Jesuit Says Church Must Use Today’s Social Media to Tell Stories
14 October 2010
If Jesus wasn’t afraid to speak about the birds of the air, why should the Church be afraid to tweet, Jesuit Father James Martin asked as he addressed a communications luncheon hosted by the Diocese of Brooklyn in Manhattan recently.
Fr. Martin, the author and culture editor of America magazine, urged Church communicators to employ Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
“The lack of attention to these sites conveys the impression that they are somehow beneath you,” Fr. Martin said. Yet Jesus wasn’t afraid to speak in the language of the people of his time, he pointed out.
“The parables were vivid stories, simple stories about farmers planting seeds, women sweeping their house, a man being beaten by robbers—and easily understood by nature—a mustard seed, lilies, birds, clouds,” he said. “Jesus spoke the language of the people around him.”
He spoke about the institutional Church’s use of digital media in its mission to proclaim the Gospel in the United States, saying the Church succeeds when it has a firm presence on the Web.
“Their sites are there for the devout and the doubtful, and are great repositories of useful information,” he said. But he said some are dull, unimaginative, static and hard to navigate.
He challenged Church communicators to make the sites more interactive and use more than just text. He suggested more video, podcasts, slideshows and conversation. “Otherwise, don’t be surprised at the lack of hits.”
Fr. Martin found some good news in the fact that members of the hierarchy are bloggers. Challenges here include creating a real dialogue and allowing readers to respond in an honest and frank way.
“Accepting or publishing all those comments that are prompted by blog posts, even ones that disagree with Church teaching, is another challenge which demands, besides some gentle correction and frequent catechesis, complete charity,” he said.
“No medium is beneath us, especially when it comes to proclaiming the Gospel,” he said. “How terrible it would be if we didn’t use all the tools available to us to communicate the Word. Inexcusable, I think.” [www.dioceseoftulsa.org]
I do, I do! I'm trying to spread the "Good News" through Twitter, Facebook, and my numerous blogs. The Gospel needs to go out to all the world!
Deacon John
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.