The use of social media tools in ministry is one of the priorities of Benedict XVI and one of the challenges facing those who do ministry. The Holy Father has urged priests and those in pastoral ministries to take advantage of these new tools to proclaim the gospel and bring others to Christ. For ministry leaders already balancing many different priorities—social media might be the last thing they want to…
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A Mission-based Web Presence Needs to be Engaging
When most of us think about web presence, we are only thinking about our website. Web presence is much more than that. It is true that the website is usually the centerpiece of web presence, but a website (even a “great” website) alone is not enough to have an effective web presence. Today, an organization, religious community or ministry also needs to be interacting with their constituents via email and…
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Internet Ministry Can Serve Many People
In our reading of the gospels, we learn that Jesus engaged people individually and in large groups as he preached and taught his message. He walked the length and breadth of his homeland to be with them. We who follow Jesus accept his commission to take his message to the whole world (Matthew 28:18-20). Today that includes to cyberspace where many people are gathering. They go online for information, goods,…
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The Internet Needs High Quality Catholic Content
Catholics (and the Gospel in general) are a feeble voice in the hurricane of media messages generated by a rather out-of-control culture. Many Catholic voices on the Internet seem as poorly informed as they are vocal… This comment from a respondent to my Getting Started Survey has some truth to it. Not everything that is online and tagged as “catholic” represents the best of the Catholic Church. More importantly, the…
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Focus on Mission and Technology Will Follow
In a survey that I put out a few days ago, I invited respondents to submit any questions they have about technology and mission. The majority of these respondents, like you, are already sold on using technology for mission. Many of them asked the question that I hear again and again “How can we get [fill in the blank] to see the importance of having a web presence, (using email…
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Church Ministry and the Digital Age Part II
The Catholic Church has always been in the forefront of using communications media for mission and ministry. Pope Paul VI wrote in On Evangelization in the Modern World, “The Church would feel guilty before the Lord if she did not use these powerful means [of social communication] that human skill is daily rendering more perfect. It is through them that she proclaims “from the housetops” the message of which she…