You started your church Instagram with big dreams.
You imagined it full of encouraging posts, beautiful worship moments, maybe even a few viral sermon clips. You figured it would be a place where your church family stayed connected, visitors learned what to expect, and maybe—just maybe—your church attendance would grow. You hoped to achieve specific goals, like increasing engagement, reaching new people in your community, and building a stronger online presence for your ministry.
But then… crickets.
The likes aren’t coming. Your follower count is stuck. And a week ago, your last post barely made a dent.
Sound familiar?
Here’s the truth: growing a church Instagram isn’t about chasing trends or looking “cool.” It’s about understanding the unique rhythm of modern ministry in a digital space—and making small, strategic shifts that change everything.
So why isn’t your church Instagram growing?
Let’s dig into the seven biggest mistakes churches make—and what to do instead.
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Table of contents
- 1. You’re Treating Instagram Like Facebook
- 2. You’re Not Posting Video Content
- 3. You’re Only Posting on Sundays
- 4. You’re Not Using Stories Strategically
- 5. You’re Not Encouraging People to Engage
- 6. You’re Not Showing Life at Your Church
- 7. You’re Ignoring the Power of Reels
- Bonus Mistake: You’re Managing Too Many Accounts
- What Growing Church Accounts Do Differently
- The Goal Isn’t Just Growth—It’s Connection
- More Resources on Church Social Media
1. You’re Treating Instagram Like Facebook
First things first: Instagram is not Facebook.
A lot of churches make the mistake of copying and pasting content from one platform to the other. But what works on Facebook doesn’t always work on Instagram.
On Facebook, long-form posts, event invites, and group interactions thrive.
On Instagram, it’s visual first. Your graphics, photos, and especially your video content need to grab attention instantly—before someone scrolls past.
Effective communications strategies should be tailored to each platform, ensuring your church’s message is delivered appropriately whether you’re engaging through Facebook’s detailed posts or Instagram’s visual storytelling.
How to Fix It
Design Instagram-specific posts, creating content that is unique to Instagram’s style and audience. Think bold titles, clean worship photos, and short clips that pull people in. Don’t just recycle. Refresh.
2. You’re Not Posting Video Content
Instagram has shifted hard toward videos—especially Reels. If your feed is mostly static graphics and Bible verse quote cards, you’re missing out on major reach. The type of content posted, especially when it includes engaging videos, can greatly impact your reach and engagement.
And here’s the kicker: churches have amazing video opportunities every week.
From sermon clips to behind-the-scenes moments with volunteers, your church is already full of content. You just need to capture it.
How to Fix It
Start with what you already have. Take a 30-second highlight from last Sunday’s message. Add subtitles. Post as a Reel. To see ongoing growth, implement this video strategy consistently—your content just got a major visibility boost.
3. You’re Only Posting on Sundays
Sundays are great—but they’re just one day. If your last post was from a week ago, your followers probably forgot you exist.
Growing your church Instagram means showing up consistently. You don’t need to post every single day, but 3–4 times a week is ideal. The expectation is that posting with this frequency will help maintain engagement and gradually increase your reach over time.
And don’t worry—you don’t need a full-time media team to make it happen.
How to Fix It
Batch your content. Create a simple calendar with themes:
- Monday: encouraging verse
- Wednesday: behind-the-scenes or staff highlight
- Friday: sermon series preview
- Sunday: worship moment or live story update
Strong organization is key to maintaining a consistent posting schedule and ensuring your content calendar runs smoothly. This way, your feed stays active without stressing your team out.
4. You’re Not Using Stories Strategically
Here’s a secret: people watch more than they scroll.
Instagram Stories are the unsung hero of church engagement. They’re casual, real-time, and perfect for building connection. Stories also allow you to reach and engage different audiences within your church community by tailoring content to specific groups. But too many churches skip them—or post nothing but “See you Sunday!”
How to Fix It
Use Stories to:
- Highlight a volunteer
- Share prayer requests
- Show worship team rehearsal
- Run polls (What’s your favorite sermon series so far?)
- Go behind the scenes during Sunday setup
- Share moments of inspiration to encourage and uplift your followers
Stories make your church feel alive—and help followers feel like they’re part of something real.
5. You’re Not Encouraging People to Engage
Instagram growth isn’t just about posting—it’s about interaction.
Managing engagement and responding to followers are important responsibilities for church staff or volunteers. If your captions don’t encourage people to comment, like, or share, your posts will quickly fade from their feed. The algorithm rewards engagement—so you’ve got to invite it.
How to Fix It
End every caption with a question or call to action. Examples:
- “What’s your favorite verse about worship?”
- “Tag someone who needs to hear this.”
- “Drop a 🙌 if you’re joining us this Sunday!”
A well-crafted caption can leave your followers feeling inspired to comment or share.
Make it easy—and fun—for people to connect.
6. You’re Not Showing Life at Your Church
Want to know what content actually connects?
Real life.
People don’t just want your sermon title graphic—they want to see your people. Your community. Your volunteers, worship team, kids ministry, coffee corner, post-service hangouts. Include photos of various ministries to give a fuller picture of church life and highlight the different ways people can get involved.
These snapshots of church life build trust with visitors and deepen connection with members. It’s what makes your church unique.
How to Fix It
Create a “life at our church” photo bank. Ask your volunteers and staff to snap photos during services, events, or just a sunny afternoon on campus. Use them liberally. Some of these photos or stories could also be shared on the church blog to reach a wider audience.
7. You’re Ignoring the Power of Reels
We said it already, but it bears repeating: Reels are king.
Instagram is pushing short-form video, and Reels are the fastest way to reach people who don’t already follow you. Sometimes, a single viral Reel can bring crazy reach and engagement, dramatically boosting your church’s visibility in ways you might not expect. Want to grow your church Instagram? Want to get noticed outside your core circle? You need Reels.
And here’s the good news: you’re already preaching, singing, and gathering every Sunday. The content is happening—you just need to capture and format it.
How to Fix It
- Clip a 15-second worship moment with powerful lyrics
- Share a short worship music clip to engage your followers
- Share a pastor’s one-liner that makes you stop and think
- Capture a quick shoutout from a youth leader inviting students to group
- Record your pastor answering a tough faith question in under 60 seconds
Keep it short. Add subtitles. Post consistently. Watch your reach grow.
Bonus Mistake: You’re Managing Too Many Accounts
It’s tempting to create multiple accounts—one for youth, one for worship, one for outreach. But if you’re not careful, this splits your audience and waters down your message.
Managing multiple accounts can quickly start to feel like running a business, requiring significant time and effort to keep everything organized and effective.
If you don’t have the team to manage it all, it’s better to build one strong account than five inconsistent ones.
How to Fix It
Stick to one main account unless you have the staff and content plan to fully support multiple ones. Managing several accounts can increase the cost in terms of time and resources, making it harder to maintain quality. Keep your content unified and consistent.
What Growing Church Accounts Do Differently
Still wondering what growing churches are doing on Instagram that you’re not? Wonder no more—these strategies are effective because they help churches share their faith, build community, and reach people around the world.
They’re doing this:
- Posting consistently (3–5x/week)
- Mixing video with static posts
- Sharing full sermons or sermon highlights to engage followers and extend their message
- Showing real life, not just graphics
- Encouraging engagement in captions
- Leveraging Reels to reach new people
- Making Stories fun and authentic
- Using YouTube to share sermons, worship music, and inspirational content, reaching a wider audience and connecting with people of all ages
- Connecting with people around the world through Instagram and other platforms to expand their community
- Staying on mission—not just chasing trends
- Avoiding overloading their feed with too much stuff, and instead focusing on quality, manageable content
This Isn’t About Likes
We get it. It’s easy to roll your eyes at social media. But here’s the thing:
This isn’t about chasing likes. It’s about ministry.
Your church Instagram isn’t just a marketing channel—it’s a mission field. Every post, every story, every comment is a chance to reach someone who’s searching for community, truth, and hope. Ultimately, the goal is to point people to Christ and share the message of Jesus, helping them take steps of faith even before they enter your church building.
Someone who might never walk through your doors on their own. Someone who’s scrolling in silence, wondering if anyone really sees them.
Instagram isn’t just a platform—it’s a place where ministry happens.
How to Get Started This Week
Ready to turn your Instagram around?
Here’s your 5-day challenge, designed not only to boost engagement but also to raise awareness about your church and its mission:
- Day 1: Post a 30-second sermon clip from Sunday. Add subtitles and an engaging caption.
- Day 2: Share a photo of a volunteer with a short quote about why they serve.
- Day 3: Post a Story showing your worship team practicing. Add a “Join us this Sunday!” sticker.
- Day 4: Post an encouragement graphic with a relevant Bible verse. Ask, “What’s your go-to verse in hard times?”
- Day 5: Share a Reel from your pastor answering a quick faith question.
Do this, and you’ll already be way ahead of most churches.
The Goal Isn’t Just Growth—It’s Connection
Yes, it’s nice to gain more followers. But the real goal is connection.
Our vision for your church Instagram should be to foster genuine connection and community, using the platform as a tool to turn aspirations into real engagement.
We’re not here to build an Instagram empire. We’re here to build the church—and platforms like Instagram are one of the best ways to connect with people where they already are.
When you use your feed to share the life of your church, encourage your community, and invite people into something real, you’re doing more than just posting.
You’re doing ministry.
More Resources on Church Social Media
