By Jonathan Howe
As I write this article, a potentially disruptive snowstorm is headed toward the southeast United States. Unlike some parts of the country, the South does not handle winter weather well.
At all.
We panic. We cancel everything, and then load up Instagram and Facebook with snow pictures.
However, there are times when (and places where) life must go on regardless of the weather—winter or not. This is yet another reason why social media can be such an incredible tool for churches—when weather threatens, social media can help your church respond. Here are five guidelines for using social media to keep your members informed during severe weather:
- Post graphics keeping your congregation informed. Cancelling service? Still having service? Post a graphic you have already created to your social media accounts. Text the image to your staff and have them share it as well. Images stand out more than a simple text update. So use images to communicate important information related to service cancellations due to weather.
- Answer questions that come in promptly. Whoever monitors and manages your social media accounts should be one of the first people you call when a decision is made about cancelling or keeping your service schedule when weather threatens. Have a planned statement to provide to anyone asking about the status of your services. Also, send this statement to any media outlets who may be aggregating closures.
- Understand that not everyone will agree with the decision. If you cancel services, someone will complain. If you don’t cancel, someone will complain. Just know there will be complaints regardless of the decision. These complaints may come over social media, so have a courteous response ready.
- Consider providing online video feeds of the service or sermon. When a service is cancelled, the pastor basically has two options: save the sermon for the next week, or preach it online via Facebook Live or Periscope. If the service goes on as planned and you don’t already have a live streaming option, consider providing one for those who may not be able to make it to the service. By making this available to those who follow you, your complaints from the point above are likely to lessen.
- Update the church calendar for other events that may be scheduled. Sometimes, we can get caught up thinking only about Sunday morning services that we forget other events are scheduled. Have someone designated as a point person to communicate with other ministry leaders who may be affected by weather-related decisions. Their personal social media accounts can be used to get the word out about any updates that are necessary.
Is your church routinely affected by winter weather? Do you use any specific tools to communicate closures? Is social media a major part of your communications plan?
These are great thoughts.
Additionally, it might be helpful for a church to create a “standing policy.” I know churches who say “If Walmart is open, the church is open.”
Sometimes, solving problems before their apparent can take some of the pressure off.
That’s a good thought as well. Businesses like daycares have those where they follow the schools. If schools close for snow, so do they.
In rural areas, churches sometimes do better by closing so that the elderly don’t attempt to drive and don’t risk falling in the parking lot.
It is not hard to podcast/webcast a sermon these days and pull in a hymn or two.
Parking lots can often be more dangerous than the roads people drive to get to the church.
I’m in a rural church in west Missouri. I live four blocks from the church and there are very few instances where we won’t have church. I’ve used social media at times to communicate to members of other churches who may have cancelled their services that we would be happy to have them worship with us.
We use one call now to keep our people up to speed. Primarily a prayer chain tool but works equally well for changes to schedule and important announcements.
I will also echo that our rule was if school is cancelled so are we.
Our church has subscribed to a phone service called “One Call”. We make a decision about closing or delaying and we make just a phone call to “One Call”, which automatically calls all our parishioners. We also use Facebook, but many of our parishioners are not regularly on Facebook, so “One Call” works better for us and it is affordable. Hope this information helps y’all down South!
Phone systems are good to have, as are text systems.
Living in Northern Wisconsin, we just remind people: if you don’t feel safe, then stay at home. If the weather is a factor, we may dial back our expectation for the number of people who can come. But if you cancel, you need to contact every person who might even think about attending – and since this is almost impossible (because everyone does not use social media), we find it easier just to tell people to use their discretion. We don’t cancel or delay school for 8 inches of snow and 40 degrees below zero – weather is just a fact of life up north.
I must have cancellation on the TV station by 7 am on Sunday. We also post it on our website and fb page.
On Wednesdays, we go by the schools. If they have cancelled, so do we. Again, we still post it on our website and fb page.
Our policy goes into our newsletter(emailed) in Nov & Dec.
that’s good to publicize before it’s an issue
I don’t see how “If School is cancelled, we’re cancelled” helps at all. I don’t know of many schools that are open on Sunday!! It is always best to think safety first. If there is ice on roads, sidewalks, etc., it is best to evaluate the situation closely, no matter what the schools/businesses are doing! It only takes one auto accident or Senior Adult fall due to weather issues to make for a terrible situation!! Safety first!
We use any form of communication available to notify our members…Facebook, Instagram, twitter, etc…but don’t forget that putting a message on your Church phone can also be a big help for those who don’t “do” the internet!
Another great post. However what about the loss of offering on weather impacted weekends? How do you make that up? I advise as a part of having a set plan for weather related issues to have a plan to make up the offering. Social media can be a huge help in this as well as email blasts and even direct mail. In fact use every approach possible. You first need a good online giving platform. Churches tend to think of everything BUT how to replace a lost offering when weather strikes. Have a plan and work your plan and you will not get behind on giving!
Mobile or online/text giving for those that can use it.
We also generally follow the school district’s decisions for bad weather during the week. Our Child Development Center uses that as a standing rule, but the pastor usually makes a decision for the church office staff because often times the schools make the decision the night before, then the weather doesn’t get as bad as forecasted. We have been using social media and our website for changes to services and events, and have recently encouraged people to sign up for our “class” through the REMIND service.
We use a simple standing policy. If the police declare travel restrictions we abide by them and cancel. Otherwise we have church for those who come and encourage discretion. Our lots and walks are high priority.
Excellent post. Technology has opened many options. During my time as chairman of the board, making the close/open decision was the hardest part of holding that office. I’m not sure what that says about how we ran things.
We adjusted our Sunday worship yesterday due to snow and early morning -0 wind chills. Our week-day practice for activity cancellation goes with the county school system. No school-no church activities. If there is a needed change for Sunday, as was this past weekend, it’s announced as early as possible. With the Saturday snowfall the decision was made by noon to cancel all four morning services at our two campuses and have a combined service at 2:00 p.m. with a nearly full house. This announcement was made by prayer chain, emails, a change in the church answering machine message and Facebook. We began reminding our congregation three weeks ago how the cancellation process would work and how they would know.
We have live streamed the service on our webpage and Facebook Live.