JOE SUH
MyChurch.org

JOE SUH’S STORY STARTS like that of so many others before him. After a few years of high-tech employment in Silicon Valley, Suh and his wife Carol took a leap of faith on a startup of their own. The difference? Their figurative leap was literally one of faith: The duo launched MyChurch.org, an online social networking site similar to MySpace.com — but designed with houses of worship in mind.

This Silicon Valley techie watched the Internet evolve and recognized the change it brought to interpersonal interactions. After seeing churches “try and fail to communicate on the Internet,” Suh put his computer science background to task, figuring he could create an online environment that would enable churches to better reach out and spread their messages. “Understanding their problems, while seeing their potential, gives me a unique opportunity to use my skills to benefit the Kingdom,” he shares.

The MyChurch application Suh and company created mimics MySpace or Facebook; users can create a profile, keep a blog, find friends and family, and “show which church, fellowship or ministry they belong to,” Suh reports. MyChurch also enables the church itself to create a tailored profile, allowing administrators to “truly harness the power of the social networks of their members to evangelize and outreach.”

As a 20-something and recent UC Berkeley grad, Suh has a keen insight into what motivates and interests college kids. “I think college students are the most interesting and challenging group to outreach to,” he admits. He knew the best way to reach this often-elusive population was by “meeting them on their own turf — Facebook.com.” By creating the MyChurch application on the Facebook platform, he and his team have opened doors between churches and colleges. Students already on the social networking site are now easily able to incorporate faith-based content on their profile pages, and churches can reach out directly to both existing congregation members and potential new ones.

MyChurch.org celebrated its first birthday recently. Although practically in its infancy, MyChurch already boasts more than 10,000 registered churches — an encouraging statistic that drives Suh to continue on his path.

“Seeing, hearing and observing how churches are using their MyChurch community is the greatest motivation for me,” he explains. “It blesses me to know that my work gives a platform for people to tangibly help and encourage one another. It is so humbling to hear stories from pastors and parishioners alike being blessed by the conversations and relationships they’re fostering on MyChurch.org.”

Not surprisingly, Suh is inspired by others using technology to spread the Christian message. Innovators such as John La Grou and Lee Hjalmarson of the Wikiklesia Project, an online collaborative publishing site, are “embodying what this so-called Web 2.0 movement is about — conversations and collaboration,” he says. “By publishing a book by 40 authors, they’re tangibly demonstrating how revolutionary yet abstract ideas, like a virtually connected church and a participatory wiki, form into a work that benefits the Kingdom.”