Guide to LinkedIn for Churches and Pastors

Using LinkedIn for churches is a strategic way to build a professional network, attract staff members, share your mission, and engage with the community to extend your reach.

Pastors can also use LinkedIn to expand their influence, network, share their perspectives as thought leaders, and find helpful resources for their ministry.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what LinkedIn is, why it’s beneficial, and how churches and pastors can use it to connect with others, expand their networks, and grow the Church.

5 Benefits of LinkedIn for Churches

According to their website, LinkedIn has over 1 billion members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Many of these members are using the space to connect with organizations they admire, share their personal achievements, and keep up with community news. 

By repurposing content from other platforms and making use of website copy and sermon notes you already have on hand, you can establish your church on the LinkedIn platform and reach even more people with the message of the gospel. 

Here are a few reasons why I'm a huge advocate for churches leveraging the power of LinkedIn, as well as a few tips for making your LinkedIn presence count.

1. Take Advantage of Organic Reach

Compared to Instagram, LinkedIn’s algorithms currently offer a much higher chance for your content to be seen organically (without relying on paid promotions). In fact, 77% of marketers say that LinkedIn produces the best organic results compared to other social media platforms. 

When your church shares a story or an update on LinkedIn, it stands a genuine chance of connecting with both your immediate audience and their extended network. 

While I don’t recommend replacing your other social media platforms with LinkedIn (Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube still take the cake when it comes to church social media content), repurposing your content for LinkedIn will help you reach a wider audience without being roadblocked by sticky algorithms. 

2. Engage With Your Community 

LinkedIn is an excellent space to both engage with your community and showcase the outreach programs and community events you sponsor. There are a couple of ways you can do this:

• Recruit volunteers: First, advertise for your ministries and events on the platform to recruit volunteers and invite participation from people who may benefit. 
• Share your impact: Next, make sure to post pictures, testimonies, and statistics on your platform to show people how your church is impacting its community. 

LinkedIn is centered around this kind of promotional content, so don’t be afraid to highlight wins. Just remember that we are bragging about Jesus’ work, not ours. Your tone and attitude should reflect humility, but you should boldly share what God is doing through your church! 

3. Share Meaningful Content and Start Discussions

Because LinkedIn’s platform is built around discussions, articles, and thought leadership, churches that make use of LinkedIn can position themselves as key contributors to community dialogues. 

Sharing articles on topics of faith, community outreach, or even social issues can foster meaningful discussions and establish the Church's important role in larger community conversations. 

4. Recruit Volunteers and Highlight Work Culture

LinkedIn can connect you with individuals who are skilled and passionate. It’s also the perfect place to highlight your church’s positive work culture. According to a landmark Glassdoor survey, 77% of adults consider a company’s culture before applying for a job there, and over half of the respondents indicated that company culture is more important than salary when it comes to job satisfaction. 

Do you have a loving, positive work culture at your church? Amazing! Highlight it on your LinkedIn profile by sharing funny videos of your workplace and showcasing positive reviews from your staff. 

5. Collaborate With Other Churches and Organizations

Do you have a heart for unity in the Body of Christ? Do you love to collaborate with other churches, nonprofits, and leaders in your community to bless people and make a difference? 

The platform's messaging and networking features make it really easy to initiate conversations with fellow church leaders, creating opportunities for mentorship, mutual encouragement, and collective brainstorming. This makes LinkedIn a great place to stay connected with other churches and link up on projects and initiatives.

Tips for Churches Using LinkedIn

Now that you understand the “why” of using LinkedIn for your church, here are a few helpful tips to make your content efficient and effective. 

1. Repurpose Content

If nothing else, I highly recommend you recycle the content you’ve created for Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook for your LinkedIn profile. This takes almost no time at all, and it’s clearly more effective to have some content than no content. 

Rewrite the captions to sound slightly more professional, or create longer articles based on a thought-provoking quote graphic. Just because a piece of content was used on another platform doesn't mean it won't resonate with the LinkedIn audience, as well.

2. Understand the LinkedIn Audience

‍Unlike more casual platforms such as Instagram or TikTok, LinkedIn is tailored toward professional and constructive discussions. This doesn't mean it needs to be stiff and impersonal. Instead, it's a space where users seek out more meaningful, thought-provoking content rather than humor or trends. 

Aim to post content that educates, inspires, or prompts reflection. As previously mentioned, posts about community engagement, testimonies, and sermon reflections will do great on this platform. 

3. Have Staff and Pastors Share

LinkedIn thrives on personal insights and professional experiences, so this is an excellent platform for you to utilize staff content. Encourage your staff members and pastors to share their perspectives on their personal profiles and tag your church in the process. 

This will ensure their words show up on your page. Whether it's a pastor discussing a recent sermon series or a staff member sharing a behind-the-scenes look at a church event, these firsthand accounts can foster deep connections and give followers more context for your church. 

4. Post Jobs (And Monitor Applications)

Using LinkedIn as a recruitment tool can be highly effective. Not only does it reach a wide audience of potential candidates, but it also allows you to tap into networks of professionals who might not have considered a role within the church. Importantly, posting is just the first step. Make sure that you actively monitor applications to ensure that people feel seen and valued when they apply to work at your church. 

5. Share the Gospel

‍While LinkedIn is a professional networking site, it's also a platform with a diverse audience seeking growth and knowledge in various forms. Thoughtful articles, testimonies, or even simple messages about the gospel can reach people who might not otherwise engage with spiritual content. At the end of the day, sharing the gospel is what any type of digital church engagement is about.

Pastors: Here’s Why and How to Use LinkedIn

Pastors can also use LinkedIn to connect one on one with like-minded pastors, organizational consultants, and other ministry leaders.

“LinkedIn gives you the ability to expand your network in a mutually beneficial way,” says John Prickett, a leadership expert and former executive pastor at Antioch Waltham Community Church. “It alerts you to connections you already have within your network, for example, two degrees away.”

Prickett continues, “You can engage with an actual person far more easily because of LinkedIn when job hunting than you would otherwise in a conventional application process.”

Using LinkedIn, pastors can also learn what people are talking about outside of the church and outside of mainstream media.

LinkedIn is also a great start to establishing credibility online. More than writing a blog or even creating a social media account on Instagram or TikTok, LinkedIn shows work history, personal recommendations from others, and mutual connections. 

Ideas for LinkedIn Posts for Pastors

LinkedIn has become increasingly popular as a platform for sharing personal insights and thoughts on work-life balance. It’s also become a tool for celebrating successes–large and small–in the workplace. 

Here’s how pastors can post on LinkedIn:

• Get personal. The lines between work and personal life are blurring; for pastors, there has always been plenty of crossover. Post photos of meeting up with mentees, studying Scripture in preparation for a sermon, or a fun photo from a staff meeting. 
• Engage in conversation. Comment on posts that discuss relevant cultural or work-related topics. Share insights, tag friends, and re-post. 
• Be relevant. LinkedIn is not a social media platform, per se. It’s not a place to advance a personal message, unless it’s related to work culture. Pastors can be Christ-centered without directly preaching on LinkedIn. 
• Learn. Adopting a growth mindset is the most helpful approach to engaging on LinkedIn. Log onto the platform with an attitude of humility and thoughtfulness, and seek to learn from those who are different.
• Get creative. Use video and photos, and don’t be afraid to write “mini blogs” on LinkedIn. Longer posts perform well on this networking site–users may be more likely to read, and less likely to scroll. 

Finally, follow leaders or figures that are inspirational and thoughtful. It’s helpful to see what others post, and how they engage on this platform. 

Final Thoughts

As Christians, we often hear the phrase, “We’re called to be in the world, but not of the world.”

LinkedIn is a wonderful example of this principle. Pastors, church leaders, and all believers can use this kind of platform to grow new connections in the Body of Christ, influence others with Christ-centered teaching (such as on servant leadership), and glean insight that can make their work more effective and informed. 

As Prickett explains, “LinkedIn is a win-win.”

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