Valentine's Day is the time for couples to come together and show their affection for each other. It's been used to take the significant other out on a date, give flowers, and receive boxes upon boxes of chocolate.
So we thought about integrating this idea of loving on others from the perspective of the church and give it a technology twist. So here is our list of ten things the church can do on Valentine's Day to show love to their congregation with technology:
1) Facebook Love
This week, post scripture on your Facebook page about what love is from God's perspective. The hope is that others will see what it means to love, decide that you get it, and maybe join you for your service next Sunday. Here are some verses for you for the week: John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 1:22, 1 Corinthians 13:3, Matthew 5:44-45.
2) Skit Guys View On Love
The Skit Guys are hilarious yet insightful and their version of Valentine's Day is great. Play this before your sermon, during the message, or email them this link.
3) Tape A Video Thank You to Volunteers
Do not make this complex because it should be all about the message. Just grab a video camera, prep each of your church staff to say thank you to the volunteers for what they do, and get it up on the projector screen for all of your volunteers to see it. Tell a story, share a compliment, and let them know how much you need them for your ministry.
4) Post on Parent's Facebook Walls
Go to the pages of all of the parents in your church and tell them how great of parents they are. Share a quick story of how you saw them do an amazing thing and show them some love. Youth ministry twist: Have the teenagers do this for their own parents in the youth group.
5) Give Amazon Gift Cards
This is indirectly technology, but give a $10 giftcard to Amazon to every married couple (maybe the married small group class) and instruct them to go buy The 5 Love Languages. Want to step it up, add a few extra bucks for chocolate or add a $10 Starbucks giftcard to let them go out on a date night.
6) Valentine's Day Photobooth
Youth groups love a great photobooth, so take your camera, put it in a room or behind a tear-down wall, provide them with heart stickers, valentine's day hats, and have fun with it. Even better, use a photo printer or send the images to Walmart and hand them out to the teenagers when they are printed. Maybe Photoshop a great verse (some above) and that your church loves them.
7) Animoto Slideshow
Take the photos of your congregation giving love to others from the last twelve months, upload them onto Animoto to make a great slideshow using their Coming Up Roses theme, and play it while people are walking into the service as well as leaving.
8) Single's Appreciation Video
Grab several of the most respected couples in your church that will have some great marriage experience and advice to give to those that are single. Film it, make it professional looking, post it on all of your social media sites, play it during your sermon, and let all of the single people in your church know that you love them too.
9) Renew Vows DVDs
Offer after the church service to allow for married couples to renew their vows, film it, and burn it to a DVD for all of them to pick up the next Sunday. Of course, have a generic templete setup that will be used in each person's DVD (VideoHive's Romeo & Juliet II is great). Go all out and bring off cases and DVD covers for the full experience.
10) Email Your Love
Every church and ministry has a newsletter that gets sent out regularly. Make this year's February email about helping people. Give them links to books they can buy (When Dreams Come True: A Love Story Only God Could Write for dating couples, Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together for married couples, and Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God for Christians in general), link to blog articles on love, and share some great future events your church is hosting that have details on a Facebook event.
