“The Church and New Media” Book Giveaway
"Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others." - St. Augustine
Since I've built up a large collection of extra books and resources, each week I give some away, absolutely free, no strings attached.
Each giveaway lasts seven days with a new one beginning every Friday. You can enter any time during the week. Check out my past giveaways here.
Today I'm giving away a SIGNED copy of a book I'm somewhat familiar with:
The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet
by Brandon Vogt
Our Sunday Visitor, 208 pages, paperback
Released on July 29, 2011
We’re in the middle of the biggest communication shift since the advent of the printing press. Facebook has over a billion users. People watch four billion YouTube videos every day. And last year alone, Americans sent 1.8 trillion text messages.
What does this all mean for the Church? How can Christians harness these new tools to reach out, teach, build community, and change the world?
The Church and New Media brings together innovators, experts, and visionaries on the relationship between faith and technology, packaging their wisdom into the definitive book on new media and the Church.
It shows not only how the Church can exist in the digital age, but how she can effectively proclaim within it. Here are just some of the many positive reviews:
“My expectation is that this book will give the Church courage and wisdom to embrace New Media as one of the premier gifts of God to evangelists of our day.”
— Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York
“This book demonstrates how New Media is already impacting the Church and outlines many practical steps for dioceses, parishes, and individual Catholics to embrace it more broadly….Everyone involved in Communications and Evangelization ministries for the Church should read it.”
— Cardinal Seán O’Malley, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Boston
“This book helps us understand both the potential and the challenges of blogging, tweeting and all the multiple forms of the new communications. I am pleased to recommend this very useful guide for individuals, parishes and diocesan workers who seek to use the new media to proclaim the Gospel and pass on the faith.”
— Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington
The book features chapters by:
Foreword
Cardinal Seán O'Malley
Introduction / The Digital Continent
Brandon Vogt
Part One / Put Out Into the Deep: New Media & Evangelization
Chapter One / The Virtual Areopagus: Digital Dialogue with the Unchurched
Fr. Robert Barron
Chapter Two / Into the Light: Sharing the Spiritual Journey
Jennifer Fulwiler
Chapter Three / Speaking Their Language: Connecting with Young Adults
Marcel LeJeune
Part Two / That the World May Know: New Media & Formation
Chapter Four / Modern Epistles: Blogging the Faith
Mark Shea
Chapter Five / New Wineskins: Fresh Presentations of Ancient Tradition
Taylor Marshall
Chapter Six / Digital Discourse: The New Apologetics
Fr. Dwight Longenecker
Part Three / Fostering the Flock: New Media & Community
Chapter Seven / Innovative Shepherding: New Media in the Diocese
Scot Landry
Chapter Eight / High-Tech Community: New Media in the Parish
Matthew Warner
Chapter Nine / That They May Be One: Cultivating Online Community
Lisa Hendey
Part Four / To the Ends of the Earth: New Media & Mission
Chapter Ten / Changing the World: New Media Activism
Thomas Peters
Chapter Eleven / Moving Mountains: Building a Digital Movement
Shawn Carney (40 Days for Life)
Conclusion / To Infinity and Beyond: The Future of the Church and New Media
Brandon Vogt
Afterword
Cardinal Timothy Dolan
Glossary
Appendix / New Media How-To
I'm using Rafflecopter to help with the giveaway, which is cool because it gives you multiple entries for commenting, posting on Facebook, sharing on Twitter, etc. Click below to enter:
(If you're reading this through email or RSS and don't see the giveaway widget, click here.)
The winner(s) will be randomly selected next Friday and the books will be sent out, free of charge, shortly thereafter.
In the future I'll be giving away more books and resources, sometimes multiple items per giveaway! So subscribe via feed reader or email to ensure you never miss your chance to win.
(Since I'm covering the shipping costs, only residents within the continental United States are eligible to win.)
“The Strange King” and Adventhology – My newest book project!
When Ryan Trusell handed me an envelope at a conference back in August, I had no idea what to expect. We had never met or spoken before.
But when I opened it, I found one of the most creative ideas I'd ever seen. It was a watermarked, hand-written letter dated "1st Sunday in Lent," and began:
My Darling Ava,
Where are you? I am sinking, from worry into fear. When my phone stopped working at noon on Friday, I decided it was time to bring James out to the Abbey like we discussed...
I later learned it was the first of many letters that make up Ora et Labora et Zombies, Ryan's captivating, epistolary novel which combines Benedictine spirituality with Zombie apocalypse. The letters are delivered chapter-by-chapter to your mailbox—your physical mailbox, not your inbox—and offer a refreshing dose of anticipation rarely seen in our give-it-to-me-now world. (For more on Ora et Labora et Zombies, check out two gushing reviews from Elizabeth Scalia and Julie Davis.)
As a lover of old books and writing, Ryan's my kind of guy. He's the type who takes book binding classes for fun and whose website, betraying his love of 'old media', says "mail always welcomed...emails tolerated."
A few months ago, Ryan messaged me about his newest project. He was designing a collection of hand-crafted booklets, themed around Advent and Christmas, and invited me to participate. I was of course thrilled. It's not everyday you get to work with such a creative mind.
I wrote a piece titled The Strange King, a reflection on Christ, Caesar, and the subversion of Christmas. I was joined by three other writers who are intimidatingly gifted and whose company I hardly deserve: Simcha Fisher, Dan Lord, and Dorian Speed.
Together, the four pieces formed an enchanting, perfectly-timed collection which Ryan labeled Labora Editions Adventhology. Here's the official description:
A subversive baby king, a lumbering grotesque, the empress of holiday traditions, and an epiphany on the day after Epiphany. All of this and more awaits readers inside the four slim volumes of the Labora Editions Adventhology. This new micropublishing adventure brings together four short pieces by four well-known Catholic bloggers, united by the common theme of the season of Advent and its culmination at Christmas.
Like Ryan's serial novel, the quality here is impeccable. It's not a slapdash weekend project; it's true art. Each piece is published separately with a hand-printed softcover. The paper is fine 24lb bond, staple-bound into purple 110lb cover stock. The pages are machine cut so the edges are nice and square, the pages flush with the covers, which makes each finished product 6.75" x 4.25". The books are simply beautiful—not just in content, but in look and feel.
The Adventhology books begin shipping on November 23, but you can pre-order them now (which I suggest since they'll sell out fast.) They're fairly inexpensive: $3.50 apiece or $12 for the set of four, so if you're looking for a creative, outside-the-box Christmas present, something beautiful and original that your friend or mom or priest has never seen before, this is it.
Learn more at the Adventhology website, read excerpts below, and then order your set here.
“The Strange King”
by Brandon Vogt
In Jesus’ day, the people already had a king, and his name was Caesar Augustus. He was born on the Palatine hill, the physical and royal summit of the Roman Empire.
From the day of his birth he was surrounded by luxury and riches, and he indulged in every sensual pleasure known to man. The world looked upon such impressive power and thought, “Ah, now there’s a real king! There’s the good life.”
Yet quietly, at the opposite pole of the Empire, a small baby was born.
“The Christ Child in Ordinary Time”
by Simcha Fisher
Advent is a time of struggle, when the spiritual and material to-do lists fight for primacy. We do our best to pray and sing, confess and prepare our hearts. We try not to let Advent become the season of shopping malls and credit cards, and to keep our focus on spiritual matters—but what can we do?
Even small presents have to be planned, bought, and wrapped; even simple meals have to be baked. Even subdued family parties and concerts of sacred music must be practiced for, bathed and brushed for, driven to, and kept awake during. Unless you live in a cave, Advent is an endurance test, especially for mothers.
“The Offended”
by Dan Lord
The church was warm. The dark red carpet stretched along the aisles, complimented by the flickering red-glass sanctuary light by the tabernacle. The electric lights had not been cut on yet, except for a couple of small recess bulbs glowing above the altar. The first purple candle on the Advent wreath was lit, marking the season with its wagging yellow halo.
The man started into the church. His leg dragged along behind him, making a scraping sound like a gravedigger’s shovel sifting cemetery dirt.
“The Bells of Bethlehem”
by Dorian Speed
In a blue plastic tub, shoved into the back of a cabinet full of plastic containers, there are three red cookie cutters: Santa, a reindeer, and a turkey.
They’re all that remain of my childhood adventures with salt dough ornaments. I hang onto them despite their not being very well-suited for actual cutting of cookies; they’re a bit too shallow and too fussy in design to work with my current roster of cookie dough recipes. But you never know.
Win Copies of "The Church and New Media" Book!
This must be the week of book giveaways! We gave away fifteen on Easter, another today, and here are even more.
First, the popular Church Mag blog, which is a must read for any Christian tech enthusiast, is giving away a copy of The Church and New Media book. Click the picture below to enter!
Also, my friends at Peter and Paul Ministries in Chicago are giving away another copy of The Church and New Media, but this one is signed by both Fr. Robert Barron and I! Click below to enter:
This was precisely my hope….
.....for The Church and New Media book.
Here is the Diocese of Green Bay's "Evangelization Task Force", each holding their copy of The Church and New Media. So cool!
(Thanks Matthew Livingstone!)
