Collide Magazine

Stop Throwing Sheep

Aaron Linne - Originally posted Friday, June 27, 2008 -

In August 2007, Facebook hosted more than 26 million unique visitors, who generated almost 16 billion pageviews. Social networks have become a famed "third place": A social environment other than the two most common, home and work in which young adults organize groups to support causes, send messages to their friends, and collect contacts like baseball cards. In the competitive online marketplace of information and connectedness, Facebook is the major player in capturing the attention—and information—of millions of users.

One of the keys to Facebook’s success is its development platform, which allows third-party users to create miniature web applications (generally focused on a niche idea or people group) through modified PHP, JAVA, and AJAX code. Facebook places limits on what can be done with the applications and how they work, so part of the key to developing a successful Facebook application is figuring out how to maximize the service and functionality of the platform.

Of the thousands of available Facebook applications, two churches have developed great applications that effectively foster community among their members while they are online—LifeChurch.tv (based in OK) and Watermark Community Church (Dallas, TX).

Scott Miller is the Director of Information Technology for Watermark and helped with the planning and development of the church’s Facebook application, Join the Journey. Join the Journey is an extension of Watermark's daily devotional site, www.jointhejourney.com. Content for Join the Journey is written by church members as they read through sections of the Bible together. The Join the Journey Facebook application brings the daily readings and devotionals to a user's Facebook profile.

Miller said he wants Watermark to have a presence in Facebook because "the power of Facebook is relationships. People in the body have relationships with non-believers. Believers can reconnect with people they knew before their salvation." Because the Join the Journey application is displayed on users' profiles, friends of users can easily discover the application. Miller says a number of people have been asked by their friends about the application. Clearly, the Facebook application is catalyzing conversations its users may not have had otherwise.

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A byproduct of Watermark’s commitment to the application is that it demonstrates to its young adults and youth that the church understands and is engaged in culture. Many users of the application are happy to be able to add something of worth to their profile, instead of another random quiz or a new way to “poke” a friend.

LifeChurch.tv is a digitally integrated church, as evidenced by their 12 physical campuses, their virtual campus in Second Life, and their Internet campus (located at www.lifechurch.tv/int). For Bobby Gruenewald, who oversees innovation and technology at LifeChurch.tv, there was no question or hesitation about the church developing a Facebook application.

"Our application allows people to 'attend' our Internet Campus' live experiences through their Facebook profile," said Gruenewald. "It has a countdown to the next experience, and also allows you to invite your Facebook friends to learn about the current message series."

Just like Watermark, LifeChurch.tv sees Facebook and social networks as a way to share the gospel through relationships. Adding a unique application that is tied to something a user is passionate about—their church, their daily devotions, their God—is an unobtrusive way to let other people know about one’s spiritual journey. Gruenewald says, "It is important for the Church to not be absent, but instead be engaged in reaching people who don't know Christ.” He adds, “Social networks are a tool that can accomplish that goal."

Thousands of users have installed LifeChurch.tv’s Internet Campus application, and Watermark has collected story after story of people unaffiliated with its church who have chosen to install Join the Journey. These Facebook users, it seems, were looking for something meaningful among the multitude of Facebook applications. Miller's suggestion for churches that are thinking about building a Facebook application is to "find where it benefits the most. Build something that allows you to build relationships."

Watermark benefited from having several members of the development team from Credera, a business and technology consulting firm, as regular attendees who were willing to help develop the application as an offering. Credera's extensive experience (they have previously developed Facebook applications for Blockbuster and other high profile clients) enabled the Watermark staff to concentrate on their church members' needs and allow the experts to handle the technical side. Miller strongly suggested that churches look inward to find people with skills that can be used by the church, which presents congregants with new opportunities for serving their organization. (For interested parties, Facebook offers comprehensive resources for application development at developers.facebook.com.)

As they were developing the application, Miller and Watermark hit upon a tag line for their efforts and ideas, "Stop throwing sheep and do something useful." The phrase “throwing sheep” is derived from the popular Facebook application SuperPoke!, an application that offers users little in the way of actual value. On the other hand, the Watermark team was determined to use the development platform to create something with significance.

The world of Facebook and digital ministries is expanding rapidly. Many churches have all the necessary technological tools at their disposal to foster relationships and help believers connect with the Word. Churches like Watermark and LifeChurch.tv are opening the doors for authentic, life-changing interaction through wall posts, messages, and old school conversation.

Aaron Linne is a Digital Media Producer for LifeWay Christian Resources. He and his wife are small group leaders at their church, Mosaic Nashville. Aaron regularly writes on his blog at www.aaronlinne.com.