Hewitt and another keynote speaker, Sister Susan Wolf, a Sister of Notre Dame who is an Internet and social media strategist and consultant, addressed technology's effect on people's daily lives in separate sessions at an all-day summit sponsored by the Center for the Study of Church Management at Villanova's business school Feb. 25. "Parishes are having a hard time attracting and keeping young people," said Charles Zech, the center's director. "Young people communicate through social networks like Facebook. We need to meet people where they are." The center promoted the summit as a way for parishes to follow up on the theme of Pope Benedict XVI's message for World Communications Day 2010: "The priest and pastoral ministry in a digital world: New media at the service of the Word." Original plans called for having an audience of 100 at the summit, but an estimated 200 participated. That number included groups from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, along with parish representatives from New Jersey, New York and Delaware. "I have a study that says that 40 percent of people who move to a new city check out the church's Web site before visiting the church," Zech explained. "That's the first impression -- the Web site. This study is for all religions, not just Catholic. You have to have an attractive Web site and communicate through technology." With many people now comfortable with using their computer for various daily
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2010 Media Report Villanova School of Business