Posts Tagged ‘News and Culture’
Video Games as a Vehicle for Community
Videos games affect all of us - whether we play or we interact with someone who plays regularly. They are a big part of our culture from playing Fortnite on a PC to Candy Crush on your phone. Taking time to think about how video games can be a vehicle for community and then, in a bigger way, a way to minister to others, can literally change the world.
MAX Studios Creative Director Darnell Miller sits down with Jonathan Blevins, @BeardedBlevins , a popular Catholic Twitch streamer and CEO of Little Flower Media, and Joseph Bionat, formerly Marketing Coordinator with Word on Fire Institute and now Director of Marketing with St. Ann Parish in Dallas, Texas, to talk about video games and how they affect the culture.
They discuss how gaming affects young people, the real stats about who is actually playing video games, the difference between people being non-playable characters and a real life person, anonymity versus authenticity online, and how Christians are called to be who God called them to be while interacting in digital spaces. They also shout out Catholic creative organizations like Flocknote, Hallow and Word on Fire's "God and Gaming" YouTube series.
Extras:
The Bearded Blevins Stream Team
New Media, Technology & Young Adults – Interviews w/ Texas Bishops
How often do you get to ask your bishop questions about their diocese and young adults in the Church? In September 2022, University of St. Thomas-Houston hosted the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops for their annual General Assembly. We took the opportunity to ask a few Texas bishops and a couple of others a few questions:
- “Describe your diocese in a few sentences.”
- "What is an innovative initiative in your diocese?"
- “What do you hear or what questions do you have for young adults?”
Here are the bishops who willingly stepped up the mic:
- Bishop David Toups, Diocese of Beaumont
- Bishop Daniel Flores, Diocese of Brownsville
- Bishop James Tamayo, Diocese of Laredo
- Bishop Michael Sis, Diocese of San Angelo
- Bishop Brendan Cahill, Diocese of Victoria
We also interviewed a couple of others:
- Fr. Jacob Koether, Diocese of Victoria
- Amy Auzenne, Director of Evangelization and Catechesis, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
We at MAX Studios were also pumped to give a presentation at the event on "Evangelization in the Digital World" focusing on how dioceses can utilize digital (primarily social) media to share the Gospel far and wide. Jonathan "Bearded Blevins" joined us for that presentation.
Reclaiming Authentic Femininity w/ Leah Jacobson | Napa Institute Conference Series
While working as a campus minister, Leah Jacobson, Founder and CEO of The Guiding Star Project, recognized her desire to serve women and help them discover the beauty and joy of their femininity and understand the natural processes of their bodies. Now, 15 years later, Leah is leading a nonprofit re-defining the idea of wholistic women's healthcare.
Jacobson sits down with Bridget Richardson, Executive Producer of MAX Studios at the University of St Thomas-Houston, at the Napa Institute Conference in Napa Valley, California. They discuss the need for challenging the status quo in mainstream women's healthcare and the implications and opportunities that have arisen after the overturning of Roe v Wade in the Supreme Court.
Links:
Leah Jacobson
Activating the Laity for God’s Mission w/ Fr. Eric Cadin | Napa Institute Conference Series
Fr. Eric Cadin, who spent a year living in a tent in Oahu to surf before joining seminary, is now activating the laity to inspire college students and vocations in the Archdiocese of Boston.
Fr. Eric is the Director of the Office of Vocations and Director of the Office of University Missions for the Archdiocese of Boston. He sat down with MAX Studios Creative Director Darnell Miller for a conversation at the 12th Annual Napa Institute Conference in Napa Valley, California. With a fervor for life and ministry, Fr. Eric shares how he engages lay leaders as examples for young professionals, his vocation story and why it is so special to connect Christians for the mission of Jesus Christ.
Helpful Links:
Fr. Eric Cadin | Vocations Boston (bottom of page)
Normalizing Values through Film w/ Chéri Ballinger | Napa Institute Conference Series
Chéri Ballinger is a speaker, organizational ambassador and film producer whose own life experience, suffering a traumatic brain injury, inspires the amazing empathy and gratitude that influences her work. Fresh off producing the film “Roe v. Wade,” starring Jon Voight, Ballinger sits down with Bridget Richardson to share her story. They talk about her return to filmmaking, the role of film in the American culture and how it can be used to normalize values.
Links:
Chéri Ballinger
The Napa Institute
Roe v. Wade Trailer
What we should all know about the Growing Catholic Majority
As the demographic makeup of the country shifts, so too will that of the Catholic Church. Darnell speaks to Deacon Charlie Echeverry, a deacon of the Diocese of Los Angeles and founder of Black//Brown, a strategic advisory purpose-built program to help business leaders turn diversity into revenue. It teaches how the church can understand and respond to these shifts to maintain and grow the Church.
They discuss the challenges and opportunities within the Latino Community in the Church and talk about how we can invite and challenge young Latinos to take on leadership roles within the Church. We were able to connect with Deacon Charlie at the SENT Ventures Conference.
Helpful Links:
You Can Have It All!
If you have ever struggled with balancing work life and family life, or you have struggled with the guilt of not being able to do it all, this conversation is for you! Darnell Miller, Producer with MAX Studios, sits down with Lisa Canning, The Possibility Mom, to talk about her story navigating pursuing a career while balancing family life. They talk about the struggles and guilt, developing support systems, rewriting internal scripts and designing a life that works for you and your family.
Lisa Canning is an author, speaker, mindset coach, and mother of nine who helps moms be great moms while pursuing their dreams at the same time. She was also a designer on HGTV's "The Property Brothers." We were able to connect with her at the SENT Ventures Conference.
