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As a participant in the Digital Discipleship Boot Camp offered by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in the fall 2013, I became convinced that our bulletins and other printed forms of communication are not reaching the millenials (and some older people as well) effectively. Apparently, if it is not on the Web, it doesn’t exist for some of these techno-savvy people! Therefore, I approached the pastor about the possibility of beginning a parish Facebook page. He was supportive of the idea and gave me the go-ahead. I set up the parish Facebook page by accessing my personal Facebook page and clicking on the settings icon (which looks like a gear/cog). The dropdown menu lists “Create Page.” After clicking on this, I followed the instructions to upload the photos for the cover and profile picture, as well as completing the profile information. The profile information gives the opportunity for a short description, a long description and a statement of mission. I chose to edit our mission statement and post it as a short description, because I believe fewer words often have more impact, especially in this setting. For step by step instructions, with pictures, see “How to Create a Church Facebook Page”: [] My first post was to upload photos of our annual Pet Blessing event, taken by a staff member and a participant. Facebook gives the option of creating an album as well. We are saving these photos to create an online archive for our webpage. Other posts include staff changes, links to the diocesan and Vatican websites, and photos from the National Catholic Youth Convention. The opportunity to see photos of parishioners is very popular. Promoting the Facebook page takes constant invitations by word of mouth, in the bulletin, on the parish website and in emails to parishioners. Every invitation gets some uptick in the number of friends and likes, but is not sustained without repetition. Facebook analyzes the number of likes, friends, engagements and compares these numbers in a weekly email. They also provide a breakdown of men and women, language, city and nationality, comparing this to all Facebook pages. It is not only interesting to see how far is the parish “reach”, but it is motivating to keep the invitations going. I have only been able to get one other staff person to commit to posting at least once a week, along with myself. I am disappointed to learn that the other Faith Formation staff are not interested in being on Facebook themselves and therefore have no access. A new business manager is coming on board in 2014 who is highly digital in his communication. I fully expect him to help educate and motivate the rest of the staff along these lines. It is my intent to strategize with him and the youth minister who is posting already. As the page becomes more popular as a means of communication, other staff members and parishioners will see the need to post items of information and inspiration, as well as photos reflecting parish life. Since our page is open to parishioner posts, I am developing a group to oversee the content to ensure respectful communication. Those wishing to start a parish Facebook page may wish to read “Setting Up a Facebook Presence for your Church” at []. This article has practical suggestions about privacy issues, ideas about what to post (i.e., questions from the pastor’s sermon) and tips about the tools (ie, how to get a better URL address). Since we are struggling to get all the staff on board, I found the link to the article, “Ten reasons your Church Should be on Facebook” really helpful. It answers the question, “why bother?” with statistics and practical guidance. The process of establishing a parish Facebook page has broadened my experience and image of the Church. By friending a number of parishes’ Facebook pages to see what is posted and how, I have come to a deeper appreciation of the vigor of our Catholic presence on the web and in the world. As I seek new posts to keep our own parish Facebook interesting, I look at parish life with renewed gratitude for the variety of ways in which people engage their faith. To paraphrase a popular statement credited to St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel always, if necessary, post it!”