Weekly Giveaway (8/31)

"Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others." - St. Augustine

Because I've built up a large collection of extra books and resources, every week I give away some absolutely free, no strings attached.

Each giveaway lasts seven days with a new one beginning each Friday, and you can enter any time during the week. Check out the past giveaways items here.

This week I've been in Texas for the wonderful Catholic New Media Conference, so in honor of that this week's giveaway features a signed copy of The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet (Our Sunday Visitor, paperback, 208 pages). From Amazon:

Facebook has over 750 million users. Twitter hosts more than 350 billion tweets each day. Today alone, people will view more than two billion videos on YouTube. And in the past year, Americans sent 1.8 trillion text messages.

We're experiencing the most explosive communication shift since the printing press.

What does this mean for the Church?

How can Christians harness these new tools to reach out, to teach, to cultivate community, to change the world?

Following Pope Benedict's call to set sail on the digital continent, The Church and New Media explores the benefits and dangers of New Media, while guiding Christians through this new digital landscape. The book features more than a dozen contributors including:

— Cardinal Sean O'Malley, O.F.M. Cap. with the book's Foreword
— Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan with the book's Afterword
— Brandon Vogt on "the digital continent" and New Media's benefits and dangers
— Fr. Robert Barron on engaging the secular online world
— Jennifer Fulwiler on blogging her way from atheism to Catholicism
— Marcel LeJeune on using New Media to connect young adults with the Church
— Mark Shea on the benefits and perils of blogging
— Taylor Marshall on using New Media to unwrap ancient truths
— Fr. Dwight Longenecker on ecumenical dialogue through New Media
— Scot Landry on New Media in the diocese
— Matt Warner on New Media in the parish
— Lisa Hendey on growing online community
— Thomas Peters on faithful online activism
— Shawn Carney on how the world's largest pro-life movement was built using New Media

100% of the royalties from this book will be used to establish school computer labs throughout the Archdiocese of Mombasa, Kenya.

Find more information, endorsements, and bonus resources at the book's website: ChurchandNewMedia.com.

In order to win this week's giveaway, leave a comment below answering this question:

Why should Catholics use new media?

The winner will be randomly selected next Friday and the giveaway item will be sent out, free-of-charge, shortly thereafter.

UPDATE:

The drawing is now closed. Congratulations to Dulce R. for winning this week! Check your e-mail for instructions on receiving the book. If you don’t see an e-mail from me, check your spam box—apparently e-mails with “giveaway” in the title are prone to end up there.

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.

Posted on: August 31, 2012 in Blog, Giveaway
Tagged:

Dan

If the apostles were around now they would be online.
Dustin Mantz

We're facing a culture that has never been seen before, and changes as a rapid rate. Never before in the history of humanity have we been so distant to someone sitting next to us, but so intimate with someone 2,000 miles away. We watch television everywhere but at home. And thanks to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. our culture now changes faster than it every has before. We must use the very same tools that are being used to corrupt this culture to bring them back. The Apostles and saints went to the hurt, the lost, and the broken. Sought them out to bring them home, and we must do the same.
http://www.callherhappy.com/ Jenna @ Call Her Happy

Because the Pope says so!
"I invite young people above all to make good use of their presence in the digital world."- Bennie
ykcpeggy

Having three teenage boys, it is important to me to be able to connect to them on their turf. If we are to engage our young people, we must go where they are. And my children are online....
http://www.ignitedbytruth.com
Stuart Dunn

Because the world is shrinking with technology, and there's no use fighting it. I am starting a blog tomorrow reviewing Catholic and Orthodox books (both lungs)! Wish me luck!
Kayla Peterson

It is important to use Social Media as an evangelization tool because evangelization requires an audience, even if that audience is only of one. The is an online audience who is constantly searching for information, truth, and ideas and if we do not supply them with these things then no one will.
http://twitter.com/STBmiddDRE St Bernard Midd DRE

Catholics should use new media to connect with people who are forgetting how to connect with others w/o the use of technology (ie. most 12-19 year olds).
http://twitter.com/STBmiddDRE St Bernard Midd DRE

And so people like me can become better at attaching their names to their posts! Does anyone blog that kind of advice?
Dulcerabanal

I think it would help a lot of us to learn more about how the modern media can be used to evangelize.
Ben Geise

Because, as Brandon pointed out on Kresta in the Afternoon: Archbishop Fulton Sheen and every Pope in the last century or two has been a proponent of using modern media to evangelize and spread the Truth. By the way, our current Holy Father is also a proponent of Communion on the tongue. I learned that on Catholic Social Media
http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Kraus/100000177360746 Robert Kraus

We need to use social media to communicate with the world using means and a language they use and understand.
Amanda

I believe it is the encyclical Deus Caritas Est that Benedict XVI speaks of changing with the times. John Paul II also makes this reference, and both are correct. Social media plays such a large impact in our day to day life, that there is an understanding need for us to use these tools to evangelize. If we do not keep up with these social media tools and use them for our own benefit, we risk losing part of the generation that has become so deeply attached to it.
Lectio_divina

To reach people where they are at.
Dan Crofts

I think Catholics should use new media for essentially the same reason that St. Paul should have gone to the Areopagus: That's where people will gather. We don't know which of the people we reach will listen to us and which will not, but at least they will have heard our Lord's Good News proclaimed.
http://Fathermichaeldenk.blogspot.com/ Fr. Michael J. Denk

“Who better than a priest, as a man of God, can develop and put into practice, by his competence in current digital technology, a pastoral outreach capable of making God concretely present in today’s world and presenting the religious wisdom of the past as a treasure which can inspire our efforts to live in the present with dignity while building a better future?” --Pope Benedict XVI
I take this message to heart and have my own blog fathermichaeldenk.blogspot.com use facebook, twitter, youtube, pinterest, etc.
Karen Bencke

Because that is where the people are and that is how they are used to communicating.
http://creativefidelity.wordpress.com/ Dan F.

Catholics should use New media because new media is how our culture communicates and thus to 'become all things to all men that some may be saved' we must engage the culture in terms and in ways that our culture will understand. Christ talked about shepherds and sheep, in today's New Media we're talking about bloggers and followers but the substance will always be the same: Christ crucified.
Betty

I have several "conservative" Catholic male friends who are bloggers and they have attached a large number of followers. I feel like my female voice needs to be heard as well. I agree with what my younger friends say and think my life experiences as a cradle Catholic, born during WWII, bears witness to many changes in the Church. I, unfortunately, don't know how to get started. A gentle grandmother's voice that adheres to the Magisterium of the Church has valuable lessons to teach.
http://www.PatrickPadley.com Patrick Padley

Catholics should use media so that they can cut through the clutter. We as a Church compete with everyone else, so we need to use these new tools in the same way that other major brands are to get noticed.
Ericaekka

As a young adult who is trying to serve God and His Church; new media allows us to raise our voices and spread light in the mist of the dark world. My heart goes out to the youth of our world who depend each day on new media as the primary way to communicate.

If we choose to reach out the the new generation of God's army, we must do so by choosing to communicate to them with an innovative and new approach besides the typical CCD classes.
James Larsen

The church needs to continually adapt and meet people where they are active. With so many people on Social Media sites, it only makes sense that the church make the move to meet people there! It is also a great way to instantly get information out to a lot of people about the great works and offerings the church has!
http://www.ekceteradesign.com/ Kelly Garrett

Evangelization and because we need to be where people are. Why would we NOT use it? Doesn't make sense.
Mwal

To spread the Good Word always.
Chris

Catholics need to use the new media, as that is what almost everyone is turning to for news and updates. Printed material is going away and digital media is replacing it. The new media will be around as long as there is computers, but printed media, unless preserved, only last so long.
Babagranny

Without facebook and e-mail I would never have heard of Brandon Vogt, Dwight Longenecker, Robert Barron, and the others, and they definitely have brought a whole new perspective to my faith. I depend on the social media to bring me the Divine Office, Integrating my Faith into Daily Life, Whispers from the Loggia, Saint of the Day, and many other inspiring and educational news and insights.
Christina Dyer

We have to be where the youth are, and they are online. The apostles and those that came after them all went out to where the people were in order to teach them. They did not sit around and wait for people to come to them; the apostles sought out those who needed to hear the Gospel. If they were still around today they would be online as well as in the streets evangelizing the world, and we are all called to do this ourselves.
Kristy

We have to stay current with the times with social media to enable us to reach everyone, especially our youth!
Jenni

Catholics should be able to have a conversation with anyone at any time about what (and why) the church believes, where it stands on current issues and so on. New media is a great way to do this! It also allows Catholics across the globe to connect with each other, which is very important, especially in this day and age where a lot of times in our daily lives we can feel so very alone because we stand with what the church believes instead of subscribing to the secular world and its ideas and views.
Tombucko

Because that is where the culture is!