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Capstone Essay Kristi Jenkins

The 2011 Summer Institute in Technology Ministry was an eye opening experience that has shifted my paradigm of ministry. As the course progressed, I realized that technology could be applied in two ways: a) administration of the parish or individual ministries: to become more effective in our data management, communications and outreach, as well as b) actual teaching of children and adults within the catechetical ministry. Parishes need to take steps to integrate technology into their everyday operations in order to grow their communities and bring the Gospel to younger generations.

In the courses, the survey of today’s actual technology usage proved that learning how to communicate with digital natives is necessary (and no longer just a nice option) to be relevant in their lives. [i] In part due to the advent of Web 2.0 technology, people no longer look to experts who mass-produce answers, which is the dominate style of mass-media communication. Instead, there is a premium placed on the opportunity to communicate and engage with others, so that people are discovering answers and creating ways to share content themselves [ii]. In terms of parish life in general, this means a major shift in how staff and volunteer ministers identify and fulfill their roles in the community. Parishioners and especially non active Catholics need to be engaged in a variety of ways to be drawn into discovering and practicing their faith. Staff are no longer experts telling others what God wants, but mentors helping people discover God’s voice in their lives.

Also, the SITM gave me an awareness of the sheer variety of websites and processes available to a parish (right now! and for low cost!) that brings both hope and excitement for what’s possible in the area of religious education. As a result of the Institute, I have updated my Formation blog to feature pictures of student work as well as parent podcasts on the Gospel, and unlocked the comment feature. Our parish Facebook page is updated regularly, with increased interaction after I learned how to read the ‘insights’ (analytics) that showed more responses to parish-specific posts. Our staff is laying the groundwork to develop a technology ministry.

Any pushback from staff and ministers, I believe, is due to a fear of technology replacing __all__ in-person communication and thereby weakening or even destroying the parish community. Since most parish staffs are “digital immigrants”, there may also be a weariness induced by the dizzying speed of progress, and possibly even concerns for their own job security. Yet the ISTE National Standard 5 for Teachers clearly calls teachers to engage in professional growth online. [iii] When technology is seen as a helpful tool, staff can take advantage of low-cost, online education from a variety of respected Catholic organizations, such as courses from the University of Dayton or webinars from [|www.TeamRCIA.com].

I believe a ministry mindset offers two gifts to the digital world: 1) theological reflection encourages mindfulness and awareness of why we engage [iv], and 2) the Church’s continued teaching on the dignity of people and importance of community reminds us to use technology as a tool to develop relationships and community. In other words, ministers can call forth the best of digital natives by encouraging them to reflect on when, how and why they post or tweet; and we can help develop strong communities by recognizing another person’s real presence behind the screen. In turn, I believe that using technology appropriately can help our parishes become more effective, vibrant and relevant in fulfilling our mission of being and bringing Christ to his people.

[i] This article talks about public education, but the same parallel holds with religious education and ministry: [|http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/07/beyond-facebook-teaching-at-risk-youth-to-create-digital-media/#more-13953] [ii] The International Society for Technology in Education has developed National Standards for Students and Teachers. See Standard 1 [] [iii] Ibid., Standard 5. [iv] For example, to start discussions with youth and their parents, see the USCCB’s Guidelines on Social Media Usage: []

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