Using social media to reconnect non active youth to First Reformed Church of Hasbrouck Heights

A large number of recent participants in the First Reformed Church Confirmation program are disconnected from the life of the church. The use of social media by this age group is high with estimates ranging from 70-90%. The project engaged students in an online worship experience using Facebook as the primary social media tool.;Scripture, specifically the Gospels of Matthew and Mark instructs the disciples to go where the people are to preach the Good News. The Gospel message found it most willing audience among urban people who longed for a sense of belonging and worth. Urban people of the 21st Century long for the same sense of identity and belonging.;Throughout history the most modem means of transmission were used to share the Gospel. In the 15th Century the Gutenberg Press radically altered the transmission of bible texts and scriptural debate. In the 20 th century the advent of computer technology ushered in a new method to share information. In the 21st Century technology continues to alter the way humankind interacts. Facebook users number in the millions. Every former and current member of the Confirmation Class of First Reformed church maintains a Facebook profile. As I searched for a method to engage young adults in a worship experience, Facebook was the method the participants proposed. As the project progressed not only did the project target audience participate, an additional one to five hundred persons would log onto the First Reformed Cyber Church Facebook page.;Facebook is the new mission field for the Christian Church. Thousands of people are searching for meaning, clarity, and connection. The continuing success of the First Reformed Cyber Church Facebook site is witness to the longing for authentic Christian communities among the twenty to fifty age group.