The Gift of Media: Catechetical Leader Episode 011
The latest episode of the Catechetical Leader podcast is now live! This month I talked with Dr. Eugene Gan, associate professor of communication arts at Franciscan University of Steubenville and author of Infinte Bandwidth: Encountering Christ in the Media. We discussed the Church’s teaching on media, where to find good media, and how parents and catechists have a hand in forming children’s understanding and use of media. You can listen to the entire episode at www.CatecheticalLeader.org; you can also subscribe to the podcast on...
Read MoreBook Review: Infinite Bandwidth
One of the (good) problems about the Church is that she has a lot to say about a lot of things. This is good because the Church is concerned with many things and brings to bear the Gospel message on all facets of human life. It is a problem because wading through all the writings on a single topic — and walking away with a systematic understanding of that topic — can be time consuming and overwhelming, even for those of us used to reading ecclesial language. Infinite Bandwidth: Encountering Christ in the Media does the work for you by condensing and systematizing the...
Read MoreBook Review: The Church and New Media
I’ll get to the bottom line first: Brandon Vogt has edited one of the most important books on Catholics in the online world — not so much because of its ruminations on the Church’s understanding of social communications (I’ll review that book on Wednesday); not because it shows how to set up a blog or Facebook page (it would quickly be out of date if it tried to to that); but because The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet will inspire a whole new wave of Catholic innovation, experimentation, and expansion in the...
Read MoreThese Are a Few of My Favorite Things…
Today is Catholic Media Promotion Day, a day when when Catholics list “their favorite 3 blogs, 3 podcasts, 3 other media, 3 random Catholic things online, and their own projects.” Here, in no particular order, are my favorite Catholic: Blogs (Catechetical) This is a hard category because there are so many great ones! Among the ones I rarely miss: Catechist’s Journey Marc Cardaronella The Religion Teacher Scrutinies Blogs (Non-Catechetical) Building Cathedrals Domine, da mihi hanc aquam Whispers in the Loggia Podcasts This is another hard one for me, because I...
Read MoreBook Review: Branding Faith
“Marketing” is a bad word in church circles. It implies manipulation, impure intentions and other chicanery. This is not without reason; corporate marketing has become a science, with companies spending millions of dollars to understand the psychological and sociological impact of advertising. Many Christians, understandably, believe it would be unseemly — if not sinful — to employ modern marketing techniques on behalf of the Church. Phil Cooke‘s 2008 book, Branding Faith: Why Some Churches and Nonprofits Impact Culture and Others Don’t, seeks to change...
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