September 11, 2024

By Mary Beth Bracy, consecrated virgin
Contributing Writer

Pastors, parishes and ministry participants are using modern media to proclaim the gospel and build community in the North Country and beyond.

Father Christopher J. Looby, pastor of Saint Alexander’s in Morrisonvile, St. James in Cadyville and St. Augustine’s in Peru, shared how the parish uses media to proclaim the Gospel.

“At our parish, we use a variety of digital resources to evangelize,” he said. “I produce a daily podcast [now called The Father Chris Podcast]. The podcast is accessible on our parish website (https://www.rccalexanderaugustinejames.org/) and can also be found on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Spotify. Additionally, I provide the text of my homilies on my blog, which is also available on the parish website.”

The pastor, when he was serving in Ticonderoga, also used podcasting to offer seasonal spiritual aids.

“Beyond daily homilies, I lead parish retreats through special limited series podcasts,” he said. “For instance, during Advent, we had a series called ‘Journey Through Joy: Reflections on the Joyful Mysteries,’ and in Lent, we presented ‘Rending and Mending Our Hearts: Reflections on the Stations of the Cross.’ Recently, to honor our Blessed Mother during May, we featured ‘Days of Light: Reflections on the Luminous Mysteries.’”

Faithful have expressed gratitude to Father Looby for this ministry.

“People have expressed appreciation for having access to these reflections and homilies, especially those who may not be able to attend Mass in person regularly,” he said.

When asked for suggestions about how other parishes can incorporate technology, Father Looby shared, “My advice is to embrace digital evangelization wholeheartedly. Start with something manageable, like a podcast or a blog, and ensure that your content is easily accessible on multiple platforms. Consistency is key – regular updates and postings help maintain engagement. Also, listen to your parishioners’ feedback and be willing to adapt your approach based on their needs and preferences.”

Amanda Conklin, the former director of New Evangelization at St. Mary’s in Canton, shared how they use the digital world to get the word out in their parish.

“St. Mary’s in Canton sends a weekly Flocknote with upcoming events, that Sunday’s Bulletin, photos, etc.,” she said. “We also use it to help with different sign-ups. Flocknote has a great sign-up feature that you can customize. We use it to schedule sacramental interviews, ask for volunteers, sign-ups for parish events, and send Novena prayer e-mails.”

“I use Flocknote in several ways,” related John Schneider, director of Evangelization and Christian Formation at St. Peter’s Parish in Massena. “It’s power is in the ability to reach people in both small groups or widely among several ministries, targeting people we want to reach. It allows email and/or text messaging. We’re finding people check their texts and reply more often than their emails.”

“We also use Flocknote to communicate directly with different groups in the parish,” noted Conklin. “We have a Religious Education group, Music Ministry group, Parish Nurses group, etc. People can even ‘comment’ (a.k.a. reply) and we can have a conversation if they have questions, etc. It is sort of like a fancier, group text without everyone seeing everyone else’s information. We have recently been using Flocknote to send out notifications when a parishioner has died with information about their services and a link to their obituary where we encourage our parishioners to pray for the family and the deceased individual.”

The benefits of Flocknote are innumerable, Conklin added. “I think our use of Flocknote has fostered a greater community and connection within our parish. There are many who do not use social media but do e-mail and can stay up-to-date on parish happenings with Flocknote. When our snowbirds are out of state, they can still keep tabs on their home parish. It also helps us spread the word about larger diocesan events. It is a great tool to get the word out quickly and to a large group if something happens of note or an event time/location changes, etc. It helps people in their prayer life by keeping them on track with novenas. We can send paperwork once instead of printing extra unneeded paper. Flocknote has been incredibly helpful when promoting our parish events like Trivia Night and our Trust Truth speaker series. We can use beautiful imagery to spread the Truth of the Gospel. We truly use it here at St. Mary’s in Canton to aid in evangelizing through our pillars: Welcome, Educate, and Worship.”

Flocknote is easy to set-up and has several practical advantages, Conklin enthused.

“I would strongly recommend Flocknote to other parishes,” she said. “I’ll admit I was skeptical at first, but I’ve seen what an amazing tool it can be. It has helped the Parish Office stay organized and be more efficient, and it is also very helpful for parishioners. It is very user friendly. Flocknote offers great graphics, templates, and even the ability to insert fun GIFs into Flocknote e-mails/texts. They are constantly trying to improve and are frequently rolling out new features. Instead of someone having to go to our website or Facebook to find information, we   bring   it   directly to them and they can always look back to reference something if they forget.”

Above all, this technology may be used to remind the faithful of their identity as children of God.

“Flocknote is a great tool for a wide age range of parishioners. It is a great example of being in the world but not of the world,” Conklin noted. “With so many features, a parish can really customize their use of it to what their needs are. There are even capabilities for parishioner profiles where you can keep track of baptismal dates, spouses, children, etc. We plan on using it in the future to remind the recently baptized (and parents) of their Baptismal Anniversary as Pope Francis has called us to celebrate that day and remember it!”

St. Peter’s employs other means to evangelize digitally as well, commented Schneider.

“Facebook is our other main communication tool for when we want to promote public events; it’s more for evangelization outside the parish that Flocknote. We have sent news releases to North Country Now to promote Alpha events with moderate success. A big drawback is, if it’s not a paid ad, it’s not a priority and can get set aside or lost in ‘Community Events,’ plus they edit them, especially titles.”

The goal of any digital outreach, Father Looby explained, is to strengthen the Body of Christ.

“It’s important to remember that digital evangelization is not just about technology but about building connections and fostering community,” he said. “ Use these tools to reach out and engage with people where they are, making the message of the Gospel more accessible and relevant to their daily lives.”