I started a first draft of my central research question. The Church Fathers were obviously effective and successful communicators, because their work played a major role in the development of Catholic doctrine and liturgy. Their influence was not only limited to their primary, historical audience, but stretched out throughout history to an enormous secondary audience. Talking about long-tail!
What were the secrets of their communication? What were the implicit models and strategies that determined the way in which they conveyed their message? What can we learn from these important communicators in our day and age, now that the Church seemingly struggles to get its message accross in an increasingly secularized world?
Fr. Roderick:
This will be a very interesting (and practical!) topic for a dissertation.
You might have seen a recent post on Amy Welborn’s blog in which there was some discussion of communication strategies for the US bishops. My contribution was:
“Do documents — disembodied from individuals who deliver them — really effect change? Conversion? Metanoia? To the average reader in the pew, I would suppose that the author is pretty much anonymous to the reader — the USCCB committee producing the document is faceless to the recipient. What kind of impact does that have? It’s certainly a different experience from receiving a letter from someone you know. It seems to me that part of the genius and dynamism of the the letters of St. Paul, for instance, is that they are a personal communication. He knows his audience, intimately. He speaks directly to them… the communication is tailored to the recipient. A father speaking to his children. A brother speaking with his brothers and sisters. A shepherd speaking with his flock. With all this in mind, it seems to me that a letter from one’s own bishop probably stirs more attention and interest than a letter constructed by committee.”
I’ll be interested to follow your progress!
Here are three resources you might find helpful (if you don’t already have them):
Asking the Fathers by Aelred Squire. I particularly recommend the first chapter. Summary from the back cover: “This book aims to trace the main lines of the teachings of the spiritual giants throughout Christian history, both in form and in method.”
John Paul II: Development of a Theology of Communication by Dr. Christine A. Mugridge, SOLT, and Sr. Marie Gannon, FMA – Of course, this book isn’t about the Church Fathers, but it might generate some ideas and/or a starting point…
From Darkness to Light: How One Became a Christian in the Early Church by Sr. Anne Field, OSB – A resource I’ve used for RCIA, which blends the teachings of various Church Fathers. The helpful part for you might be the bibliography at the end.
I’ll look forward to hearing about your progress!
How about power-evangelism? Saint Bonifatius for example – cutting down trees. He was convinced that God was stronger than all other gods/ ideologies etc..
In the past was FEAR (of hell) a strong motivator. Wouldn’t work now.
But HOPE would work very well these days. Look at Obama. Look at Joel Osteen (whatever we think of him – he is a hope marketeer
).
I think it would best start with Jesus Christ – He was the best leader EVER. Very strategic. His method were people. His life was His message.
Read a great little book about that: The Masterplan of Evangelism by Robert E. Coleman.
Greetz,
Gijs-Peter