Monday, September 06, 2010

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Matt Carter is Spiritual Director of The Well Chapel Hill, a new church in Chapel Hill working to reach the UNC community.  The Well is passionate about creation care and social justice issues.  Matt spent 9 wonderful years as campus minister at Kansas State University, and is immediate past president of the Campus Crosswalk Board.  Matt is married to Felicia, and they have three children ages 12, 10. and 8.  Matt coaches baseball, reads, enjoys music, and plays at web design.  A escaped both the University of Georgia and Harding University Graduate School of Religion with degrees before the faculty could stop him!

 

Find Matt on Twitter or Facebook
Five Good Reasons to Facebook Minimize 
 
Okay, so I’m not in the social networking generation.  I know some of you live in that world, and Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter are a part of your life.  For me, social networking is more of a task - part of my job description.  When I use it (and that is daily), it’s cross-cultural communication.  But I will say that it can be a huge blessing to us in ministry.  So, for you young whippersnappers, you already know this!  But for the old fogies - here we go.  Five good reasons to use Facebook in your ministry.
 

1. Matching names and faces.  At the start of a year or semester we all see new folks come to our churches and ministries.  If you’re like me, I remember the names and faces, but have trouble putting them together.  I store all of the information with the name, so when they remind me of their name, I remember the rest.  Facebook to the rescue!  When I meet someone and become their Facebook friend, I have a place to connect their name and face - I might even need to look over my friend list a couple of times between meetings to get it down.

2. Getting to know your people!  Taking a peek at someone’s Facebook page is an easy way to get to know a little bit about them.  This can help take your relationship beyond “where are you from?” and “what’s your major?” as you discover common interests in music, movies, and activities.  You may even take the time to play some Scrabulous, share a tree, or joust with a friend!

3. Communicating with your group.  By establishing a Facebook group for your ministry, you have a quick way to disseminate information to everyone.  People choose whether to join the group, so you’re not sending email to people who don’t want it, which is always a plus.  And those who miss a meeting don’t have to miss out on what’s happening.

4. Promoting events.  You can easily create “events” on Facebook.  Well, actually, the event should exist in real life, but Facebook is a way to promote and invite people to events.  By making the event “open”, people that would never hear about your activities any other way can learn about them and join in the fun.

5. Learning about your campus culture.  Okay, this might not sound as glamorous, but it is sure useful.  By looking at groups, events, videos, and pictures related to your campus, you can keep up with your world.  Type your campus name into the search box and be amazed at what you find.  Type in “UNC” and you’ll get over 1,000 groups and events!

***Special Bonus Reason***

Cary McCall (Kansas State University) reminds me of:

One-on-one Communication through Facebook Chat. Facebook Chat allows you to connect to your students live and personally, making it possible to have conversations that normally would not be possible or would not happen in many face-to-face circumstances. Some students are actually more willing to open themselves through this medium, therefore opening the door to powerful moments of ministry.
 
***End Bonus Material***
 

So there!  Talk back and let me know how social networking is helping your ministry.  You can find me on Facebook or at the Campus Crosswalk Facebook Group, and you can follow me on Twitter as carmatter.