Evangelization is taking new forms through new media and at times we hope to feature good examples of these. I learned recently of a new Facebook application called Face Forward designed by the vocations office of the Diocese of Columbus in Ohio. This app really meets the youth where they are. Fr. Jeff Coning, vocations director for the Diocese of Columbus, seems to really get that if we are going to increase vocations we need to be where the kids are and engaging them on their level.
Face Forward is more than just a social network for youth to engage with one another and priests in a safe environment, it is also a very good tool for catechesis of the youth. They have a quiz challenging kids to know their faith, they have a section called “Mass Musings,” and the vocation director even has his play list up for the kids to listen. As another example, recently they posted a video on the “O Antiphons” for Advent. This is really instructive for the youth! I spoke with Father Jeff who described interesting and engaging features to come and discussed that he is going to get the seminarians to help write on the site. I am excited to watch this site grow and expand, and I will be interested to see its effects on vocations for years to come. For readers with teenage kids, I encourage you to check out Face Forward. While the events and the information is local to Columbus, Ohio, I think the idea is worthy of mention as a great example of the new evangelization and something I hope spreads across the nation.
Please take a moment to “Become a Fan!”
As a reminder, Ryan has been working to do a similiar thing (bringing Christ to others through the use of the new media) with iPhone apps. Download the latest one on the Rosary (it’s free).
