WHERE ARE THE FISH?

ARE YOU USING THE RIGHT BAIT AND ACCURATE NAVIGATION?

Fishing for men, in this new generation and digital age, requires using a variety of bait, a new way of casting your net, and using accurate navigation.

To best resonate and engage with your audience, you need messaging tailored to the various types of men within it. One blanket message won’t suffice. We can help you get to know these men well, identifying their online habits and interests, to get them to engage with you.

The right communication plan and strategy allow you to expand your reach, casting your net wider and into deeper water.

Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.’ So, they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. – John 2:16

You Can’t Do It All … and you shouldn’t have to

WHY DO I NEED A NEW APPROACH?

A NEW METHOD TO AN ANCIENT SPORT

DIFFERENT KINDS OF FISH NEED DIFFERENT KINDS OF BAIT

FISH FOOD

A VOCATIONS SUCCESS STORY

We’re Eager to Talk with You!

You can’t do this alone.
The water is deep and vast, and the fish are out there!
We’d like to help you cast your net in new ways
that will get you results
to where your net is tearing.

YOU CAN'T DO IT ALL ... AND YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO.

If you're a one-man office, with little administrative support, or with other duties and responsibilities in parish life, you’ve probably come to realize that you can’t do it all. Not to mention, creating engaging programs and messaging weren’t exactly a part of the coursework in seminary. The tasks at hand are enormous –

Meeting the yearly goal of seminary entrants
Harnessing funding to support vocations ministry
Initiating contact with prospective men
Providing accompaniment of men through their vocational discernment at various levels of readiness
Creating digital outreach via emails and social media posts to engage men
Coordinating various events and retreats to nurture vocational discernment and to fundraise – and coordinating the marketing and registration of these events

And the list goes on.

You need and deserve a collaborator that brings the experience and expertise of an award-winning communications media company that knows the Catholic space. You need a partner that understands your unique audiences, the ins and outs of the Church’s vocations ministry, and whose success is already proven in this space.

Through segmented communications strategy and workflows, we will capture the unique information of those who bite your hook to get them into the engagement/cultivation funnel. This allows us to filter them accordingly while nurturing them along the process of their vocational discernment with continued, engaging content – leading them to a point of readiness for you to engage with them one-on-one.

You can’t do this alone. The water is deep and vast, and the fish are out there! We’d like to help you cast your net in new ways that will get you immediate results to where your net is tearing.

Be Not Afraid … to talk with us!

WHY DO I NEED A NEW APPROACH?

You know the problem and challenge of vocational discernment all too well – we’re experiencing a drastic decline with every passing year. We’ve seen a drastic shift in the culture – away from instilling and living out the holistic values and virtues that promote a culture of life, family, and fatherhood. Recent research validates a serious crisis among men and boys in our society who are struggling, given the deviation in our culture, today. Some data:

Sacramental marriages, entrants into religious life, and ordinations to the priesthood are drastically declining. The number of entrants was down 13% in 2022 from 2021, and ordinations were down 11%.
Of those seeking ordination, 48% were discouraged by one or more persons, most often a family member or a friend/classmate.
Fewer priests means less opportunity for the young men whom Jesus is calling to witness and ponder the priesthood in everyday life.
Two-thirds of high school students in the top 10 percent of the class, ranked by G.P.A., are girls, while roughly two-thirds of the students at the lowest decile are boys.
One in three American men with only a high school diploma (10 million men) is now out of the labor force – the biggest drop in employment is among young men aged 25 to 34.
Boys are hindered much more by challenging environments than girls: Boys’ academic performance is more influenced by family background; boys raised by single parents have lower rates of college enrollment.

The approach for recruiting men to the priesthood, for decades, has presupposed a solid formation that has encouraged, nurtured, and supported the building of one’s character and the central, foundational value of a committed and lived faith. The necessary environments that would support men in their personal growth, to become men of honor, valor, and faith, have been lost. There’s been a cultural shift with the …

breakdown of the family and fatherhood
loss of Catholic culture and identity in society
decrease in full and active participation in the Faith
recent wave of disaffiliation from organized religion
rise of suicide among young men who’ve lost a sense of purpose and meaning for their lives, and more

AN INTENTIONAL SHIFT IS NEEDED

…and to have a different outcome,

new approaches are necessary.

This is not a quick fix. It’s a choice to intentionally embark upon a pathway to impact the culture. It’s a movement to turn the tide of detrimental, new realities – to lead men to a higher purpose and God’s calling for their lives.

A heavy lift, such as this, cannot be done alone.

WE HAVE A SOLUTION

Connect With Us

The data provided is based on research findings from The Class of 2022: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood, A Report to the Secretariat of Clergy; Consecrated Life and Vocations of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, April 2022 (available at usccb.org) and from The Crisis of Men and Boys, David Brooks, NY Times article, September 29, 2022 and the findings from Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It, a new publication by Richard V. Reeves, Brookings Institution Press, 2022.

A New Method to an Ancient Sport

Fishing for men, today, requires a new method. The initial approach of “Have you ever thought of becoming a priest” used to work well – for centuries – for engaging men in their vocational discernment. But it presupposed they were, in some way, ready for the question.

With the degradation of the culture, where the foundational, formative support is lacking, we can’t start there anymore. Men, today, need opportunities to discover meaning and purpose in their lives, to build their character, to have virtues and values instilled, to discern what healthy and virtuous masculinity looks like, and to deepen their relationships with Christ and His Church – all leading them to a point of readiness to discern God’s calling for their lives.

This is where both digital and in-person programs, events, retreats, and other intentional efforts to nurture men’s engagement and formation are key to vocational ministry, no matter their level of readiness, to draw them in to validate their purpose and God-given vocation for their lives. With our extensive connections, we are able to provide you with already-developed programs and initiatives that can support your ministry and meet this important, fundamental need to grow your base.

Let’s get you started!

Don'tBe Afraid to Talk with Us!

Different Fish Need Different Kinds of Bait.

Different men require different messaging. This is what we call audience segmentation. Just as you’re aware of the various types of people who come to Mass every Sunday, it’s a real challenge to prepare a homily that will speak to each of them where they’re at. It’s the same within this age group of men you are trying to engage. They are at various stages in their lives, having different interests, hobbies, practices, values, experiences, and so on. Some are more reflective while others are more active. The manner of communication will vary given his demographics, experiences, and more. One blanket message will not be effective for engaging them to get the results you desire.

And this segmentation goes deeper, as time goes on and more is learned about the men in your funnel.

Let us help you identify your men and provide messaging that resonates with those already in your pool and for those in the deeper waters where you’ll cast your net.

Let's Have a Conversation!

Fish Food.

Once we get men to bite the hook and enter your funnel, we need to feed them – to nurture them along the way.

First, we assess where they will swim best among the pool of men you’ve caught, who have entered your funnel, placing them into the appropriate stream, or workflow.

Workflows are created for the men, based on a filtering system, assessing their level of readiness for engagement with you, personally, and their engagement with your digital content, outreach, and events.

As they work themselves downstream, relevant content and events are created for you to nurture their formation and development along their discernment process. With automated and tailored messaging, newsletters, video clips, and other content, your men will feel engaged and accompanied by you throughout the process.

And, what’s so helpful is that all of this is done for you – all of it with your input and approval! It’s like having an on-site team doing all of this outreach, assessment, and nurturing!

Let us help you feed the fish!

Let's Start with a Conversation!