wfn.org | PCUSA - Community can happen online, says 2008 GA Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> Social media joins the church

Community can happen online, says 2008 GA Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow

> July 6, 2010

> GA219 Communication Center

> by Eva Stimson

> MINNEAPOLIS

"Just because you start a Facebook page doesn't mean young people 
will come to your church," outgoing General Assembly Moderator the 
Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow told Presbyterians attending the GA Media 
Luncheon on Monday. The lunch was cosponsored by Presbyterian Media 
Mission and the Church Restoration Group.

Speaking on "The Changing Landscape of Youth and Media," Reyes-Chow 
shared lessons he has learned as a parent, pastor and pioneer in the 
field of doing ministry through social media. The 41-year-old pastor 
of Mission Bay Community Church in San Francisco co-hosts a weekly 
podcast and uses Facebook, blogging and Twitter to interact with 
members of his congregation.

The church has a responsibility for nurturing and guiding young 
adults, the so-called millennial generation, in safe and healthy ways 
of using social media, said Reyes-Chow. He said he likes to think of 
social media as "an approach to living that provides a space to 
discern God's intentions for the world."

Older and younger generations use social media differently, he said. 
While older people tend to use media to accomplish something, 
millennials see it simply as a natural way to interact with others.

Reyes-Chow said he urges church people to expand their definition of 
"community," in light of how community is experienced by the younger 
generation. He said he has experienced real community both 
face-to-face and online.

Families and church youth groups need to set guidelines for social 
media that go beyond just "forbidding" its use, said Reyes-Chow. He 
noted proudly that this General Assembly has a social media policy, 
which may be a first for denominations.

At the beginning of his talk, Reyes-Chow announced that he has just 
been hired by McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago as an 
instructor in social media and ministry.

Dennis Molnar, chair of the leadership team for Presbyterian Media 
Mission (PMM), announced that PMM leaders are already planning 
special events for the 220th General Assembly (2012), which will be 
in Pittsburgh, where PMM is based. He said Family Communications, the 
parent company of the TV show "Mister Rogers Neighborhood," would 
have a presence at the Assembly.

The other sponsor of the Media Lunch, Church Restoration Group, is in 
the Pittsburgh area and specializes in the reconstruction of older 
church buildings to incorporate new technology.