Communicating the Vision
It's clear from the past experience of the Catherine of Siena Institute (the CSI, by the way) and the current reactions to the work and thought behind the Intentional Disciples blog, that intentional discipleship evokes strong reactions in just about everyone. Perhaps the most common, and the most troubling to me spiritually and emotionally, is a sense on the part of others that they are being condescended to--that thinking of others as intentional disciples (or pre-disciples) is arrogant and elitist.
Keeping in mind that the internet is perhaps the least useful tool in communication that requires trust, nuance, and plenty of non-written clues and communication, what do you think are some of the best ways to have these conversations continued on a parish or small group level?
How can we best communicate what we are about?
posted by Keith Strohm @ 9:35 AM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
Keith,
My wife and I would like to understand better how to communicate the Gospel to our children and others, so we would like to read a book in the parish on this topic and discuss it with others who share this need. Everybody is invited to help us as we work toward this goal.
Fred
possibly opening or alluding early on to some of what our Pope has said about a personal relationship to Christ being the heart of Christianity?
As I haven't been put off, I may not have the best suggestions, but that could at least let people know you're not coming out of left field/have protestant cooties/whatever.
Elaine:
We try. We quote B16 and magisterial documents early, late, and often in our workshops. We hardly ever get these kinds of negative responses during live events. As always, St. Blog's is a totally different universe.
We've also quoted the popes pretty extensively in the comment boxes here but nothing we say seems to make much difference to the one commenter who is the most insistent.
And, of course, the Commonweal crowd is less likely to respond positively to papal quotes.
Use the internet. Learn and train the parish to set up blogs, forums, sites, etc. for children and teens. Wouldn't it be cool to have the pastor drop in on the forum.
Faith
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