parish

The Bad, the Good, and Hope - by Matt Warner

This presentation was given at the 2011 Catholic New Media Conference. Below are my notes on the presentation:

The Bad News

• The Catholic Church is out of control ... of our message.
• Being overly cautious about our message has been detrimental to our image.
• Catholics aren't really using Catholic new media; they're not really using old media either...
  • 2% of Catholics follow religious/spiritual material on Facebook.
  • 11% listen to Catholic radio.
  • Reason? Catholics aren't 'not interested in Catholic media' – Catholics aren't interested in their Catholic faith.
• Technology is not going to bring people back to the Church. YOU are. People are. Needs meaningful relationships.
• Online Search (we stink)
  • Examples: Jesus (nothing Catholic on the first page), God (nothing Catholic on the first page), "Who is God?"

The Good News

• Good examples: Catholic Channel, CatholicTV, CTT, CatholiCon, DivineOffice.org, blogs, etc.
• Pope Benedict gets it.
• We are slowly rekindling a missionary spirit.
  
• There is less blaming others and more doing our part.
• Recruiting talent and leaders.
• Entrepreneurial Evangelization: Where is the Catholic Silicon Valley? Who will incubate great Catholic ideas?
• Idea: Turn the parish's annual financial report into a statement of mission, success.
  • "Donors don't want to support a spreadsheet. They want to support movements. We need to tell our stories."
• We live in exciting times!

Lisa Hendey

This presentation was given at the 2011 Catholic New Media Conference. Below are my notes on the presentation:

Why Bother?

• Educate about the Church
• Provide parish information
• Outreach to interest groups
• Build community

10 Best Practices for Parish Websites

From Craig Berry:

1. Useful contact us page
2. About Us/History Page
3. Prominent use of Social Media
4. Online Map/Directions
5. Calendar of Events
6. Weekly Bulletins
   
7. Blog
8. Site Map
9. Mass Times
10. Donate Online

What Parishioners Want (from online polling)

1. Priestly presence (this can be easy or hard)
2. Ministry schedule information
3. Homilies available online
4. Q&A with Pastor
5. Photos, photos, photos!
6. Religious education resources
7. Opt-in text reminders
8. Bulletin online early
9. Mobile version
10. Online forms and registration
11. Active Facebook presence for wired parishioners and teens
12. Online stewardship
13. Ride sharing resources

Outreach

• We are at the service of the Word.
• Never neglect human relationships.

Is social media right for your parish?

From Jared Dees, Today's Parish

• What are my parish's goals?
• Does the parish website align with these goals?
• Do I have the time and people to participate in social media?
• Will I be able to relinquish control of the conversation?
• Are you ready?

Building Community

• Involve many and non-traditional volunteers
• Offer cultural and linguistic diversity
• Include photos (within existing usage policies)
• Meet them where they are
• Establish a parish hastag
• Activate youth and young adult resources and don't forget "wired" seniors
• Hang Out (on Google+)
• Find a Knight in shining armor
• Check in at church

Dealing with Resistance

• What are some of the best practices for overcoming resistance in social media efforts in the parish?
  • Parish leaders are often unable to see the online component of the parish as more than a 'publishing medium'
  • Assure leaders that you can put limits and boundaries on things so it doesn't grow out of control or too expensive
  • You can still have active and beautiful online presences without vast resources
  • Start small, and incrementally grow. Sometimes you just need to take a small step, and then wait.

Hall of Fame

• ourladyofhope.net
• Nativity Catholic Church
• St. Mary's Catholic Center
• Introduction to New Translation of the Roman Missal
• eCatholic
• St. Clement Catholic Church
• St. John the Baptist in MA (couldn't find link)
• Lisa M. Hendey

Since the announcements seem to be making the rounds today, I figured it would be a good time to post this little bit of news to my blog: I'm leaving my position in the Archdiocese of St. Louis to pursue another opportunity!

Starting May 2, I'll be working with a great new team of Catholics for flockNote, a service/website for Catholic parishes and organizations to help register individuals and send them, well, "Notes!"

I've been working for the Archdiocese of St. Louis for almost three years, first in the Catholic Youth Apostolate, and for the last year as the Director of Web Development, and it's been a wonderful experience. I'd like to sincerely thank everyone in the Curia of the Archdiocese of St. Louis for some great professional development, wonderful memories, and for being in a very wonderful and Catholic workplace (we had Mass in the building almost every day that I was working there!).

During my time with the Archdiocese, I was privileged to help with the following:

• Rebuilding archstl.org, stlouisreview.com, stlyouth.org, reapteam.org, cycstl.net, and many more websites.
• The announcement and installation of a new Archbishop and a new Bishop.
• The elevation of an Archbishop Emeritus to a Cardinal (hello to Archbishop Burke!).
• Catholic STL - a free app for Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
• Two Catholic New Media Celebrations (San Antonio and Boston).

It has been an amazing and life-changing experience working for the Archdiocese... and in my personal life I also went through some huge changes: dating, engagement and marriage, building a cool Catholic news App, starting up LOLSaints.com, collaborating with hundreds of other Catholic developers on Open Source Catholic, and doing other amazing things.

And now, I'm going to be working as the Chief Technology Officer for flockNote. flockNote is a service that is (mainly) for Catholic parishes to help them 'connect with their flock.'

In the past 10 years, the trend for many software solutions and services has been a move 'to the cloud.' The same trend is beginning to appear in Church communications, and flockNote will be at the leading edge of communications tools built for parishes (and other Catholic organizations).

flockNote promises to make communication simple and effective. I'll be involved in some really awesome projects right out of the gate—and I'll be heavily involved in Drupal hacking for the first couple months, at least!