Communications
Religious need to put themselves into young people’s field of vision. They have a lower visibility than they did years ago. Read more...
By Annmarie Sanders I.H.M.
With one voice. Read more...
By Beth Murphy OP
In the best of all possible worlds, you have a team of people who work with you to help you accomplish your goals in the vocation office. One of those people is your community communication director. Read more...
By Fr. Eugene Hemrick
There’s no denying that our electronic age is providing us with wonder tools that are a marketer’s delight, making it much easier to promote an idea or a product. These tools not only hold out enormous promise for the secular world, but also for those who promote vocations. Read more...
By Gregory Sandler
How can vocation ministers make the most of public speaking engagements? Gregory Sandler, a business writer based in Northhampton, Mass. (greg@ thinkglobal. Read more...
Your Web site is up and running. You’re proud of that little baby and maybe a little tired of tweaking it into perfection. Read more...
The act of preaching is an opportunity to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ through inspiring the hearer and evoking a response. The preaching of the Gospel must not demand, persuade or coerce others to follow Christ. Read more...
By Kathleen Wayne R.S.M.
Internet technologies make it easier than ever to connect with young adults. Here are tips for using these new forms of communication in your ministry. Read more...
By Brian Halderman SM
YouTube, MySpace and Facebook sites are not only free, they let vocation ministers meet young adults on their own turf. Read more...
Today more and more messages get delivered via film, including those about religious life. Before you begin a streaming Web video, a DVD or a mini-CD, read what this experienced producer has to say. Read more...
By Carol Schuck Scheiber
Vocation ministers work hard at responding to initial inquiries. Here’s a look at how they reply, what they send, how they follow up, and what concerns them about the process. Read more...
By Jean Dennison
Vocation ministers can stretch their communications dollars and get more impact out of their efforts when they team up with a communications professional. Read more...
By Steve Hegele
Connect better and communicate better with these tips from a presentation expert. Read more...
By Karen Katafiasz
Your community is doing good things, and you want the public to know. Here are valuable tips for working with the media to get positive stories circulating. Read more...
See the elements that you need for a successful news release. Read more...
By Sr. Andrea Westkamp S.M.I.C.
Instant messaging can be an ideal tool for communicating with discerners. In spite of its name, it actually allows for deliberate, un-hurried, thoughtful dialogue. Read more...
By Sr. Judy Zielinski O.S.F.
With podcasting, religious communities have a vast and low-cost resource for sharing their good news. Read more...
By D. Scott Miller
An experienced youth minister brainstorms ways vocation ministers can use Internet media to promote vocations. Such technology can be the gateway to making lasting human connections. Read more...
Social networking has such great power for enhancing vocation ministry, it is worth wading into unknown waters to use this free technology. Read more...
By Sr. Angela Ann Zukowski M.H.S.H.
Hamlet’s Blackberry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age, Born Digital, The Facebook Effect, Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet are all good books that offer insight into digital culture. Read more...
By Sr. Patricia Dowling C.B.S.
Social media of all types are ubiquitous. Here are tips from a seasoned and well-wired vocation minister on choosing and using this powerful technology. Read more...
By Debbi Della Porta
Communication is central to vocation ministry. That’s why it is important to know and use the smartest, most effective forms of communication. Read more...
By Rebecca Hiscott
If you´re a social media novice, hashtags—those short links preceded by the pound sign (#)—may seem confusing and unnecessary. But they are integral to the way we communicate online, and it’s important to know how to use them. Plus, they can be a lot of fun. Read more...
By Sister Julie Vieira I.H.M.
Social media is helping foster thousands of real-life relationships between lay people and those in religious life. Read more...
By Anne Boyle
A strong Web site with fresh, ever-changing content is essential in vocation ministry. Careful planning, good design and vigorous marketing are among the secrets to success. Read more...
The Internet is not just a handy tool for reaching out to prospective members. If we are to understand, evangelize and invite younger generations, we must grasp how the digital age is shaping the whole culture. Read more...
By Andrew and Fr. Andrew M. McAlpin OP
Smartphones have multiple tools that can help vocation ministers be more effective. Read more...
By Nicholas Collura
Some ideas and trends capture public interest and spread. Vocation directors can build on what is known about igniting this kind of interest. Read more...
By Cheryl Aughton
A strategic plan for communications can help vocation directors be more focused and effective. Read more...
By Fr. Larry Rice C.S.P.
High-quality content on your social media sites is key to fulfilling your goals for those sites. Read more...
By Siobhán O’Neill Meluso
Use social media to engage with your vocation contacts authentically and to encourage them to meet you face-to-face. Read more...
By Josh and Aimee Shank
Young people use Snapchat to communicate. Why not meet them where they are? Read more...
By Sr. Virginia Herbers A.S.C.J., Len Uhal, and Sister Nancy Gilchriest S.S.N.D.
When a person makes a vocation inquiry, it’s critical that a community respond well. Read more...
By Miranda Caulkins
Looking to be an effective vocations communicator? Here are five tips from a Millennial expert in branding and communications. Read more...
Even if you never fancied yourself a videographer, it is worth experimenting in this platform in order to remain engaged in a lively, contemporary way with young adults. Read more...
Religious communities have an image that needs care and tending so that the public can know who we are and what our mission is. Because the internet is a major way that the public gets information about us, our online image—that is, how we present ourselves on the internet—matters. Read more...
By Sister Michele Lesher S.S.J.
Women and men can’t discern with us if they don’t first come to “see” us. These tools help us exercise creativity in telling our stories. Read more...
By Sister Laura Zelten O.S.F.
Collaboration among the vocation, development, and communications directors has been key to successful outreach for one religious community. Read more...
By Father Bill Murphy S.J.
What if rather than attracting roughly 500 men and women to religious life in the United States each year, God is asking us to find a way to attract 1,000 or even 2,500? Read more...
Vocation video outreach may be at an all-time high, thanks to COVID-19. For some basic advice for newbies—that is, any vocation director with a phone—we’ve adapted a handout developed by Father Tom Gibbons, C.S.P., creator of the video series NunsTalkChurch.com. Read more...
By Dan Masterton
Here are practical tips for improving your website—from ensuring it looks good and reads well, to helping it show up in a browser search. Read more...
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Short-term volunteer stints have proven to be a good way for Sister Jenny Wilson, R.S.M. to get to know women who might consider religious life. Building a relationship with people is key, she says, and the volunteer experience allows time for that. Read more...
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