Churches flock to social networking sites

Read this article from Associated Baptist Press a few minutes ago:

Churches flock to social networking sites

It’s a good article that reinforces what we’ve been talking about here – that social networking sites (and in particular Facebook) are a great opportunity for Christians and Christian organizations.

And that’s been born out in my own personal experience…

I love the way Facebook has allowed me to keep up better with the friends I have in my church – wishing people happy birthday, posting notes of encouragement when people are going through a rough time, celebrating with people when they post pics of a special occasion.

Everyone in my small group is FB friends with everyone else, and we are all members of a FB group specifically created for our small group.

And just as importantly I love the way it’s allowed me to live my faith out loud and authentically with my non-Christian FB friends. They see my interactions with other people. Some of the things I post become spiritual conversation starters off line.

For example, today I announced on FB that my wife and I are going on a trip to Kenya this summer. It’s fairly likely that when I’m out playing soccer this weekend, that one my soccer friends will mention seeing it. I’ll have a chance to talk about how God has been so good to me, that I want to share His love with others, including a special group of children in Kenya who lost their parents to AIDS but now have a home because of the love and compassion of folks in my church.