The Center for the Church in the 21st Century has produced an iPhone app for use by students and accessible to all. Available free from the Apple iTunes store, the app’s features include God in Scene, a photo album for sharing inspirational images; and a Prayer Map that highlights places on and around campus where members of the Boston College community “have found space for cultivating the habit of reflection and prayer.” (Each suggested site is accompanied by a photograph, a map, and a priming prayer by a noted religious thinker such as Pedro Arrupe, Simone Weil, or Julian of Norwich). At Pray for Me, visitors can request prays for themselves, family, or friends in a public forum, inviting support from others. The feature called Engage offers an annotated list of opportunities through the University to be of service, attend retreats, seek spiritual formation, and gain leadership experience. Designed by Dario Baldoni ’12, it allows students to check off programs of interest, so that they may be contacted and provided with more information. The C21 app is also a portal to podcasts (some 300 at present), videos of C21 events, the C21 calendar, and features from the Center’s magazine, C21 Resources. According to Karen Kiefer, associate director of the center, the app is a way to reach a “technology-driven generation”; the center also tweets and has a Facebook page. Users of the Droid, Blackberry, and other smartphones can access a similar mobile version at www.bc.edu/mc21.

Thomas Cooper

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