Recently, the Franconia Conference Leadership Cultivation team created a networking group on Facebook.com to connect with its young adults who are near and far. Originally started as a student based online community that allowed friends to stay in touch while away at college, Facebook is now an open community and people from all over the world can use it to connect with friends, family, and like minds. We asked two of our group members to tell us what they thought of Franconia’s presence on the web community.
There are many young adults from the Franconia Conference whom I am friends with. Since I might only connect with any one of them once a month at some random event I use the conference Facebook group to stay in touch and up to date. I also enjoy being able to share pictures. Dave Landis is a great photographer, and will frequently post highlights of his shutter escapades on the group site. I also thought it was great that many young adults were able to get together last month at Caruso’s. I was able to reconnect with people that I hadn’t seen in years and made some new friendships.
Creating a space where young adults feel welcomed and inspired is not easy. The church has a long way to go. However the conference is off to a great start. I see this new social technology as a blessing. But like many things, its not healthy to have it become your social life. It is important for the church to be creative and willing to adapt in order to meet needs and be relevant. Facebook is a great tool to keep people connected in an age where community is no longer restricted to geography.
Tim Moyer is a student at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts and a member of Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.
I joined the Franconia Facebook group so I could stay connected with the conference. It’s a creative method of using the popular culture to bring together young adults who might not otherwise have a way of keeping in touch with what’s happening in FMC. I think it’s a helpful way of building a sense of connection with others who are a part of the group and an easy way for Franconia to get in touch with us all. Even though, as college students, we are spread out in different areas, this group allows an easy way of keeping us up to date and sending out messages to a large group of people. It’s a way that many people are familiar with and can easily relate to. I think it’s neat FMC has set up a Facebook group and is trying to reach out to young adults in a practical way.
Emily Derstine is a student at Eastern Mennonite University and a member of Plains Mennonite Church.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.