Virtual summit aims to inspire attendees to grow as digital missionaries for the Church

CNA Staff, Oct 19, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A two-day virtual conference will bring together lay Catholics, clergy, and religious to explore innovative tools and strategies and share insights into evangelization in the digital world. 

The Engage Virtual Summit, presented by eCatholic, will take place online Oct. 21–22 and will feature many notable Catholic figures including Monsignor James Shea, Monsignor Roger Landry, co-founder of Hallow Alex Jones, radio host Katie McGrady, and evangelist Chris Stefanick, among others.

eCatholic is an organization that supports parishes, schools, and dioceses to evangelize effectively and efficiently through the use of eCatholic’s digital engagement platform. 

Jason Jaynes, president and CEO of eCatholic; Michael Josephs, director of marketing at eCatholic; and Brandon Duncan, eCatholic’s marketing evangelist, spoke to CNA about the conference and what they hope attendees will take away from it.

Duncan explained that they’ve had the idea for the conference for several years but it wasn’t until last September that he put a plan together for it and had it approved by the leadership team at eCatholic.

“It’s amazing what we’ve been able to do and being able to turn this around so quickly and by the grace of God, everything’s been going so smoothly in the planning process,” Duncan said. “We’re so excited about this this opportunity and just what this summit means for the Church as a whole and for the leaders and to be able to provide them with the tools and inspiration to continue to carry out the mission of the Church.”

The theme of the conference is “Made for Mission,” which, Jaynes explained, aims “to engage both religious and lay alike, who are out there, who are in this digital continent and trying to reach people — whether you’re a priest, you’re a ministry leader, you’re a communicator, an educator, a media professional — with practical strategies and things that they can do to really help to inspire them to be part of that digital evangelization.”

Josephs added: “We are as humans made for mission. The Church is made for mission. And so we just felt like the theme resonated on all these different levels.”

During a year in which the Vatican hosted the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and the Church’s first digital missionary was canonized a saint (Carlo Acutis), the importance of digital missionaries in today’s world seemed obvious. While the “online world is not perfect … the Church needs to not ignore it but engage with it and be a light in that space,” Josephs said. 

Jaynes pointed out the many Catholic ministries and organizations doing important work for the Church in the digital space and said he believes there is a “shift happening in the mainstream culture right now where people are looking through the emptiness of some of the secular narratives that we’ve all been sold for the past couple of decades and saying, ‘There has to be more, there has to be more meaning to the human condition and to this need for joy that’s in a part of all of us.’”

As for what they hope attendees will take away from the summit, they said practical tips, inspiration, and “feeling challenged to do more.” 

“I hope that attendees come away with practical tips to make them better communicators … inspiration, new strategies, new ideas, even a renewed zeal,” Josephs said. 

Jaynes added: “We see it as a chance for folks to, if you will, in a retreat-style way, go to the mountain to pause, pray, seek wisdom, receive some form of renewal before they then go back out into the mission field.”

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/267187/virtual-summit-aims-to-inspire-attendees-to-grow-as-digital-missionaries-for-the-church