And now a word for all you pastors, DRE's, parish councils, youth ministers, church staffer and volunteer types...

In the past year, I've spoken to many Church people both online and in person about the benefits of using new media for evangelization and catechesis... and the bottom line is, well, we Church peeps are slow to adopt these technologies.

But the truth of the matter is, we cannot ignore that our parishioners and our future parishioners are online NOW, and so that is where the local church needs to be.

Still need to be convinced?  Check this out, and pay attention, this video is exactly a year old, and already some of the stats are out of date--in other words, the numbers are larger (!):


New media is not a fad or something just for tech-savvy youngsters. It is not going away. New media is changing the way we live and work. When I was promoting the CNMC this past August, I wrote some of my thoughts about the subject here.

I cannot think of a single good reason to delay...

• Too expensive? Using twitter, facebook, and most blogging sites are free.
• Too time-consuming? So is chasing down your church membership, and using other communication methods like phone-calling and direct mail. Imagine the time saved by better, more stream-lined communications... right to folks' email or phones.  
• Don't have the "know-how"? This is the mission field for the laity. Talk to your parishioners. Poll them. Find a few techie geeks who can help you take baby steps until you can hire someone fulltime in this ministry. Oh yes. It will come to that. Within the next 5 years if not sooner. 

The NEEDIEST and MOST IMPORTANT frontier for this technology is the local parish setting or Christian organization. We must learn to maximize it and use it wisely and decisively.

Here's Matthew Warner, a young Catholic entrepeneur with a few more ideas on the subject. (Disclaimer: I have no fiscal interest in Matthew's company, FlockNote. I just think he's got a useful idea worth considering.)  



I'm not in new media 'cuz I'm a technogeek. I'm in it because of a like-mindedness that Christian share: The Church is on a mission to tell the world that Jesus loves them!  Join in!

And, by the way, if you're a catechist and you have some ideas how we can catechize via new media, let's connect by meeting in the combox below.