Book Review: The Church And New Media by Brandon Vogt

About ten years ago, (Hmm...let me check my archives), no scratch that, about a year and a half ago (sheesh, it seems like ten years!) I was hosting the YIMCatholic Bookclub selection The Great Heresies by Hilaire Belloc. Looking for ways to get readers involved (a "new media" hallmark, no?) I asked for volunteers to cover several of "Old Thunders" chapters for me.

You know, like my wife does with her bookclub in our neighborhood. For the most part, folks were lined up none deep. But in the case of chapter 5, an earnest volunteer surfaced by the name of Brandon Vogt. He was a great helper, once I let him get a word in edgewise.

You know? This guy
needs to grow a beard!

Who knew what he was up too then? I reckon Our Sunday Visitor and God knew, but not me. Maybe it was 4 or 6 weeks later when I saw on Brandon's blog that he had signed a book contract with OSV. I thought to myself "Huh? Wow...this guy is on a mission!" And he surely was, and still is. A mission to spread the Word by any means possible. And to not be shy about using new forms of information technology to get that done.

Before going any further I'm going to say that this book belongs in every parish as a reference book. Period! If your parish office doesn't have this book sitting right next to the computer, they are (as aviators would say) flying upside down without instruments and don't even know it. That's serious!

Brandon has teased awesome essays from all sorts of knowledgeable folks while putting together this gem. A veritable Who's Who of Catholic bloggers (Jennifer Fulwiler, Mark Shea, Marcel LeJuene, Taylor Marshall, I think I got all the Aggies in there, etc.) and other creators of new media (Fr. Robert Barron, Matthew Warner, Tom Peters) share their insights on new media channels while also offering best practices in how to use these technologies to not only evangelize better, but to help people experience our Church better. And Brandon ties the whole thing together with interesting tidbits as diverse as relevant Conciliar documents to reviews of Catholic websites that are on the web currently.

But lest you get the idea that this is some dry, boring, reference book destined to only gather dust in the parish offices of the world, let me assure you that it is not. You need to read the book too, see, whether you are a creator of new media for the Church, or just Joe and Jane Six-Pack, "average pewsitter." Why? Because Catholics are called to do more than just show up at Mass on Sundays and this book will give you ideas on how to more effectively engage in the calling you are destined for: to spread the Good News to the world by any means necessary. This book is chock full of actionable ideas for accomplishing the mission of the Church. This may even be your ticket to figuring out your own calling too.

But don't just take my word on how solid a resource this book is. I'm a lilliputian compared to the folks weighing in on the value of this book. And I reckon I'm the last guy to review the book too. Just have a gander at the number of reviews over at The Church and New Media's Facebook page. Or check out it's Twitter feed. Did I mention the book's website? Oh, you want to see the trailer?



Survey says: It's a Go!

Seriously, Brandon has practiced what he is preaching by getting the word out about this book via every known channel of the "new media" that is available. Heck, he's an engineer too so he's probably developing some new channel in his off time as we speak. Did I mention all of the royalties from the sale of this book go towards establishing computer labs for the Archdiocese of Mombasa, Kenya?

Bravo Zulu Brandon! Thanks for writing and editing this helpful, important, nay, necessary book and for convincing all these great folks on the importance of sharing their ideas with the rest of us on how to bring the Good News to the many.