Evangelization at the Digital Platform: Communicative Practices of a Clergy

Abstract

This study examines how Catholic clergy construct digital evangelization content as an interactionally engaging communicative event within online spaces. Approached through ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, the research focuses on the micro-level practices by which seemingly monologic evangelization content, such as a pre-recorded homily, is organized as a participatory experience. A recorded digital homily was transcribed and analyzed line-by-line to identify recurring communicative strategies. The findings indicate that the clergy employs rhetorical questioning to simulate dialogue, utilizes personalization and inclusive address to establish shared identity, integrates bilingual code switching to enhance cultural resonance, draws on narrative and imagery to clarify meaning, conveys an empathetic tone to build connection, and invites communal participation. A major methodological contribution of this research is demonstrating how implicit turn-taking and cognitive participation can be systematically analyzed in a structurally monologic, one-way digital format. By utilizing embedded question-and-answer sequences, the clergy successfully executes implicit turn-taking that happens entirely in the mind of the audience. This structural choice momentarily opens a cognitive response slot, mentally "giving the floor" to the viewer and forcing the audience out of passive listening into active, internal cognitive participation. Interpreted through a development communication (DevCom) perspective, these micro-level practices reflect the underlying principles of dialogue, participation, cultural sensitivity, and empowerment. Ultimately, the study concludes that because digital evangelization is inherently guided by these underlyingdevelopment communication principles, the practices of physical and digital evangelization remain fundamentally the same. This convergence provides profound confidence that transitioning from a physical space to a digital platform does not water down the messages and teachings of the Gospel. Instead, it preserves the purity of the message and proves that the core of the Church's mission, fostering genuine encounters and shared understanding rather than one-way proclamation, remains intact and powerful regardless of the medium