Connecting to God…via Facebook?
By Jen Vera
I turn on my computer and begin checking emails. Then slowly, my focus seems to fade somehow and all of a sudden, I’m checking my Facebook and Twitter feed. Does this ever happen to you? If you’re like me and always connected via your phone and your laptop then I can predict your answer is likely a yes, but why?
When I get on Facebook I feel as though I’m a part of something – I check in with my book club or with my aunts in Mexico. I see what a great time my cousin is having on her vacation or feel a connection with a friend because she’s been having a really rough morning.
Connection is the cornerstone of the human experience. We get involved in communities or projects to feel connected to something bigger than ourselves. Digital media has become the new church basement to convene a conversation about social issues that affect our lives. It has become the coffee house to catch up with an old friend in and it has become a source to connect with communities you care about.
As a Latina, I notice more and more it’s not only part of how I interact with the world, but how my mother interacts with the world. News that used to come from a phone call from Tia Imelda in Durango now gets received at the same time by both my mother and me. “Did you see that Maria graduated from high school yesterday?” “Yeah, I just liked it.”
The ultimate sense of connection is the connection we feel with the divine, with God, with our places of worship that help remind us of our divine connection to God. So how are churches utilizing social media and digital media to deliver messages and convene communities? Erwin McManus, author of several books about Christianity and lead Pastor at Los Angeles’ famous MOSAIC church says of today’s growing digital landscape: “We live in a new reality where the virtual world and social media are open to those who will pioneer new communities. This moment is rich with opportunity and possibilities.”
Is your church or place of worship adopting this new avenue to unite people or is the opportunity to unite God’s followers and youth slipping away from it? A conference, Going Digital for His Kingdom is here to help solve that problem for churches; teaching them the tools necessary to inform, engage and grow in faith and numbers with their communities in this digital age. The conference will convene in Chicago with McManus as one of the key speakers as well as Father Alberto Cutie of the Episcopalian ministry. The conference will be in Chicago June 23rd – June 25th. The conference will then travel to cities across the U.S. More details about the conference can be found at http://goingdigitalforhiskingdom.com.
I checked Facebook twice during the writing of this article.
