|
By Peter Biggs
TRINITY Baptist Church in Kelowna is one of the
Okanagan’s largest churches, with about 2,000 in attendance.
Six months ago, the church designed and launched its
own online networking community, called ‘groupLife.’
Social networking utilizes the web to meet many needs;
however, churches have generally been slow to adopt the concept. Most
church websites function somewhat like a digital billboard, and interaction
between members is minimal. The Trinity initiative is an exception.
The groupLife site has around 300 members. One of them,
Caroline, is still fairly new to Kelowna – and told BCCN she has found groupLife
very useful.
“I only moved here three months ago. I now have
17 ‘friends’ on the site.”
As a relative newcomer to the church, Caroline is
enthusiastic about how groupLife has helped her become part of Trinity; it
also reminds her of a certain immensely popular website. “It keeps me
updated on events, and works very much like Facebook.”
The groupLife site has an impressive homepage. However,
other levels are only accessible to members.
“We don’t allow any
anonymity,” groupLife designer Colin Parker told BCCN. “Everyone has to sign up to
participate – and we require addresses and phone numbers.”
Continue article >>
|
The groupLife site is inviting, declaring:
“This community makes it easy for you to connect
to people, more deeply than you could in most other online sites . . . No
perfect people allowed. Come as you are . . .
“If you don’t see a group that matches your
interests, create one and invite us. This is a place where you can connect,
learn, share and contribute. This is a community to create even more
community.” trinitygrouplife.com
March 2009
|
