During my TED-style keynote at the NCCL conference last week I talked about the disruptive nature of technology — in particular how the low barriers to entry have helped to democratize access to new forms of communication. During the course of my talk I even went so far as to say that “publishing companies are becoming obsolete.”

This line generated more chatter on Twitter than anything else in my talk, with people debating the role of publishers and what exactly I meant:

@paprockij Perhaps Jonathan @sullijo means: publishers (& catechists?) not embracing “digital revolution” are “becoming obsolete.” #nccl2012

— Catholic @BarbaraKB (@CatholicMeme) May 8, 2012

@MeredithGould All need to embrace digital to expand learning: catechist, DRE, writer, musician, speaker, publisher. Or obsolete! #nccl2012

— Catholic @BarbaraKB (@CatholicMeme) May 8, 2012

While I wish I could claim some big insight or hidden meaning, I was actually being pretty blunt: with the advent of digital publishing platforms and the rapid adaption of ebook technologies traditional publishing companies are increasingly irrelevant. When any author can write up a text and publish it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble’s epublishing services, what need is there for a traditional publisher? Even marketing can be handled through blogs, YouTube trailers, and other new media outlets — indeed, high-profile bloggers are increasingly turning their online reputation into platforms for launching books.

Do I think that traditional publishers don’t have a role? Of course not — but that role will have to shift. Fortunately a number of Catholic publishers are experimenting with new media in exciting ways to connect readers with content of interest to them. Loyola Press’s DRE Connect site, Ave Maria Press’s professional webinars, and National Catholic Register’s blogs are three good examples of ways in which Catholic publishers are positioning themselves in this new media world.

The common thread is moving from distributing content to becoming a destination for readers to come and establish relationships. The more publishers can make this transition, the better positioned they will be to weather the digital revolution. Or, as my friend Barb said:

@MeredithGould If anything, being a trusted Catholic publisher with good digital material is even more important these days. #nccl2012

— Catholic @BarbaraKB (@CatholicMeme) May 8, 2012

What do you think Catholic publishing companies should do in response to the digital revolution?

Photo by Muffet/ flickrCC

Following are some of the materials from my presentations at the convention. It was a privilege to be asked to address the conference. If you were there I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments!

Embrace New Methods

This is the audio and slides from my Tuesday morning TED-style keynote address. I apologize for the poor audio quality; the session was taped and I’ll post the video here as soon as it is available. You can also download the slides from my presentation.

Click to play or download: NCCL2012 – JonathanFSullivan – Embrace New Methods

Resistance is Futile: The Catechetical Benefits of Being Assimilated by the Digital Culture

My Tuesday afternoon breakout session picked up from my keynote. This session is more conversational in style — thanks to everyone who participated!

The video I showed at the start of the session can be viewed on YouTube.

Click to play or download: NCCL2012 – JonathanFSullivan – Resistence is Futile

Conference Tweets

I tried to live-Tweet as much of the conference as I could. You can download a PDF of all my conference Tweets in case you’re looking for a specific quote or resource I sent out.

I’m heading off to San Diego today for the 76th annual National Conference for Catechetical Leadership convention and expo. I’ll also be attending an NCCL Representative Council meeting tomorrow.

Just like last year I’ll be live-tweeting the events, along with other attendees. Just look for the hashtag #NCCL2012. You can also come back to this page for updates:

Also, in your kindness, I would appreciate any prayers you could send my way as I prepare for my keynote address and breakout session on Tuesday. I am super nervous about presenting in front of 700+ people I consider to be colleagues and friends, so any grace you can send my way would be very appreciated.

But the highlight of the trip was on the second day when we drove 20 minutes to Champion, Wisconsin, to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. This shrine is located at the spot of the only Church-approved Marian apparition in the United States.

In 1859 Adele Brise, a youth Belgian immigrant, saw a woman in white standing between two trees. She was frightened by the vision, which reappeared a second time the following Sunday as she was walking to Mass. She asked a priest for advice and he told her she should ask it, “In the Name of God, who are you and what do you wish of me?”

On her way home the lady appeared again and Adele did as she had been instructed. The lady replied, “I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same.” Adele was also told to “gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation.”

Adele dedicated the rest of her life to catechizing the children of rural Wisconsin, walking from community to community and later founding a school at the spot of the apparition. (It was closed in the 1920s and is now a sandwich shop, but some of the original blackboards are still hanging up!)

Adele Brise is a wonderful example of the humility and perseverance needed for catechists today. The Blessed Mother’s call to “teach them what they should know for salvation” remains our calling whether as parents, catechists, Catholic school teachers, youth ministers, RCIA team members, or any number of other roles we play in our lives.

I pray that, during this month of Mary, the Queen of Heaven will pray for catechists everywhere that they may fulfill her son’s will to make disciples in his Church.

Our Lady of Good Help, pray for us!

I’m traveling to Green Bay today for their diocesan Adult Faith Formation Leadership Conference. Tim Welch of the Diocese of St. Cloud and I will be co-presenting. Tim will give a theoretical and theological foundation for new media; I’ll be discussing the “how-to” of integrating social media in catechetical programs.

Then, after a very brief layover at home, I’ll be in San Diego for the NCCL Annual Convention and Expo. I’m giving one of the TED-style keynote addresses as well as a companion breakout session. Both will focus on the challenge of catechizing in a shifting technological landscape. I’ll also be hosting the “Second Annual Un-Official NCCL TweetUp.”

If you’ll be at either event, please make sure to say “hi!” You can also follow me on Twitter to keep track of my adventures.

When I return blogging will pick back up with a new series I’m very excited about. See you on the other side!

The Lord is not impressed by numbers, but by the presence of faith, the broken and contrite heart, the meek, the humble and those who thirst after righteousness. The saints will endure and shine like the stars, the innumerable children of Abraham.

- James M. Kushiner

We’ll gather at Charlie’s Patio in the Town and Country Resort at 9pm (after the Sadlier Event) on Tuesday, May 8.

The TweetUp is not restricted to conference attendees; all Catholic social media users are welcome for an opportunity to meet with other bloggers and Twitter users, to network, discuss catechesis and social networking, or to just enjoy a cold drink at the end of the day!

This gathering is completely unofficial; it’s not in the conference program, so please help me spread the word through Twitter, Facebook, or your blog!

If you plan on joining us at the TweetUp, please send me a quick RSVP via my contact form so that I can let the bar know how many to expect. Be sure to wear your conference name badge (if you’re not attending the conference, I’ll have some name tags for you). Contact me for more information, and be sure to follow the conference on Twitter via the #NCCL2012 hashtag!

There’s a certain genre of Catholic writing that’s never particularly appealed to me. I’m not sure what to call it, but it encompasses parenting books and marriage advice, Catholic living and holiness “how-to”s.

The defining characteristic of these books tends to be a hoity-toity know-it-all attitude that exalts one way of parenting or spirituality as “the way” above all others, without regard to the rich diversity of the Church’s history and practice.

The Catholics Next Door is not that type of book.

In fact Greg and Jennifer Willits go out of their way to assure readers that they don’t have all the answers, that they are just like the rest of us poor schlubs trying to honor God while making a living, raising a family, and attending to the rest of life’s demands. But, as they point out, there is holiness in that imperfection. Call it a “spirituality of the screwups”:

In a way it helps to know we’re not the only screwups in this world. I suspect that many of the seemingly perfect parents sitting in the pew ahead of us at church, the ones with the angelic children, are screwups as well. I don’t know why that helps me, but it does.

It’s good to remind ourselves, especially when we’re ready to throttle a kid who just spray-painted a brand new set of golf clubs, that you were a screwup before your kid was. And you still are. But you’re getting better, with the help of God.

The Willits cover a wide range of topics in the book, from living with our neighbors to natural family planning, using technology for evangelization to the Eucharist. The connecting thread is a relentless focus on Christian living in the messiness and uncertainties of modern life. Jennifer and Greg take turns offering their own perspectives in short 2-3 page sections. This “he said, she said” style could have felt forced or trite, but the sections transition smoothly into each other and never feel jarring or forced. This is a testament both to their writing and to each author’s unique and engaging voice.

I especially appreciated their encouragement and advice on family prayer. They recount their own travails in praying with their five children (leading to the chapter’s title: “Family-Rosary Wrestling”) and, as with the rest of the book, assure parents that being a “work in progress” is nothing to be ashamed of: “There will be victories and head-smacking embarrassments. But as long as we maintain our focus on Christ, stay close to him in the sacraments, and remain loyal to the teachings of our faith to the best of our abilities, we will be equipped to handle any challenge Gods wants to put before us.”

The Catholics Next Door is a funny, inspiring, and down-to-earth book on Christian living. I recommend it to imperfect Christians everywhere.

The ‘descent into hell’ is as important as the other articles of the Creed (because it joins Old Testament with New, and shows Our Lord as the Centre of all history), but it is outside all our experience and imagination. Tell the children we have to make a picture of it as best we can.
The moment when Our Lord expired on the Cross was the moment when the atonement was made, the world was saved, the Old Law was ended, the New begun, Our Lord’s work of redemption complete. That is why He said: ‘It is finished,’ and why the Veil of the Temple (before the Holy of holies) was miraculously rent in two.
While Our Lord’s body still hung lifeless on the Cross, His Soul had gone straight to the world of departed spirits (‘Hell,’ Limbo, etc).
Picture a vast ‘place’ in the spirit world, and the souls of the just who waited there (we must picture the spirits in bodily form) — Adam and Eve whose sin had closed the gates of heaven, Abraham and the patriarchs who had believed so long ago, the prophets and kings who had longed for the Messias; David, Isaias, and myriads of others who had done God’s will as they knew it, down to holy Simeon and Anna, the Holy Innocents, John the Baptist, St Joseph himself all waiting patiently, and knowing the time near. Suddenly, the Soul of Jesus, bright with glory, appears in the sight of all, and they welcome Him with joy and adoration. He passes through them, with greetings for this one and that one, making His way to our first parents, and the second Adam meets the first Adam, with God’s message of full forgiveness.
Then to all the vast throng of spirits Jesus announces the Good News of Redemption. He fills their souls with the light of glory, spreading from the glory of His own Soul –as many lamps lighted from one and then (either now or at the Ascension) He heads them in grand procession into heaven.

- Rev. F.H. Drinkwater, Catechism Stories Part I: the Creed (1939)

As we prepare to celebrate the mystery of the Resurrection this Sunday, it is an opportune time to reflect on what we have done and experienced during our Lenten journey. Have we made this time of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving a renewal for the joyous dawn of Easter? Or have we gone through the motions and failed to

Sr. Joan Delaplane, OP, once wrote of Lent that

Yes, we are called to fast, to pray, and to give alms; but not as ends in themselves. Fast not only from food, but from the fear that God will not be our enough; fast from talking all the time and give, not only alms, but a listening ear to our children, our spouse, our colleagues; fast from nurturing anger and hurts and give forgiveness; fast from needing other’s approval and give God the glory… Fast from cynicism regarding our government or our times and write or call a legislator… The focus for those on the Way must be God, God’s people, God’s poor, and God’s Kingdom.

Of course, the truth is that we are called to do these things year round, to let our Lenten practice become our Christian witness. May God grant us the grace to carry on our fasting, prayer, and almsgiving as an Easter people born again through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.