'Reel' good way to reach out to community
How do you give people a taste of church when they’ve never set foot in your building? With a lively set of Instagram Reels, Bootle Elim’s Yvonne Yates has found a way.
Yvonne Yates unexpectedly hit on a very popular marketing tool for Bootle Elim when she began experimenting with Instagram Reels during Covid.
With the 60-second clips of church life she posts each week, she has quickly generated a fanbase of local businesses and families in Liverpool – and around the world.
The story began a few years ago when she lost the sight in her left eye. “I struggle with reading with my right eye because it fatigues very quickly, but I found I could work with pictures more easily,” she says. I started posting them on the church’s Instagram before Covid, then got into pre-recording the Sunday services during the pandemic.”
Yvonne admits she was a reluctant convert to Reels but got started after deciding to try them out one week.
“I’m 65, I’m a granny, I’ve had no training, but I thought I could have a go. I started taking lots of videos, putting them all on an app, then editing them down to 40-60 seconds and it seems to work,” she says.
Each week, Yvonne captures moments from church life, filming children, church members, worship, coffee time and more.
But there is no technique here, she is quick to point out.
“It’s like throwing everything into a bowl and making a cake when you don’t know what’s in there!
“Some people have lots of experience doing this and their Reels are really classy. I, on the other hand, sometimes have my granddaughter sitting on my knee and I’ll be covered in stickers while trying to capture a quick video shot, but somehow it seems to come together!”
Where church members were once reluctant to be on camera, they now really love to be involved, Yvonne says.
The Chatter Tots playgroup is one of the
activities to feature on an Instagram Reel
“People are bit shy at first, aren’t they? But now I have people coming up saying, ‘Take my photo – I wasn’t on last week!’ The kids are asking to be on there too.”
Each week, Yvonne’s Reel from the previous week is shown during the church notices, which acts as a recap and helps keep the momentum going.
As well as being popular with the congregation, they also go down well with Christian and non-Christian church family members in India, Romania and Africa who are connecting with Bootle Elim.
IMPACT
Yvonne is thrilled that her Reels are impacting the local community too.
“We’ve had a number of businesses and charities follow us, and also families who are connected through Chatter Tots. We’ve had many enquiries about Chatter Tots and people have come to it and to church through them too.”
The Young at Heart group is
a popular activity in church
Among Yvonne’s fans is her hairdresser. “He knows I go to church and asked me how it was going. I asked if he was on Instagram and when he said yes, I invited him to take a look at our Reels. “By the time I’d got home he’d followed us so now he gets to see what goes on inside our church without stepping out of his salon.”
Another fan was created while Yvonne and her husband, Bootle Elim pastor Steve, were shopping for a vacuum cleaner for the church.
“The guy asked what it was for, then asked what sort of church we have. Steve asked if he was on Instagram then showed him our latest Reel. He asked what church was all about and so we had a chat with him.
“It’s been really interesting connecting with people and being able to help them see what it looks like in church without them stepping through the door.
“It’s a really useful tool because if you’re out and about and people ask you about church you can just show them. I’m surprised at how well it works.”
Yvonne plans to keep making her Reels and says her aim is to connect with more locals through them.
“My heart is that they’ll see what local church is like, that it’s full of ordinary people, and that as well as the worshiping and preaching side of the service, when you actually come to church the kids dance, run around, and play, people chat and have coffee and so on.
“I’m surprised at how well the Reels work but I guess God is there helping me!”
Our 20 years in church leadership
Steve and Yvonne first joined Bootle Elim in 1988, with Steve taking over as senior pastor in 2003.
Since then, they have seen big changes at their inner-city church. “Bootle is five miles outside Liverpool city centre and has all the usual situations with unemployment, mental health challenges, addiction and other issues,” says Yvonne.
“When we first started it was hard because in an inner city area like ours there wasn’t the finance to get things going. Steve didn’t take a wage for a long time so we both had jobs which connected us with our community.”
Things started to change as the church became more multicultural, with people joining from overseas as they came to work in the NHS.
Fast forward to life after Covid and Steve and Yvonne have been focused on rebuilding their congregation after the pandemic.
Several younger people and Christian families from t he area have joined recently, meaning the church’s youth and kids work is flourishing with new children and people experienced in leading them.
The church’s well- established Chatter Tots playgroup and Young at Hearts group are also standing strong, boosted by Yvonne’s Instagram Reels.
“ Having embraced the on line world during Covid, we are finding it is a really great way of sharing the good news of Jesus with people who have never set foot through the church door,” says Steve.
This article first appeared in the June 2023 edition of Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.
Enjoy this article? Don't forget to share