Last time we did a quick little review of Periscope, the newer live video social media app.
Well, that was a mouthful.
Anyway, I wanted to go beyond a simple app review and give you some recommendations and suggestions as to how to utilize this new tool in your church or ministry.
1. Give a Tour
You may be a church plant meeting in a dance studio like me or have a building on a historical site, in any case, a tour is a great way to introduce your campus to your followers. Give a walk-through of daily operations at ________ church. It’s a great way to show prospective attenders around and introduce your staff to the world! It’s important to show your building is more than a building. It’s a ministry hub with hundreds of moving parts and souls making sure everything runs as smooth as the Spirit allows.
2. Hold an Interview
This is simply a great avenue to hold “Meet the Pastors” or “Meet the Children’s Ministry” type events. Watchers can send in their own questions that they might have for whoever is being introduced and it can become very interactive. Plus, you may even get some awesome and unique ideas out of the deal!
3. Do a Q&A Session
This could be on a specific topic, like last week’s sermon, or membership questions, or just a general time for questions and answers. People LOVE asking questions on Periscope. Use that to your advantage.
4. Mini Content Sessions
A pastor or leader could easily take 5 or 10 minutes out of his/her day to share some content with your followers. Many teachers don’t use all of their research in a given sermon. Periscope would be a great way to send some additional content out in a quick and informal way.
What about you?
What are some creative ways you could use Periscope at your church/ministry?
We’d love to hear in the comments below or on our social media sites!
Eric Dye says
Awesome tips, Jesse!
Jesse says
Thank you sir!
Harry Walls IV says
I like these ideas. I’ve been thinking about possible uses with my creative team over the past month or so. These are good ones, especially the interview one. That one makes a lot of sense. One of the things we thought about was a ‘day in the life’ sort of thing in the office. I know that in our church not everyone knows all the people that work behind the scenes day in and day out. Thanks for your suggestions!
Jesse says
No problem! Glad I could help!
Brian Harris says
Great article!
I’d add that personal use versus ministry use has two different purposes. You can get away with a lot more on your personal account than you can from your ministries account. There needs to be an expectation for better and more focused content from the ministry account.
I’ve been using Periscope for all four areas you mentioned for our state convention. Our main goal has been highlighting different ministries and opportunities for Alabama Baptists to connect with us. I even did a tour of the church where our annual convention will be in November in a recent broadcast. We’ve done a lot on church planting since that’s a big emphasis for us too with Q&A’s, interviews and delivering content. If I’m on the road, I make a point to promote that we will do a Periscope session from that location about whatever I’m there to meet about.
It’s still a new and growing audience, but from my experience it tends to be our core audience. For us, we are trying to connect with pastors…it’s worked well for that.
I’m really excited about the new things that they just added in recently too…sharing to Facebook and horizontal view option that is now available.
Jesse says
Yes! I was excited to see that update pushed through as well. I’m glad to see these methods used and effective! We’re a church plant, so I appreciate your work there as well.
Bill Cox says
Periscope sounds perfect for the busy Pastor. Thank you…
Jesse says
YES. it most definitely is! We at my church are always on the go so its perfect for quick snippets of content.
Carl says
One can stream various aspects of certain programs, outings, trips–like service projects, camps. You can educate while informing about what and why your church does what it does.
One can host an interactive time in prayer–taking prayer requests and praying for them on the spot, while facilitating others praying for those requests as well.
Jesse says
Great uses! Yes!
John Grigsby says
I am still trying to figure out Periscope. How do I find archived content. You said you were not going to review the app – but that is what I need.
I think it is a great concept, but I just have not mastered the app yet ….
Jesse says
I actually did do a little review found herehttps://churchm.ag/periscope/
Archived content is difficult to find. You go to your profile, and tap broadcasts.