Tools

Contextualizing Baptism Personas

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To help me create a scholarly and relevant product that will be useful to people who might want to use the material, I’ve created two personas. One is a retiree using her free time to explore her interests. The second is a faith formation teacher looking for engaging class material.

Name: Maggie Jones

Demographic: 65, Female, White, Catholic (28% of Tolland County- citydata.com), Retired, Parishioner, Married
Descriptive Title: The Life-Long Learner
End Goals: Maggie wants to learn more about Christian history and stay connected with her community.
Quote: “Now that I’m retired, I can learn all the things I’ve always wanted to!”
A Day in a Life Narrative:

Maggie’s an early riser, waking up with the sun. After she’s eaten breakfast she logs onto her computer to check her e-mail, and skims through her inbox, looking through the subject headings of several list serves she’s subscribed to (27% of Religious Web Users subscribe to a list serve, and it’s more likely that people actively seeking out religious information will subscribe- Rainie, CyberFaith, Pew, 2001). She then checks Facebook for updates from her friends and family (40-49% of Boomers use social networks- Zickuhr, “Generations 2010”, Pew). She follows several organizations, one of which is her home Parish and a few other religious pages, on Facebook, and likes to read through their daily posts on her wall.

She occasionally volunteers for with her church (retirees volunteer an average of 30min a day- Brandon, “How Retirees Spend Their Time,” U.S. News and World Report.com, 8 July, 2013), like decorating for Christmas. Most of her involvement is going to Sunday services. She considers religion very important (43% of Boomers consider themselves strong members of the faith communities- Cohn and Taylor, “Baby Boomers Approach 65-Glumly,” Pew, 2010) in her life.

Now that she’s retired, she’s taken up learning about things she’s always wanted to, but never had the time for. She’s always wanted to visit the Holy Land, and has been reading up on Church History. One of her Facebook groups posted a link to “Contextualizing Baptism” and she started exploring the website. She enjoys exploring the ancient house church and imagines herself visiting one. She feels connect to other Christians of her community by reading their Baptism experiences (Religious Web Users use the internet to connect with their community- Rainie, CyberFaith, Pew, 2001)

End Goals: Maggie wants to learn more about Christian history and stay connected with her community.
Name: Lauren Kellogg
Demographic: 23, White, Protestant, Young Professional, Single, Volunteer Faith Formation Teacher
Descriptive Title: The Millennial Bible Study Leader
Quote: “I want to engage my Bible Study.”
A Day in a Life Narrative:

Lauren just graduated college. She’s moved back home (32.1% of 18-34 year-olds live with their parents- Fry “For the First Time in the Modern Era, Living With Parents Edges Out Other Living Arrangements for 18-34 Year-Olds”, Pew, 24 May, 2014) and just started her first professional job. Having just left her vibrant campus Christian community, she’s looking for community in her small town. She wakes up just in time to dress and eat before leaving for work. In her spare time she uses Facebook (where she often sees her friends share their faith and occasionally posts about it herself [46% of social media users see other share their faith and 20% share their faith- Cooperman, “Religion and Electronic Media, Pew, 6 Nov, 2014]), Instagram, and follows a few blogs (80-89% of Millennials use social media- Zickuhr, “Generations 2010”, Pew, 2010). When she comes home she eats with her family and preps for the small Bible study she started running at her local church.

Lauren often surfs the web looking for engaging material for her Bible study group (62% of spiritual leaders use the internet to find educational material- Larson, “Wired Churches, Wired Temples,” Pew, 20 Dec, 2000). The parish provides some materials (44% of churches post online youth material- Larson, “Wired Churches, Wired Temples,” Pew, 20 Dec, 2000), but Lauren wants to bring in more interactive elements to her meetings. She wants something interactive and informative.

Lauren mostly uses her congregation’s page on “Contextualizing Baptism” to discuss Baptism with her study group. They also love the interactive house church and the ruins capture their imagination.

End Goals: Lauren needs a website that young people with a variety of education can engage with. The writing needs to be accessible and navigation easy.

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