Network Power
By Frances Forde Plude
Suzanne recently reminded me of a wonderful Communication Theology resource – the book Communication and Lonergan: Common Ground for Forging the New Age. Edited by Thomas Farrell and Paul Soukup (and available through the Theology Book Service), this is one volume in a series on communication, culture, and theology that Sheed and Ward published. This volume explores how Lonergan’s thought might apply to communication studies and situations.
Among many communication themes in Lonergan’s writings I would like to focus on two: dialogue and community. I have chosen these topics because this column and the next will explore a very current communication topic: the network. Here we will look at how pervasive the network is in our lives and how it changes how we function as the people of God in faith communities.
In our next column we will explore how networks alter organizations and authority structures, and how these changes impact the styles of leadership needed in today’s networked world. Lonergan did not live to witness the internet, but he explored thought processes (called “cognitive operations”); he noted the process influences thinking, how we form communities and how we communicate with others.
When we speak of networked communities we could be talking of the internet and the World Wide Web, but many other networks exist: support groups of all kinds; telephone-conversation links; small faith communities. And all those meetings and social events we plan daily in a congregation, bringing people together in one room as a temporarily networked group.
Today’s internet is emerging and we are only beginning to understand its implications. Millions of Americans have home personal computers (PCs) and most of these use the internet, according to Smart Computing magazine (February, 1999, p 108). And what is astounding is that we are already hearing about a “post-PC age” when we will connect more widely from small information devices directly to the internet, rather than going through our own computer (the mobile phone phenomenon).
Yes, we are networked all right. At a recent visit to Suzanne’s parish in Florida, I talked with parish leadership there about communication and church. Young adults there have a website for their activities and thousands have visited the site. We realized that every time someone visits their website a meeting has occurred! Even if that person does not show up at a specific parish meeting site. Networks are forcing us to re-define community and forcing us to re-think what constitutes “meetings” among parishioners!
By Susanne Nelson
You’ve Got Mail was a hit movie. And it should be. I saw it the first time to enjoy the story and the second time to analyze the communication patterns. I noticed that through email the couple developed a respectful, personal, and poetic style of communication. They got to know each other on a deep level. When they met face to face, they each had to deal with things that surprised them about the other. However, the foundation of trust had been established through the internet. It held; they were able to build on it.
Wouldn’t it be great if it could work that well in real life? Maybe it can. We do not know the full impact of the communication being forged by the internet. America Online (AOL) commissioned a survey to help them understand how this interactive medium is changing our world (and us)!
One of the findings is that the internet is being integrated into our society at a much faster pace than the telephone and TV were. As more people get connected, this medium will embed itself in our lives, change our attitudes, make us a more connected society. All of this has serious implications for us as religious leaders. Lonergan once wrote: “…to change one’s standard of living in any notable way is to live in a different fashion. It presupposes a grasp of new ideas. If the ideas are to be above the level of currently successful advertising, serious education must be undertaken.” Serious education is not about indoctrination or mass manipulation. It must be about developing ideas inductively, linking effectively, trusting the process of networking.
Some examples:
an online dialogue of an ad hoc committee to develop parish priorities
a “dessert and dialogue” home gathering for parish representatives of ministries (many do not know each other) to dialogue with an invited guest like Dr. Plude on a key topic
a pastoral visitation of every family (most via telephone); this can lead to geographical clusters or communication networks
intergenerational networks like email between students away at college and older parishioners who share the local news
bulletin board interaction on the parish website
online catechist formation programs, linking to national resource sites, putting us in touch with catechists and resources globally