In a time when some churches are decrying Facebook’s bias against conservatives and Christians, one megachurch is actually partnering with Facebook in an effort to better connect with their congregation and community.
CBN News reports that Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee has now been partnering with Facebook for several months in an outreach effort.
As pastors of a 30,000-member megachurch, Mt. Zion’s leaders felt that they needed to find a better way to connect with people–and that is where Facebook comes in.
“The biggest challenge of the church is getting people connected,” said Bishop Joseph W. Walker III, senior pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. “Often, people see a church and don’t know where to connect.”
The church recently had employees from Facebook’s faith-based partnership division present at a Sunday morning service to greet congregants and to point them to laptops where they were shown how to get more connected with the church.
“People are becoming more and more isolated, but I think today was evidence that when you bring people together for the shared purpose and vision of community of faith … there’s tremendous energy there,” shared Nona Jones, who is a Facebook employee and the manager of the company’s faith-based partnerships.
Walker adds that this new form of outreach can be part of fulfilling the Great Commission:
“He [Jesus] called us to go into the whole world. The command was go, right?” Walker said. “Facebook has given us a platform. They’ve come alongside the faith community and said, ‘Listen, what you’re doing matters.'”