Virtual Space, Real Religion

1. Virtual Space, Real Religion

2. The Question How should modern communications technologies fit into our strategy for Adult Faith Formation at St. Clare Church?

3. The Parish of St. Clare • Large • Affluent • Family-oriented • Homogeneous • Parish school • Stable

4. Emphasis on Adult Faith • Intentional, pervasive plan to implement GDC #59:"Catechesis for adults… must be considered the chief form of catechesis. All the other forms, which are indeed always necessary, are in some way oriented to it".

5. Goals of Catechesis • Deeper knowledge and love of Christ and the Church • Total commitment to Christ • Becoming a witness and proclaimer of Christ to the world GDC #80-#83

6. Tasks of Catechesis • Gain knowledge of the faith • Enable participation in liturgy • Moral formation • Learning how to pray • Participate in the life of the local church • Prepare to witness to Christ in society GDC #85-86

7. Making Meaning • Continuing development through reestablishing equilibrium • Embracing loss of meaning in order to establish new meaning may reveal God “Experience, assumed by faith, becomes in a certain manner, a locus for the manifestation and realization of salvation.” GDC #152

8. Transformative Learning • The goal is not to acquire information, but to know the world and be known • To question foundations and assumptions – ask “why?” • Emancipation from forces that are limiting, but taken for granted Toward an Adult Church, Jane Regan

9. Reflecting on Experience Extended Conversation • Time • Space • Trust • Relationship of learners together

10. Social Change • Our task of evangelization implies individual change is not enough • Reflection leads to action • Action returns to reflection

11. Internet Use Today“The new normal” • 73% of all American adults • 86% if household income $50K-$75K • 64% of users for religious/spiritual activity • Sources of information • Symbolic resources • Networking and interaction • Supplement, not substitute

12. The Church and the Internet The Internet is helping bring about revolutionary changes in commerce, education, politics, journalism, the relationship of nation to nation and culture to culture—changes not just in how people communicate but in how they understand their lives. Pontifical Council for Social Communications, 2002

13. Personal Experience • NPM Listserv • Time: approximately ten years • Space: email • Trust: changes have been made when this was threatened • Relationships: valuing expertise but no one is “teacher”

14. Parish Experience I am a recent recipient of the thought for the day. I enjoy reading them and look forward to them everyday. I particularly enjoy the writings from Camille. I truly connect with her writings. I print her "thoughts" and I share them with my husband and other family members. The thoughts of the day keep me focused and her writings make a particularly positive effect. Thank you Camille and thank you St Clare's for such a wonderful program.

15. Challenge and Opportunity for the Church • John Paul II compared the information revolution to the age of the printing press • Other documents: • Faith communities • Counseling, spiritual direction • New freedom for the faithful to communicate to the hierarchy

16. Already, the two-way interactivity of the Internet is blurring the old distinction between those who communicate and those who receive what is communi-cated, and creating a situation in which, potentially at least, everyone can do both. This is not the one-way, top-down communication of the past. As more and more people become familiar with this characteristic of the Internet in other areas of their lives, they can be expected also to look for it in regard to religion and the Church.

17. Religion On-Line • Supports top-down or center-out structures • Provides information • Controls the experience • Examples • Vatican web site • most parish web sites

18. On-Line Religion • Allows interaction and feedback • Enables discussion • Surrenders control • Examples • beliefnet • blogs • post-9/11 “folk” sites

19. Ten Principles for Designing Internet Applications for Adult Faith Formation

20. 1. Draw people to the local faith community • Hospitality • Don’t imply the internet replaces church • “There are no sacraments on the internet” • Local solutions

21. 2. Make a space for reflection • A place for their own words • Experiences to reflect on — scripture, liturgy, social action, life events • Permission to be open, honest and true to themselves • Protection

22. 3. Make space for conversation • Let people respond and react to each other • Allow questioning — even of authority! • Protect the conversation

23. 4. Make time for conversation • Days, weeks, months • Respect time commitments and schedules • Provide contemplative environment • Graphical • Pace • Complexity

24. 5. Build Trust • Is privacy required? • Anonymity • Restricted access • Internet security • Ethical behavior from technical support

25. 6. Give up control • Let the conversation flow • Allow users to decide what to do • This is hard for the institution!

26. 7. Include social change • Publicity and encouragement for service • Sharing responses after a project • Challenging groups to action

27. 8. Provide for diverse spiritualities • Different levels of spiritual growth • Different stages of life • Different needs and approaches • Different cultures • Consider the “New Evangelization”

28. 9. Recognize triggering events • What draws people to the parish? • Individual crises • Rhythms of parish and family life • Local, national, world events • Make it easy to connect • React on time

29. 10. Encourage relationships • Web site examples • Tech support – experts & questioners • Cruising • Information gathering threads • “Roll Call” threads • The possibility of meeting in person • A community of equals

30. Some Examples

31. Web site Telephone E-Mail Thought for the Day Faith Sharing that fits life Reflection on scripture

32. On-line Prayer Requests • Describes purpose and structure of Prayer of the Faithful • Link to current week prayer • Option for suggesting intercessions for coming week

33. Committee Minutes on Web

34. Companions OnLine

35. Where next? • Evaluation of our current web portfolio against the 10 principles • Identify where shortfalls exist • Look for examples • Develop proposals for new round of Adult Faith Formation proposals

36. Why? The Church would feel herself guilty before God if she did not avail of those powerful instruments which human skill is constantly developing and perfecting ... In them she finds in a new and more effective forum a platform or pulpit from which she can address the multitudes. GDC #160