As a local United Methodist Church, you are invited to work together to share the mission of the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church through social media. We hope that you will find creative ways to share photos, videos, and words of inspiration and include our mission statement as a measurable hashtag #FollowingLovingSharing on your local church Facebook pages, that help boost our United Methodist identity and core Wesleyan roots.
There will be a contest that will begin October 13 and end on November 7, 2025, that will award a personalized billboard to two local churches who have the most posts with the correct hashtags and that use the #FollowingLovingSharing logo for their profile picture. You’ll see that it fits perfectly!
This contest is open to allArkansas United Methodist congregations and United Methodist Campus Ministries within the Arkansas Conference with a Facebook account. While individuals are also encouraged to use the #FollowingLovingSharing hashtag across multiple platforms, this competition is for congregations, only using Facebook.
Thanks to the generous donation from Mr. and Mrs. Rush Harding of First UMC in Little Rock, we will be able to provide a billboard for the church with the most hashtags with a town population of 2,499 and below, and a billboard for the church with the most hashtags with a town population of 2,500 and above.
The Conference will host an informational Zoom call about the competition and some best practices for our church Facebook ministries on Thursday, October 9 at noon.
Register to attend the information Zoom on October 9 at noon: https://arumc.zoom.us/meeting/register/F4bFIe3FTCCHNBPFM6F7ZA#/registration
A few rules to consider for the campaign contest include:
Each Facebook post must include the following:
- A graphic, photo, or video showing people following Jesus, loving people, and sharing grace. This can include worship live-stream recordings on Facebook only. We will share some examples on the information Zoom.
- The hashtag #FollowingLovingSharing
- The church’s full name must be visible in the text. (For example: First United Methodist Church, Town Name, Town Name United Methodist Church, or Faith United Methodist Church, Town Name)
- Each post must be set to the “public” setting, or we won’t be able to see it.
- Each post may be shared by individuals on Facebook.
- Each post must clearly reside on your Facebook page until the competition is over.
- The #FollowingLovingSharing logo as the profile picture for these 25 days during the contest. The logo may be found here.
Please do not post:
- Photos of minors or adults in swimsuits.
- Photos of people wearing clothing or accessories with divisive, crass, or profane language or inappropriate messaging.
- In a PRIVATE Facebook group or on a private account. It will not be visible to the public. You must post from an Arkansas United Methodist Church-specific PUBLIC GROUP or Facebook PAGE.
Have fun! And as always, reach out to any of us if you have any questions.
Audrea Stephens, Administrative Assistant to the Centers, astephens@arumc.org
Amy Ezell, ARUMC Director of Connectional Ministries, amy.ezell@arumc.org