Sharing Jesus, digitally
A church in Wales has used the digital space to share Jesus – and has seen dozens of people make a profession of faith
“Why follow Jesus 365” is a Facebook page that does as its title suggests – it shares reasons to follow Jesus and engages in subsequent discussions.
The page was created by Paul James of Eden Church, Penarth after he initially felt prompted by God to write a book about straight forward reasons to follow Jesus. It launched on Valentine’s Day, 2020 (“What better day to talk about the real love that lasts a lifetime?” he says).
Paul received the backing of his church and minister Simon Jennings. It celebrated its two year anniversary in 2022. At the end of 2021 Paul shared this message:
“We started to share the love of Jesus in Feb 2020. So much has happened since then including lockdowns ?? but we have ALSO learnt God is good all the time.
“In the last year we have been joined by more than 200 new people taking the number of page followers to 800 followers ?? and a growth in reach this year of 68 per cent reaching 163,000 people. So thank you everyone and we pray you are blessed by the posts.
“Most importantly though we have seen about 70 people make a profession of faith and deciding to follow Jesus AND that is what we are really about.”
Those who make a profession are discipled through their first steps online and when ready referred to churches near them so that they can continue to grow.
In a video interview with South Wales Baptist Association, Simon said: “So many people have been enthused and encouraged… I sense it's a catalyst for the development and the growth of the evangelism gift within the church.”