Churches like Mt. Zion Baptist in Tennessee have been partnering with Facebook to meet the challenges of community building in the information age. According to a new report from CBN News, the megachurch recently teamed up with the social media giant to welcome its 30,000 members at their five weekend services. As congregants entered any one of the church’s five locations throughout Music City, they were greeted by smiling Facebook employees inviting them to laptops where they could learn to use technology to connect with other church members.
Mt. Zion’s senior pastor, Bishop Joseph W. Walker III, told the outlet that connection is one of the greatest challenges of church life. This is why his church teamed up with the social platform to launch a Facebook group on the church’s public page.
The church came to the attention of Facebook’s manager of faith-based partnerships, Nona Jones, when other pastors heralded the church’s commitment to reaching those generations that have a large contingency of digital natives.
Jones says that partnerships like this are not new. She told CBN: “Facebook is committed to communities of faith. We work with leaders of influential churches around the world to help us better understand what are the products and tools that are needed to build community on our platform.”
Facebook also partners with churches with more recognizable names including: Elevation Church, Life.Church and The Potter’s House.
