| THE social-networking site Facebook has proved a successful recruiting ground for volunteer stewards for the Lambeth Conference — who are all required to be under 35 and to work for £50 a week.
A nun in the Solomon Islands made the suggestion by email to the Steward Manager, Dave Friswell, whose job has been to recruit the 60 volunteers required. Some recruitment was done by way of the International Anglican Youth Network and in conjunction with the chaplain to the University of Kent, the Revd Dr Stephen Laird. Further ideas were needed for contacting young adults in church communities across the UK.
“When I told my friends that I had been invited to be on Facebook by a nun, that went down well. They said: ‘You’re really in there, then,’” said Mr Friswell, who is 43 and part-time executive officer for the Melanesian Mission. Not only did volunteers apply through the site, but those accepted have begun to network with each other before the conference. “It’s helped to draw them together before they’ve even got to work,” he says.
The Archbishop of Canterbury had requested “young adults who were fired up by being part of a global Church with all its differences and difficulties”, Mr Friswell said. Languages were deemed important, and some of the stewards from overseas speak up to four apiece, not counting the Latin, New Testament Greek, and Hebrew offered by those who are theological students.
They come from as far afield as South America, Japan, Australia, and the South Pacific. They will be responsible for the smooth running of the conference, principally ensuring that people, papers, and resources are in the right places at the right time. They must be “fit and healthy and young enough to keep going . . . able to cope with difficult situations, stay calm and polite, have enough of a presence in a situation that needs control, and be willing to get up early and go to bed late”.
Applicants will be instructed on how to deal with difficult situations. They have had to give provincial rather than diocesan references. “They’ve got to be able to say No to their own bishop,” Mr Friswell says.
As a social-networking novice, he has found: “I’ve got a few friends now on Facebook, and get invites cropping up in my email.” |
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