Ministry Tip 8

What's the difference between a facebook group and page and how can I use them effectively for ministry?
Facebook pages and groups each provide different features.

A fan page is most similar to your own personal profile except for an organization or business. And rather than having "friends", people "like" the page. You can promote the page with ads and can create an event that tells only the people who have liked your page about the event. It also allows people who have liked the page to send you private messages.

A group on the other hand is a group of people who are invited to gather in one place and have a joined wall. If you have a public group or a closed group, others can see the group and can ask to join (depending on your settings). Anyone can write on that wall but admins of the group can delete inappropriate comments. However if you have a group set as "private" no one can see the group and will therefore not be able to join.

Another benefit about groups is that you can create an event and it will automatically invite everyone in the group and allow others to invite friends. The group also saves all your past events and you can also add documents/files.

So basically a group has more advantages for ministry than a page for it gives people an opportunity to interact. If you do have a page it would be worth thinking through inviting someone (or a small group of people) to be present on the page to meet and engage with people and to post encouraging things.