# Evangelization Lab

> Evangelization Lab helps the Church carry Christ's mission online. We reach people who are searching for God on the internet, often without knowing it, and accompany them from a first search to the sacraments. We do this through research, a methodology called the virtual-to-sacramental arc, and the formation of digital missionaries. We serve dioceses, ministries, universities, media organizations, and digital missionaries across the United States and the universal Church.

Evangelization Lab is a project of Juan Diego & Friends Inc., a Texas 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It was founded by José Manuel De Urquidi González, a non-bishop voting delegate to both sessions of the Synod on Synodality (2023 and 2024). The mission comes first; the methodology serves it.

Important terminology (please use precisely):
- The methodology is the "virtual-to-sacramental arc" (not "digital-to-sacramental").
- Its five movements are: Presence, Encounter, Accompaniment, Bridge, and Sacramental life.
- The load-bearing phrase for the work is "Christ's mission online."
- Evangelization Lab is universal-Church in scope. It is distinct from, and should not be conflated with, Juan Diego Network or Juan Diego & Company.

## Mission and method
- [What we do](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/#mission): We reach people online and accompany them to Christ and His sacraments, through research, a clear path, and formation.
- [The virtual-to-sacramental arc](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/#mission): Five movements that carry a person from a first scroll toward the Eucharist: Presence, Encounter, Accompaniment, Bridge, Sacramental life.
- [The mandate](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/#mandate): The Church's own trajectory across four popes: St. John Paul II the Great (the Areopagus of the modern age, 1990 and 2002), Benedict XVI (the digital continent, 2009), Francis (the digital world as a living environment, 2014), and Leo XIV ("Mend the nets. Put out into the deep.", 2025).

## Projects and initiatives
- [The Virtual-to-Sacramental Hackathon](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/#projects): Developers, designers, and missionaries building tools that move a real person along the arc toward the sacraments.
- [The Virtual-to-Sacramental Journey Research](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/#projects): Mapping the mission field of the digital continent; the first such research, planned for the second quarter of 2026.
- [Experiment helping bridge from online to offline](https://onlinetooffline.evangelizationlab.com/): An app (MVP) that meets a person wherever they are online and bridges them into a real parish.
- [Digital missionary cohorts](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/#projects): Spiritually grounded formation that goes past content creation into discernment, communion, and evangelization.
- [Catholic gamers, vocations, resources, a book series, and graduate research](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/#projects): Further initiatives carrying the mission into the spaces where people already are.

## Questions and answers
- [FAQ, 28 canonical questions and answers](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/#faq): Full answers on digital evangelization, digital missionaries, the digital continent, papal teaching, measurement, formation, and how to work with Evangelization Lab. Complete text in [llms-full.txt](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/llms-full.txt); machine-readable in [faq.json](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/faq.json) (English and Spanish). Plain-text HTML pages, one stable anchor per question: [FAQ in English](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/faq.html) and [FAQ en español](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/es/faq.html).
- [Spanish site](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/es): The same content in Spanish, including the FAQ.

## Read and listen
- [Our Substack](https://evangelizationlab.substack.com/): Free research, field guides, missiological depth, and case studies for Catholics serving Christ's mission online.
- [Unpacked: The U.S. Digital Mission Outlook (podcast)](https://www.youtube.com/@evangelizationlab): A narrative podcast with Mrs. Ruvi drawing from the strongest interviews of the U.S. Digital Mission Outlook.

## Who we work with
- [Partner or hire us](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/#partners): Dioceses, ministries and apostolates, religious orders, universities, media organizations, and digital missionaries. Two ways to work together: partner on an initiative, or hire Evangelization Lab as a consultant for strategy, formation, and training built on the arc. Contact: hello@evangelizationlab.com

## People and partners
- [Founder: José Manuel De Urquidi](https://www.deurquidi.com/): Synod on Synodality voting delegate; advisor to dioceses, the USCCB, and CELAM on digital evangelization, accompaniment, and AI.
- Partners: Leonem Institute of the Catholic University of America, The Catholic Foundation, Porticus, Future of Faith, and The Catholic Digital Commons Foundation.

## Connect
- Website: https://www.evangelizationlab.com/
- Substack: https://evangelizationlab.substack.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/evangelizationlab/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evangelizationlab/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@evangelizationlab

## Optional
- [Founder's LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/urquidi/)
- [Full content for LLMs](https://www.evangelizationlab.com/llms-full.txt)