July 2010
Letter from Director
A morning conversation on NPR focused on new cyber positions being created to address the rapidly shifting Internet culture’s impact on politics, socialization, privatization, economics, education and war. Needless to say my attention was immediately captured. The conversation was sparked by the fact that China is striving to prepare 10,000 young people (digital natives) to become cyber warriors. The response was that the United States is falling behind with the kind of in depth cyber skills being nurtured in Asian countries; therefore, there is a movement to prepare 10,000++ young (digital natives) to become cyber security personnel to protect the country in cyberspace!
In reading a recent issue L’Osservatore Romano issue, a shortened version of the article an addresss on Ecumenism and Mission, delivered by Bishop Brain Farrell, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity at the ‘Edinburgh 2010’ Conference, I saw another immediate connection with UD’s VLCFF program. One of his points was: “Catholic missiology today is deeply involved in reflection on the precise relationship between evangelization and Inculturation of the Gospel, on the impact of the Gospel on justice, peace and the need for a New Evangelization. In the Catholic view, the transformation of the world is a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel; in other words, humanity’s liberation from every oppressive situation is an indispensable part of the Church’s missionary activity.”
Both the NPR and L’Osservatore Romano accounts link to the cyber ministry of the VLCFF for positioning the Gospel within the cyber culture. This is the new missionary territory of the 21st century. With or without the Catholic Church, the cyber culture is forming and transforming peoples and cultures. We, the church, need to be present and alive!
Our VLCFF team embraces the 21st century challenge by offering a vast menu of e-courses, e-seminars and expanding certificate programs to prepare Catholics to be more solidly grounded in their faith and to witness within their local community. The VLCFF is yeasting every day. The expanding number of VLCFF Diocesan Partners, e-learners and persons registered for our new certificate programs is on the cutting edge of transformation. Our VLCFF Diocesan Partners have now created over ten models for adapting the VLCFF Program into their diocesan catechetical and faith formation programs. If you are interested in these new models, please let us know.
This morning I was reading the Journal of Catholic Spirituality – Review for Religious with an insightful article by Fr. Daniel P. Horan, OFM entitled Koinonia and the Church in the Digital Age. He asks the question: “If Jesus had been born in 1980 and began his public ministry in 2010, would he have “friended” the twelve apostles on Facebook instead of visiting the Sea of Galilee?” I love the thought! Horan proceeds to state, “the way many people experience interpersonal communication, develop and maintain relationships, and share information is strikingly different from the ways of previous generations. In an era marked by advances in technology, communication, and virtual space, we must be attentive to how much our church community is being influenced or shaped by its new environment.” There is an even balance in Horan’s article as he explores if Koinonia (community) can be expressed in a digital format, to have “church’ or a community of believers come together in an authentic way online? Our experience is that this can happen without a doubt. However, that is only half of the Koinonia equation.
Our VLCFF facilitators strive to nurture a sense of ‘online community’. This means that our facilitators need to stay abreast of new e-learning methodologies and occasionally hone their e-facilitating skills. We are always learning something new concerning e-learning that calls us to enhance the quality of our VLCFF e-courses. Every three years all our facilitators are required to hone their e-facilitation skills by participating in a VLCFF Facilitator Seminar. Almost all of our facilitators have completed the refresher seminar within the past ten months. Everyone found the experience valuable for (1) sharing their Best E-Facilitating Practices, (2) intensifying their sense of being an e-community of facilitators and (3) enhancing the quality of their e-facilitation. Ongoing formation for facilitators is essential if we desire our VLCFF e-learners to gain the most from our VLCFF e-courses.
I agree with Horan’s conclusion that “The horizontal dimension of Koinonia could very likely benefit from more engagement with online technologies that transcend some of the usual limits of place and time. At the same time, there is a need to move beyond this digital Koinonia to fully include the sacramental and vertical dimension in their celebration of baptism and Eucharist.” Our e-learning initiative is effective if the experience e-vites the learner to gather in-person within a meaningful parish faith community. Therefore, it is our goal to be a catalyst for strengthening community life in the parish and to nurture disciples who are able to dialogue about their faith in an informed, respectful and mature manner. This is our digital missionary task of the 21st century.
I hope you take a few moments and study the new certificate programs that are now available to you through the VLCFF. In the next six months you will see more being posted! The menu of opportunities is yeasting as we write to you today!
Please feel free to contact any of our team if you have any questions!
Sincerely,
Sr. Angela Ann Zukowski, MHSH, D.Min.
IPI/VLCFF Director Professor – Department of Religious Studies
