Embrace New Methods: The Intersection of New Media and Catechesis
This month I have a featured article in Catechetical Leader based on my TED-style keynote from the 2012 NCCL conference in San Diego. In honor of the 2013 conference currently underway I’m pleased to reprinted the article here. A wise Dominican sister I studied with in graduate school once described theologians as the “scouts” of the Church: part of their task is to run ahead, discover what is over the hills in the distance, and report back so that the Church can be prepared for what lies before us. With that in mind I write...
read moreRethinking “Religious Education”
Words are important, and the words we use to name things should signify something about the object being named. With that in mind I’ve grown restive about the terms we use to describe our catechetical ministries, especially those aimed at children and youth. It’s no secret that the titles used for parish formational programs are many and varied; in my diocese we tend to use PSR, which is commonly understood to stand for “Parish School of Religion,” although I’ve heard other variations as well. Other places use...
read moreWebinar Notes: Integrating Technology in Religious Education on a Parish Budget
Thank you again to Sadlier Religion for sponsoring my webinar today! Below are my slides, notes, and additional resources based on the presentation! Video Presentation Slides and Notes My notes for the presentation are available in PDF format. Books The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet, edited by Brandon Vogt (OSV, 2011). Technology Tools for Your Ministry: No Mousing Around! by Tim Welch (Twenty-Third Publications, 2008); technology books don’t always age well, but there is still some...
read moreFree Webinar: Integrating Technology in Religious Education on a Parish Budget
I will be offering a free webinar sponsored by Sadlier Religion on May 2: It should come as no surprise that technology is an increasingly important component in education. But how can catechists makes use of these tools without breaking the parish’s budget? In this hour-long webinar Jonathan F. Sullivan will outline three simple strategies for using low-cost tech solutions that are approachable and appropriate for parish-based catechesis. He will also walk you step-by-step through three sample activities that utilize these strategies....
read moreWhat the End of LucasArts Can Teach Us About Ministry
Two weeks ago Disney announced that, after purchasing LucasFilm from George Lucas a few months back, they are shutting down the company’s video game division, LucasArts. If, like me, you played computer games in the 1990s and 2000s, this is a time of grieving. LucasArts created some of the greatest games of the last two decades and gave me some of my favorite PC gaming memories: I flew against the Luftwaffe over Germany on my friend’s computer. I learned how to install additional RAM on my computer in order to steal the plans to...
read moreWebinar Notes: Using the Parish Web Site to Power Adult Faith Formation
Thank you to everyone who participated in my webinar “Using the Parish Web Site to Power Adult Faith Formation” sponsored by the Adult Faith Formation Committee of the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership! Here are the notes and links I mentioned during the presentation as well as the PowerPoint slides; I’ll have the video up as soon as it’s available. Video Presentation Slides Using the Parish Web Site to Power Adult Faith Formation from Jonathan Sullivan Books Branding Faith: Why Some Churches and...
read more3 Reasons Why Your Conference Needs to Offer Wifi
Last week on Twitter my friend Greg Dhuyvetter complained about the lack of wifi availability at the NCEA conference in Houston. My immediate, if snarky, reply was This surprises you? We’ve got to get better about supporting media users! RT @gdhuyvetter: NO WIFI!!!!! #ncea2013 — Jonathan Sullivan (@sullijo) April 2, 2013 The truth is, having worked on a number of conferences, I understand why wifi isn’t a priority. For one, it’s expensive. (Seriously; ask a convention center or hotel how much they charge for wifi....
read moreThe Image of the Man of Heaven
O God, who by the Passion of Christ your Son, our Lord, abolished the death inherited from ancient sin by every succeeding generation, grant that just as, being conformed to him, we have borne by the law of nature the image of man of earth, so by the sanctification of grace we may bear the image of the Man of heaven. Through Christ our Lord. ...
read more“For I have given you an example…”
Then after he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, being set down again, he said to them: Know you what I have done to you? You call me Master, and Lord; and you say well, for so I am. If then I being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also. - John...
read moreFree Webinar: Using the Parish Web Site to Power Adult Faith Formation
On April 10 I will be offering a free webinar in conjunction with the Adult Faith Formation committee of the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership: Everyone knows that they “need” a web site for their parish — but what do you do with it once you have one? How can you best use your parish web site to reach out to adults? And what does this have to do with the “New Evangelization?” This webinar, presented by Jonathan F. Sullivan, will assist parish catechetical leaders in strengthening their web site and...
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