Love it or hate it, digital technology is here to stay – let's embrace this opportunity to use social media to connect with each other, and to share our congregation's good news with the larger world.
We’re using the church's Facebook page to bring you current information – church-related and some ‘just for fun’.
(We also use Facebook to bring you both of our Sunday services via livestreaming, so we hope you’re connected - although you don’t need a Facebook account to watch our services: you can view them by visiting our website at fpc-bethlehem.org).
Right: Elder Al Philpotts at his computer, ready to connect with the FPC community.
If you do not currently have a Facebook account, we encourage you to get one so you can participate in this online community. If you need help setting up an account or have other tech questions, please contact us at info@fpc-bethlehem.org or
610-867-5865 to request tech help - we're here to help!
You can also access the church's page - without having your own Facebook account - by going to our website and clicking on the "Facebook" link at the upper right corner of the page.
Why should you engage in our Facebook ministry?
We can't emphasize enough that not only can we stay connected with each other, but also that we can reach others who do not know about our church community and all that we offer.
Many of our congregants live alone, and connecting via Facebook can offer a lifeline to our church community. It's also an easy way for you to share information about our services and other ministries like our 21-Day Racial Justice Immersion Project, Mid-Day Reflections, and many others.
How can you help us reach more people?
We have over 1600 people following our page but Facebook doesn’t send every one of our posts to every person. This means a couple of things:
To make sure you see all of our posts, you can set our Facebook page to be ‘seen first’ in your feed. Go to our page and look for “Following” – click on the down arrow to this drop-down menu and click “See First”. (NOTE: You are limited to 30 pages that you can ‘see first’.)
You can help our posts go to more followers by hitting “Like / Comment / Share”. Making a comment is better than liking, but sharing is best. And when you share, add a short comment (even the word “Sharing…”) – that will push it out even further. Let’s get more folks involved!
Facebook isn’t just for our church's news and announcements. If you have something to share (an uplifting story or photo, appropriate photos or cartoons, your own reflection, kids’ artwork, other online resources, etc.) please send to us at info@fpc-bethlehem.org with a note to share it on Facebook.
Those of you who are involved in our various ministries, please consider how you can use Facebook (and/or Zoom) to engage our congregation. If you have an idea or just want to brainstorm, contact us at info@fpc-bethlehem.org.
Consider inviting your ‘online’ friends to join us for our worship and learning events: on the left side of the Facebook page, click on "Events" - go to the event in which you're interested. You will see under the cover photo, a place to click "Share" then "Invite friends" - you can choose who among your friends you'd like to invite.
During our livestreamed worship services, you can also click "Share" to add the service to your own page, so your friends can join in. Several of our members do this every week. It's a good way to reach out-of-town friends and family.
Again, actively participating in our Facebook community is a good way to help us spread the good news, and we thank you for your help!
And we love it when you send your photos! The Swank family shared this picture of three generations enjoying the Traditional service together. You can send your photos to
info@fpc-bethlehem.org.
UPDATE
Tomorrow's "Optimism 101" session will not be held. Check the
church's online calendar for up-to-date gathering information.
