If you’re like most small church pastors, social media feels like one more thing on an already impossible to-do list. You know your church should have a consistent online presence. You understand that people check Facebook and Instagram before they visit a church. But between sermon prep, pastoral care, and the dozen other hats you wear, who has time to post three times a week?
Here’s the reality: you don’t need to spend hours every week staring at a blank screen trying to think of what to post. With a simple AI-powered workflow, you can batch-create an entire month of engaging social media content in about two hours. That’s right—one focused session can give you 30 days of posts, freeing up your time for what really matters.
This isn’t about replacing authentic community engagement or automating pastoral care. It’s about creating a consistent baseline of valuable content so your church stays visible and relevant online without consuming your life. Let me show you exactly how to do it.
Why Social Media Matters for Small Churches (And Why You Struggle With It)
Before we dive into the workflow, let’s acknowledge why this matters and why it’s so hard.
Why it matters: Your community is scrolling social media every single day. When they’re looking for a church home, they check your online presence first. When they’re deciding whether to visit this Sunday, they want to see signs of life—recent posts, engaged community, relevant content. A dormant social media account sends the message that your church is dormant too, even if that’s not true.
Why it’s hard: You’re already stretched impossibly thin. The thought of adding “social media manager” to your job description feels overwhelming. You sit down to post something and draw a complete blank. Or you spend 30 minutes crafting one post when you should be preparing Sunday’s sermon. It’s not sustainable, and you know it.
That’s exactly why this batch-creation workflow changes everything.
The Complete Workflow: Month of Content in 2 Hours
Time commitment: 2 hours total
Time saved: 6-8 hours per month (compared to creating content daily)
What you’ll create: 30+ social media posts ready to schedule
What You’ll Need:
- Access to ChatGPT (free version works fine), Claude, or Gemini
- Your church calendar for the upcoming month
- 30-60 minutes of uninterrupted time for the AI session
- 30-60 minutes for review, customization, and scheduling
- A social media scheduling tool (optional but recommended: Meta Business Suite is free)
Step 1: Gather Your Raw Materials (15 minutes)
Before you open your AI tool, collect the information you’ll need. This prep work makes the AI session far more effective.
Create a simple document with:
- Your church’s upcoming events (services, Bible studies, special events, community outreach)
- Sermon series topics or individual sermon titles for the month
- Any special observances (holidays, awareness days, seasonal themes)
- Core values or themes you want to emphasize
- 3-5 frequently asked questions from visitors or members
Don’t overthink this. A bulleted list is perfectly fine. You’re just giving the AI context about what’s actually happening at your church.
Step 2: Set Up Your AI Assistant (5 minutes)
You’ll get much better results if you give the AI context about your church and communication style upfront. Use this prompt to set the stage:
I'm a pastor at [church name], a [size/denomination] church in [location]. Our congregation is [brief description - e.g., "young families and older adults, traditional-contemporary blend, community-focused"].
I need help creating a month of social media content that:
- Reflects our warm, welcoming, authentic voice
- Balances promotional content with encouragement and practical faith application
- Speaks to both members and people checking us out online
- Stays brief and engaging (most posts under 100 words)
Our key themes this month include: [list your sermon topics, events, or emphasis areas]
Can you help me create content that serves our community without sounding overly promotional or cheesy?Pro Tip: Save this initial prompt as a template. You’ll use variations of it every month, just updating the specific themes and events.
Step 3: Generate Your Content Calendar Framework (10 minutes)
Now ask the AI to create the structure for your month. This helps ensure good variety and balance.
Create a 30-day social media content calendar for our church with this mix:
- 8 posts about upcoming events/services
- 6 encouraging/inspirational posts (not cheesy - practical faith application)
- 5 posts highlighting our sermon series: [series name/topics]
- 4 community engagement posts (questions, polls, or prompts for interaction)
- 3 behind-the-scenes or ministry highlight posts
- 4 practical faith/life application posts
Format it as a simple calendar showing which type of post goes on which day, considering that we post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.Review what the AI creates. Does the flow make sense? Are event promotions timed appropriately (not just posted the day before)? Adjust as needed.
Step 4: Generate the Actual Posts (45 minutes)
This is where the magic happens. Now you’ll ask the AI to write the specific posts based on your calendar framework.
Work through your calendar in batches. Here’s how to prompt for each type of content:
For event promotion posts:
Write 3 engaging social media posts promoting [specific event - e.g., our Wednesday night Bible study].
Event details:
- What: [description]
- When: [day/time]
- Where: [location]
- Who it's for: [target audience]
Make each post different in approach:
1. One focused on the benefit/outcome
2. One addressing a common question or hesitation
3. One with a warm, personal invitation
Keep each under 80 words. Include a clear call to action but avoid pushy language.For inspirational/encouragement posts:
Write 6 brief, encouraging social media posts (50-70 words each) that offer practical faith application for everyday life.
Focus on challenges our community faces:
- [list 2-3 specific challenges: e.g., "work stress and feeling overwhelmed", "navigating difficult relationships", "finding purpose"]
Make it conversational and real, not preachy or cliché. Each post should feel like encouragement from a pastor who gets it.For sermon series posts:
Our sermon series this month is "[series title]" covering [brief description of topics].
Week 1: [sermon title and one-sentence summary]
Week 2: [sermon title and one-sentence summary]
Week 3: [sermon title and one-sentence summary]
Week 4: [sermon title and one-sentence summary]
Create 5 social media posts that:
- Tease the upcoming sermon topics
- Share a key question or insight from the series
- Make people curious without giving away the whole message
- Feel inviting to both members and visitors
Vary the length and approach for each post.For community engagement posts:
Create 4 social media posts that encourage interaction and conversation. Include:
1. A thought-provoking question about faith or life (not controversial)
2. A "fill in the blank" post that's fun and meaningful
3. A prompt asking people to share how they've seen God at work lately
4. A question about community or church life that makes people feel included
Keep these brief (40-60 words) and genuinely inviting.Pro Tip: Don’t try to perfect every post during generation. Your goal right now is to get good raw material. You’ll refine it in the next step.
Step 5: Review, Customize, and Add Authenticity (30 minutes)
Here’s where you earn your pastoral stripes. AI gives you the framework and saves you time, but you need to add the human touch that makes it genuinely yours.
As you review each post, ask:
- Does this sound like me and our church, or is it generic?
- Is there any Christian-ese or cliché language that needs to be simplified?
- Are the details accurate (dates, times, locations)?
- Does this serve our community, or is it just noise?
- Would I actually say this in a conversation?
Common edits you’ll make:
- Adding specific names, stories, or local references
- Toning down overly enthusiastic language (multiple exclamation points are a red flag)
- Making invitations more natural and less “salesy”
- Adjusting the theology or phrasing to match your church’s style
- Adding personality and humor where appropriate
This review process is essential. The AI gives you 80% of the work done, but your 20% input is what makes it authentic and effective.
Step 6: Schedule Everything (15 minutes)
Now get these posts into your scheduling tool so you can forget about them until next month.
Free scheduling options:
- Meta Business Suite (for Facebook and Instagram)
- LinkedIn’s native scheduling
- Google Business Profile scheduling
Paid options with more features:
- Later (starts at $18/month)
- Buffer (starts at $6/month)
- Hootsuite (starts at $99/month – likely overkill for small churches)
Copy and paste your refined posts into your scheduling tool, assign them to the dates on your content calendar, and you’re done.
Pro Tip: Schedule posts for times when your community is actually online. For most churches, this is weekday mornings (7-9 AM) and evenings (7-9 PM), plus Sunday mornings.
Advanced Tips for Even Better Results
Create Visual Variety With Simple AI Tools
Text posts are fine, but mixing in images increases engagement significantly. You don’t need to be a graphic designer.
Quick image options:
- Use Canva’s free templates (literally hundreds of church-specific designs)
- Generate simple graphics with ChatGPT’s DALL-E integration or other AI image tools
- Use your smartphone to take authentic, behind-the-scenes photos during the month
- Create quote graphics from your sermon series
Aim for 40-50% of your posts to include an image. This doesn’t need to happen during your initial batch creation—you can add visuals throughout the month as you have time.
Build in “Real-Time” Slots
Schedule 80% of your content, but leave a few slots open for spontaneous, in-the-moment posts. These add authenticity and show that there are real humans running your social media.
Good spontaneous post moments:
- Something meaningful that happened at Sunday service
- A ministry win or answered prayer you can share (with permission)
- Community news or local events your church is participating in
- A pastoral moment or insight from your week
Your scheduled content creates the baseline consistency. These real-time additions create connection and authenticity.
Repurpose Your Best Content
After a few months, you’ll notice which posts get the most engagement. Those are gold. Don’t let them disappear into the social media void.
Save and reuse your best posts by:
- Creating a “winners” document with posts that got strong engagement
- Reposting top-performing content every 8-12 weeks (most of your audience didn’t see it the first time)
- Using successful post formulas as templates for future content
- Building seasonal content libraries (Advent, Easter, back-to-school, etc.)
Customize for Multiple Platforms
If you’re posting to both Facebook and Instagram (or adding Twitter/LinkedIn), you’ll want slight variations. Ask the AI:
Take this post and create versions optimized for:
1. Facebook (can be slightly longer, can include more context)
2. Instagram (shorter, needs to work without reading a long caption, emoji-friendly)
3. Twitter/X (280 characters maximum, needs to be punchy)
Original post:
[paste your post]What This Workflow Doesn’t Replace
Let me be clear about what this batch-creation system is and isn’t.
This system creates: Your baseline content calendar—the consistent, valuable posts that keep your church visible and relevant online.
This system doesn’t replace:
- Responding to comments and messages (you still need to engage with people)
- Sharing real-time updates and urgent information
- Spontaneous, authentic moments from church life
- Pastoral presence and genuine relationship building
- Monitoring your social media for pastoral care needs
Think of batch-created content as the foundation of your online presence. You’re building a house—the scheduled posts are the frame and walls, but you still need to add the personal touches that make it a home.
Addressing the Concerns You Might Have
“Won’t people be able to tell it’s AI-generated?”
Only if you skip Step 5. When you take the time to review, customize, and add your authentic voice, the final posts sound like you because they are you—you just used AI to do the heavy lifting of initial drafting. That’s no different than using a thesaurus or asking a staff member for ideas.
The key is the human touch in the refinement process. Your pastoral voice, your specific examples, your church’s personality—that’s what makes the content genuine.
“What about the theological accuracy of AI content?”
Valid concern. AI can absolutely get theology wrong or present something in a way that doesn’t align with your church’s beliefs. That’s why you review every post before it goes out.
For inspirational or teaching content, run anything questionable past your theological filter. If a post references Scripture, verify the reference and context. If something seems off, rewrite it or delete it. You’re still the pastor—AI is just your assistant.
“Isn’t this inauthentic or lazy?”
Is it lazy to use a computer instead of a typewriter? Is it inauthentic to prepare your sermon outline on Monday rather than winging it on Sunday morning?
Batch-creating content is simply working smarter. You’re still providing the pastoral insight, the authentic voice, the strategic direction, and the human review. You’re just using a tool to make the process more efficient.
What’s actually inauthentic is having an inconsistent or non-existent social media presence because you don’t have time to post daily. What serves your community better—scheduled, thoughtful content or silence?
“What if something changes and my scheduled post is no longer relevant?”
This happens. An event gets cancelled, a local crisis occurs, a national tragedy happens. That’s why you check your scheduled posts weekly and maintain the ability to edit or delete posts before they go live.
Most scheduling tools let you easily reschedule or remove posts. Building in those real-time slots also gives you flexibility to address current events or changes appropriately.
Getting Started This Week
Don’t try to implement this perfectly. Start small and build momentum.
Your first step: Block 90 minutes on your calendar this week. Seriously, put it on the calendar right now. Call it “Social Media Batch Creation” or “Content Planning” or whatever makes you actually show up for it.
For your first session, aim for two weeks of content instead of a full month. This lets you test the workflow, see what works, and refine your process before committing to larger batches.
Week 1 action steps:
- Choose your AI tool (ChatGPT free version is fine to start)
- Gather your raw materials (calendar, sermon topics, events)
- Complete Steps 1-4 of the workflow above
- Review and customize your posts
- Choose a scheduling tool and get your posts scheduled
Week 2: Observe and adjust. Which posts are getting engagement? What felt authentic? What needed more work? Use these insights to refine your approach for the next batch.
Monthly Maintenance: Keep It Sustainable
Once you’ve created your first month of content, here’s how to maintain this system without it becoming burdensome:
Last week of the month (90 minutes):
- Review the upcoming month’s calendar and events
- Note which scheduled posts performed well this month
- Run through the workflow for next month’s content
- Schedule everything and forget about it
Weekly check-in (10 minutes):
- Review the upcoming week’s scheduled posts
- Make any necessary adjustments for changed plans or current events
- Note opportunities for spontaneous, real-time posts
Daily (5-10 minutes):
- Respond to comments and messages on your posts
- Share any real-time moments or updates
- Engage with your community’s posts (this matters more than you think)
The beauty of this system is that the time-consuming part (content creation) happens once a month in a focused session. The daily commitment is minimal—just engagement and relationship-building, which you’d need to do anyway.
Real Results From Real Churches
I’ve walked several small church pastors through this exact workflow. Here’s what they’ve reported after 2-3 months:
Time savings: Average of 6-8 hours per month compared to creating content on the fly or posting inconsistently.
Consistency improvement: Churches that were posting once a week or less are now maintaining 3+ posts per week with zero added stress.
Engagement increase: More consistent posting leads to more consistent engagement. People start expecting and looking for your content.
Visitor impact: Multiple pastors reported visitors mentioning they followed the church on social media before visiting—and that the consistent, quality content influenced their decision to visit.
Pastor wellbeing: Removing the daily “what should I post today?” stress is itself valuable, even beyond the time savings.
Your Next Steps
You now have everything you need to create a month of social media content in about two hours. The question is: will you actually do it?
Here’s my challenge: Try this workflow once. Just once. Block the time, follow the steps, and see if it works for you. If it doesn’t save you time or produce content you’re proud of, you’ve lost two hours. But if it works—and I’m confident it will—you’ve just reclaimed 6-8 hours every month for the rest of your ministry.
Start here:
- Put 90 minutes on your calendar this week for your first batch creation session
- Bookmark this article so you can reference the prompts and steps
- Gather your raw materials (your calendar and upcoming themes)
- Follow the workflow for two weeks of content to start
- Adjust and refine based on what you learn
Your church needs your consistent online presence. Your community needs to know you’re active, engaged, and there for them. But you don’t need to sacrifice your sermon prep, pastoral care, or sanity to make it happen.
AI isn’t going to replace your pastoral ministry. But it can absolutely free you up to focus on what only you can do—the sacred work of shepherding people, not endlessly trying to think of what to post on Tuesday.
Now go create a month of content in two hours. Your future self will thank you.