April Church Social Media Plan

I know it’s Holy Week and it’s a crazy time for anyone in ministry, so the thought of thinking beyond it is overwhelming.

Take a breath and continue to read for just one more minute before you move on to the next task of the day.

Easter Sunday is the first day of the month so you probably already have the first day of the month already done - pat yourself on the back! The first week of this month will be quiet and reflective of the resurrection and around themes of new life. So take your time as there are no feast days of Saints the first week and sharing posts around renewal is fine.

Photo Credit: R. Visty Sanctuary of American Martyrs Church Easter Sunday

There are distinct liturgical color changes in the month of April from dark to light! White is the color and it symbolizes joy, purity and innocence. Share pictures of your priests decked out in their white vestments and share the transformation of your liturgical space.

The month is dedicated to the Holy Spirit even though Pentecost isn’t until May 20th and the Pope’s Prayer intention is to Pray For Those Who Have Responsibility in Economic Matters. As always you may find a video of the intention here that can easily be added to your Facebook page or website. Also, add them to your prayers of the faithful!

April is also deemed Child Abuse Prevention Month by the USCCB and they have a number of resources to help you share tips of awareness that may save a child from victimization or save themselves from predators.

Divine Mercy Sunday is April 8th and there are a variety of things that you may do to reflect this celebration! Change your cover photo to promote this sacred solemnity and if your parish name is St. Therese of Liseux or St. Faustina be sure to share pictures of their statues in your church. Share posts that call followers to trust in God as a theme. If you want to share the chaplet here’s a link to it from the USCCB.

Example of a Divine Mercy Header For Your Pages

The days of this month set aside for the feast or memorial of the saints and here they are: St. Stanislaus (April 11), St. Martin I (April 13), St. Bernadette (April 16), St. Anselm (April 21), St. George and St. Adalbert (April 23), St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen (April 24), St. Mark (April 25), Our Lady of Good Counsel (April 26), St. Louis Mary de Montfort and St. Peter Chanel (April 28) and St. Pius V (April 30). The feast of St. Catherine of Siena (April 29) and falls on Sunday so is superseded the Sunday liturgy. The feasts of St. Francis of Paola (April 2), St. Isidore (April 4), St. Vincent Ferrer (April 5), St. John Baptist de la Salle(April 7) are superseded by the Easter Week liturgy.

The Annunciation of the Lord is being observed on Monday April 9th, because Palm Sunday fell upon it’s customary date of March 25th. It is a significant solemnity to share with your followers.

Another awesome way to evangelize is to share a snippet from the Sunday Gospel as a social media post. There are some great ones this month from Mark, Luke and John that include the familiar doubting Thomas, road to Emmaus, Good Shepard and he is the vine and we are the branches. Super easy to do, just take a picture of your lectionary or download one from Google images and write over it the snippet from the Gospel you’d like to share. It really does spark engagement.

Screenshot: American Martyrs Facebook Page 3/25/18

Lastly, it’s not too early to start sharing the preparations around First Holy Communion and Confirmation with your followers. Working with your youth minister what can you share about these new members of the community? How about works of service they’ve done? How about rehearsal of the rubrics for the little ones? Pulling out the banners from storage? Think about behind the scenes that you can share to create excitement around the new members of your parish! You can also make suggestions of gifts for the receivers of the sacraments!

On a secular note April is National Couple Appreciation and Autism Awareness month, set aside a day or week to celebrate one or both of them. This would be a great time to share posts from the USCCB Facebook page on marriage that also includes articles for parenting a child with Autism.

Happy Easter everyone and may the peace of Christ be with you!