After I commented to your comment last night I realised . . .

there is an element of this that I wonder needs to be highlighted more in this conversation. Doing an outreach video, or recording a liturgy or similar is only one way these new media can be used. You rightly pointed out the issue of participation which leads me into my thought full on.

If the local community had . . . for example, a laptop with a webcam, a number of decent mobile phones with video capability, even digital cameras, they could put something together that would be a) a community effort, and b) reflecting the life and spirituality of the community. I’m thinking here that with very “limited” resources and three or four people working together over a period of time, a community could create something to share, much like some emergent communities have done here in London – worship & reflection through art and experience.

A simpler project might be to have Tim, Fr. Joseph, or someone else give an audio reflection, a video reflection, or even a “lecture” on a point of theology from an OC/IC perspective.

In both cases, more than one person in the local community is working together – as they choose – to create something not only for the rest of the community, but also for a wider audience – using resources already handy (don’t forget your basic still camera, and a built in microphone on a computer give you everything you need to to a podcast, or “other” presentation).

I’ve found that some attempts I’ve made to experiment with new tech did in fact get in the way – I think largely because if the piece of kit is new and novel, (and may or may not cooperate on command) the technology becomes the focus rather than the communal activity – and of course we don’t want that.

It is interesting you raised the phone line – I think I blogged about this a bit last year, and cited two articles one by the Guardian, and one by an Anglican group pointing out that once we no longer view the “technology” as alien, or novel, but almost ignore it – then it becomes integrated. So for example, we no longer see the phone as a piece of technology, here in the UK we no longer see the mobile as a piece of technology so much as a fashion accessory, or necessity. The idea of having a prayer or study group, then, via the phone more or less reaches everyone’s comfort level.

the thesis is the bane of my existence . . . . sigh.

We tend to go for low tech at the moment since it allows the greatest amount of participation amongst members. We use a call-in conference call line for doing weekly formation for the seminarians in the jurisdiction and for the novices in the AIHM Order. The line is also used as a primary means of ministry for the Traditional Liturgy Apostolate who pray together from across the country from the Monastic Diurnal on Monday nights—anyone can call in to this so it’s been a great way for people to get to meet some folk from the jurisdiction and pray together. There are monthly calls for folk in other groups to keep in touch. We’re a far-flung group, but put a premium on community and personal interaction so phone calls really make a difference and provide a depth of interaction that the email groups don’t quite have.

We’ve batted the idea of webcams and other technology to keep in touch, but various folk are at different stages of comfort, skill, and income so the higher tech stuff can get in the way of community-building and prayer together for us since it would exclude some of the folks in our community. But the option is something that flits in the back of our minds in case the right set of circumstances come up and we can make it work.

The most we do at the moment on the web is to place resources on our webpages–both as a resource for those in the community who aren’t local and for anyone who is looking:
http://www.aihmfriars.org/AugustinianSpirituality.dsp
http://www.forministry.com/USPAINDPTSMOGN/PrayerinOurDailyLives.dsp
http://www.forministry.com/USPAINDPTICCCI/SpiritualDevelopment.dsp

There’s also a publishing effort from the jurisdiction. In addition to the canons, I think there are at least two traditional versions of the Office (or maybe the Ordo’s?) in the works. And some day in my copious spare time, I’m thinking of doing a “Best Of…” from some of our jurisdiction’s blogs, particularly on what it means to be OC/IC from various points of view:
http://stores.lulu.com/vilatte

I think a youtube video or something similar would be good for outreach, but we’re mostly hampered by the time and energy it would take to figure some of this out in the middle of multiple ministry commitments and making a living. So for now, we do what we can.

Thanks for posting this. I’m always looking at some of the newer technologies and hoping to use them in the future.

Good luck with the Thesis from Hell (I have yet to hear anyone claim that their thesis is from anywhere else!).

Lyngine