Meet the Authors
Brandon Vogt is a Catholic layperson who blogs about theology, technology, social justice and books at ThinVeil.net. Vogt contributes the text’s introduction and conclusion while relying on authors with varied backgrounds and expertise to contribute the chapters: Father Robert Barron, Jennifer Fulwiler, Marcel LeJeune, Mark P. Shea, Taylor Marshall, Father Dwight Longenecker, Scot Landry, Matt Warner, Lisa M. Hendey, Thomas Peters, Shawn Carney. Additionally, the book includes a foreward by Cardinal Seán O’Malley and an afterword by Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan.
Book Basics
The Church and New Media is an up to date text showcasing how Catholics are successfully using new media that also provides practical insight for churches of all faith traditions that seek to better understand and more effectively utilize new media. The book is divided into four sections (New Media and Evangelization, New Media and Formation, New Media and Community, and New Media and the Common Good) each containing two or three chapters. Those with limited prior knowledge will find the book welcoming and easy to read thanks to the non-technical nature of the brief chapters and the inclusion of a glossary. Those actively engaged in new media will appreciate the breadth of examples provided by the contributors as well as dozens of sidebars highlighting how additional Catholic ministries use new media. Finally, Catholics will appreciate the attention to detail with regard to Catholic teachings on media, including Pope Benedict XVI’s call for Catholics to use new media.
So What?
Matt Warner’s chapter, “High-Tech Community: New Media in the Parish” should be required reading for any clergy and parish committees tasked with the ministry of congregational communication, especially if they serve in communities of faith that continue to rely heavily on print media distributed by hand to those who attend worship and by mail to a larger group. Warner suggests five rules for parish communication using new media:
- The parishioner is in control. We live in an age of permission-based communication.
- Your website matters. In this age, your parish website is often the first (and sometimes last) impression a visitor has of your parish.
- Reach people where they already are. You must push information out to people in the way they want to receive it, including e-mail, text messaging, blogging, podcasting, video, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.
- Don’t give up. Implementing a new communication system has its challenges – yet they’re worth overcoming.
- Engage their heart first. New Media is just that – a medium. It’s not all that inspiring by itself. What is inspiring is the truth and love it can communicate.
How well is your congregation doing with new media? What does the longer term plan look like and does it include adequate provisions for funding and evaluation?
Brandon Vogt, ed. The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet (One Sunday Visitor, 2011). ISBN: 9781592760336.