The Catholic Church in New Media (#CNMC11)

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!

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