isn’t if you should use them, but how can you use them well for where you’re at and what you have for time and resources. The beautiful thing about shorts especially is that you don’t have to have perfect lighting or angles – real life is both acceptable and encouraged.
Consistency And Authenticity Are Key
YouTube is a valuable and vital tool for helping to propel your church into the world of social media. You can reach both your local community and those around the world so that you can share God’s love, grow your church’s online presence, and create meaningful connections that provide the possibility of moving into the real world. Whether you’re just starting or looking to expand, remember that consistency and authenticity are key. Start with a few videos, stay engaged, and trust that your efforts will bear fruit.
Read More:
11 Effective Social Media Content Tips For Small Churches
