STEUBENVILLE, OHIO—Franciscan University of Steubenville has formed a partnership with Redeemed Online, one of the most dynamic and rapidly growing Catholic new media projects.

Redeemed Online was launched by Franciscan University alumnus Andy Lesnefsky ’02 in 2014 to “evangelize the digital continent” and to leverage the power of social media to share the Gospel more effectively.

“I had been working in the Church for nearly 15 years and noticed a lack of widespread digital evangelization,” says Lesnefsky. “Most digital content is only aimed at formation and those already in the pews. Redeemed Online is about taking the message to the digital streets: engaging disciples and proactively sharing great original content that shares the message of Jesus to a wide variety of people, as well as helping other organizations do it themselves.”

One feature of the partnership will be mutual promotion of a series of one-minute videos throughout Advent on the theme “#JesusIS.” The videos feature Lesnefsky; Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, Franciscan alumnus of the Class of 1989, Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT; and Dave VanVickle, Franciscan Class of 2006.

The connections that make this partnership effective are the people involved: Father Pivonka, Sister Miriam James Heidland, and VanVickle have become familiar names to Franciscan University of Steubenville Youth Conference attendees over the years, while Lesnefsky’s brother, Bob Lesnefsky ’99, has spoken and performed at Steubenville Youth Conferences for many years, and this year became the assistant director of Households at Franciscan University.

Chris Krivoniak ‘04, director of Admissions for Franciscan University, is excited about the prospects for sharing the work Franciscan University is doing—both in the classroom for our students and as an instrument of the new evangelization.

“Franciscan University has inspiring professors who prepare our students intellectually for their careers, but we’re about so much more than that,” says Krivoniak. “We are about reaching people where they are and helping them come to know God better. This extends through our Missions of Peace and other missionary activities to our well-known Steubenville Summer Conferences and our social media activities.

“Partnering with Redeemed Online was a natural fit to help spread the word about what we are doing here at Franciscan as well as to help Redeemed Online reach more people with the good news of who Jesus is.”

You can learn more about Redeemed Online and sign up for the daily Advent emails here.