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Parish Resources

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Social Media Guidance & Resources

Social media offers a wide range of opportunities for people to connect creatively and positively with others and share stories about Church life and the Christian faith as a whole. At the same time, the nature of social media means that it is important to think about how we can communicate in this way and to manage the risks which can arise.  This guidance is provided to help members of the Church to use social media well, whether in organising an online service or ministry, or in everyday life.

All of the documents highlighted in bold are provided at the end of this page.

The Church’s Social Media & Digital Communications Guidelines cover good personal behaviour and highlight the importance of safeguarding, responsibility and courtesy to others.

If a comment or message is from an unexpected source or is poorly worded, it may be from a scammer who is seeking to take advantage of you and your church.  Scams can be identified through the following test:

Seems to be good to be true
Contacted out of the blue
Asked for personal details
Money requested

Exercise caution if you receive a message such as this; as with any organisation, a parish is not obliged to respond to all communications which it receives.  Visit our information page on scam prevention here to find out how to keep yourself and others safe.

The Church of Ireland Safeguarding Board has provided guidance on Social Media & Video Conferencing with Young People.  Safeguarding advice on photography and online media, when working with children and adults, is available at the following links:

Working Safely with Children
(Northern Ireland)

Working Safely with Children
(Republic of Ireland)

Promoting Safe Practice when
Working with Adults at Risk
(Northern Ireland)

Promoting Safe Practice when
Working with Adults at Risk
(Republic of Ireland)

All child and adult safeguarding consent forms for social and digital media are provided below.

The Live Streaming & Recording Checklist, Data Protection & Photography Guidelines, and Data Protection & Mailing Lists Guidelines seek to help parishes protect personal information, and include how to seek consent from people who may be photographed or filmed when online content is being produced.  Click here for further guidance on online services and content, including copyright issues.

If you have a query about any aspect of social media or communications policy, please contact the Church of Ireland Press Office at press@ireland.anglican.org

Fraudulent text message and email alert

A warning on fraudulent text messages and emails purporting to be from the Church of Ireland.

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