'Christian Facebook' takes off at Soul Survivor

                                                                                                                                                                25 August 2009

Church Army pronounced its participation in Soul Survivor 2009 a resounding success, following a busy two weeks speaking to thousands of young people.

Chief Executive Mark Russell had enthusiastic audiences for each of his six speaking engagements, and dealt with many questions about Church Army from teenagers eager to know more about evangelism. This year he was also able to direct interested festival-goers to the Church Army stand in the Toolshed building, where staff were on hand to provide details of the Xplore global gap year programme and the new, interactive website Make Jesus Famous.

Everyone signing up to the free website had their photo taken and displayed at the stand. Eventually, every available space was covered in photographs. Make Jesus Famous became such a talking point that many teenagers at Soul Survivor dubbed it 'the Christian Facebook'.

Communications Officer Richard Chambers said: "We're delighted at the response we received, both at Mark's seminars and in the Toolshed. Over a thousand people visited our stand to talk to us about how they are sharing faith all over the UK and Ireland. Our fantastic staff put in very long hours to speak with teenagers about Church Army's work. They also distributed our literature (including Share It and Inspire magazines) signed up nearly 900 users to www.makejesusfamous.org.uk, and helped to recruit 18-25 year-olds to the Xplore programme."

Church Army's summer events programme continues with the Greenbelt festival later this week, where evangelists will be engaging face-to-face with audiences. There will also be the opportunity to sign up to Make Jesus Famous, have your photo taken, and appear in the Church Army film!