New-Age Church: Taking Your Parish into Cyberspace

By Fr Joshan Rodrigues –

I’ll get straight to the point. The COVID pandemic has ‘disrupted’ how we function as Church. As the lockdown is continuously extended (and no one can honestly say that the lockdown will be lifted by such-and-such date), parishes are beginning to rise from their slumber and realise that they need to do something to reach out to their flock. If you are a parish or diocesan institution, you may find yourself at one of these three stops:

1. A state of hibernation while you may be earnestly encouraging your parishioners to tune in to one of the ‘Eucharistic Celebrations’ being offered online,
2. Digitally Alive – already reaching out to your flock in many creative, personalised and locally-relevant ways, or
3. Somewhere in between – streaming Masses from your parish and sending out a few resources on all the local Community WhatsApp groups.

Why am I not describing the third option as being ‘Digitally Alive’, you may ask? That’s because streaming Masses online is not the sum total of pastoral ministry. Think about a normal week in your parish, and ask yourself how much time is spent in Eucharistic celebrations and the Sacraments, and how much is spent in animating Cells, Associations and other groups, not including pastoral visits, ministry to the sick, counselling and parish events.

While participating in the Mass on screen is an important and vital connect to our faith at this critical juncture, it cannot be the only thing. Liturgy is after all “the work of the people” as we have heard countless times, not just the work of the pastor. The absence of a physical congregation at Mass and the inability to receive Holy Communion are two crippling factors.

The deluge of online Masses and devotions has also resulted in channel-hopping in some cases, with people switching from one parish online service to another, looking for a “better” priest and an “inspiring” homily! Clearly this should not be the case, but this is inevitable in an online space – traditional parish boundaries wither away.

However, this crisis is also a great opportunity! If there was ever a time that the old adage “the Church is not a building” rings true, it’s now. The Church has been traditionally slow to incorporate digital strategies in its traditional pastoral activity, even though the Popes right from St John Paul II have keenly advocated evangelising the digital continent. At Pontifical Universities in Rome, the Communications Faculty is often described as the “povera sorella” (poor sister) of Theology. Candidates to the priesthood across India lament the ban on the use of mobile phones and limited access to the internet in seminaries while simultaneously hearing lectures on how the tools of technology are vital to their ministry as a priest in the future. The irony aside, this crisis can now help us accelerate the integration of digital technology into how we minister to our flock.

For priests and church leaders, this is a time to get acquainted with the numerous tools of digital technology available out there. You can certainly reach out to a digital-literate person in your parish to help you learn the ropes, at the same time also roping in your Media Cell to lead the digital outreach from the front. Here are a few ideas to keep your parishioners active and engaged during the lockdown and beyond.

1. Stream Online Masses – I’m stating the obvious here. People feel an obvious connect when they can see their local parish priests celebrating the Eucharist, compared with say on EWTN or Shalom TV. But go beyond, also offering Holy Hours, Devotions, the Rosary etc. A certain parish is already recording the nine days novena services preparing for the parish feast; they have roped in priests to record sermons on various topics from their respective parishes. Ensure that the text of the hymns, prayers etc is circulated in advance so that people can participate in the service effectively and not just be passive spectators. Make the service dynamic by encouraging people to send in their prayers, comments, feedback etc once the service is over.

2. WhatsApp Rosary – The priest or community leader can initiate praying the Rosary on the SCC WhatsApp group. Each person can then send in a “Hail Mary” using the record audio feature. After 50 “Hail Mary” audio files have been posted including the “Our Father” and “Glory be”, the priest can conclude with a final blessing. Alternatively, you can also pray the Rosary together on ZOOM, but that would be for the tech-comfortable and depend on good Wi-Fi connections.

3. Phone a parishioner – A good way to keep in touch especially with senior citizens, the sick and the homebound, is to request for their phone numbers and then call up a few of them each day. You could also Skype in to a younger member in the same house, so that the elderly could see and hear you at the same time.

4. SCC Activities – Encourage virtual gatherings of families in SCCs at pre-appointed times and provide resources that can be used – discussion papers, short videos to be reflect and comment on, Bible sharing, advance reflections on the Sunday liturgy, and even fun activities like Bible quizzes, WhatsApp “Antakshari”, Fashion shows, sharing cooking recipes, etc (the possibilities are endless here). Use these moments to reiterate the importance of reaching out to every person in the community irrespective of creed and origin.

5. Ongoing Training and Formation – Use this time to engage your parishioners in ongoing catechetical and ministry formation, so that they are equipped for the coming academic year. You could either share a ready-made online resource or record one yourself. Encourage people to get acquainted with a virtual meeting software like Skype or ZOOM so that cells, groups and associations can have online meetings to pray together, and to discuss their plan for the next few months.

Children’s Ministry:

Keep your Sunday School children engaged by assigning a DIY (Do It Yourself) at home activity each day. You will be doing parents a great favour by keeping their children busy for some time each day. Don’t forget to acknowledge and showcase the best entries each day to motivate them to keep going. Ask a Sunday School Catechist to keep a list of children who turn in their projects each day, and award prizes after the lockdown is over. Here’s a fantastic website with lots of good ideas: http://www.catholicinspired.com/

Youth Ministry:

This would probably be the easiest group to reach out to considering that this age group is most adept at the use of communication technology. Priest Youth Directors and Youth Animators can create a number of online activities to keep youth engaged and connected to the Church and to one another.

1. ZOOM meetings – This is a great way for the youth group to interact and most importantly “see” each other. The free option allows you to reach out to 100 people simultaneously for 40 mins, but ZOOM sometimes extends this time limit during the course of your meeting. This platform can be used to simply get your youth together and talk about what they have been doing under lockdown, you can pray the Rosary together and intercede for victims and warriors of Covid19.

2. Scavenger Hunt – Set an appointed time to get everyone together on WhatsApp or any other messaging app. Put out a list of items that are commonly found around the house and ask them to click a picture along with those items. Those who complete the task quickest win! Here’s a sample list of items:
a) A pair of shades or sunglasses.
b) A magazine (cover should be facing up)
c) A tea-strainer
d) A bathroom mug
e) A pair of your most colourful shorts
f) 2 onions and 2 potatoes
g) Your college or work ID card on a cord
h) Shampoo bottle
i) Computer mouse
j) On a piece of paper, write down in big bold letters, the name of the book of the Bible that follows immediately after the book TOBIT in the Old Testament.

3. Bible Quiz – Ask your youth group to prep for a particular book of the Bible in advance and prepare a list of 25 questions. Again, at the pre-appointed time, you can begin the quiz on the Youth WhatsApp group. Put out a question at a time (You could also include the chapter no to facilitate a quicker search). Award points on the basis whose correct answer pops up on your feed first.

4. Movie Club – If there’s one thing that most youth are doing at this time, its binge-watching or gaming. Put this to good use by putting out the link to a particular Christian-themed or values-rich movie or short video; you could invite youth to watch the film/video during the course of the day and then gather online (ZOOM or WhatsApp) at a pre-appointed time to have a discussion/quiz/debate on the video. There are a number of Christian-based movies on Netflix; alternatively you could tap into catechetical and faith based videos on YouTube such as Ascension Presents and Word on Fire.

5. Summer Cleaning – Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could engage your youth in a constructive activity and bring a smile to their parents’ faces at the same time? Organize an hour of summer cleaning – ask them to select an area of their house that requires a dust-up, cleaning or re-ordering. It could be a room, a particular cupboard, kitchen shelves or even the space under the bed. Ask them to send you a BEFORE pic of the selected area, then start the timer and after one hour ask them to post an AFTER pic. The most well-cleaned and creatively arranged spaces could be awarded.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. But I’m sure that every parish will come up with many more fantastic and creative ideas to keep the parish running ‘virtually’ during the pandemic. Most importantly, we must remember to continue to sustain and build up our digital strategies for the long term even after the pandemic. The Digital option is not a substitute for times of crisis, but a significant aspect of regular pastoral activity and evangelisation.

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Fr Joshan Rodrigues is currently the Managing Editor of The Examiner, Catholic Newsweekly of the Archdiocese of Bombay. He is an alumnus of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome in Institutional and Social Communications. He has done brief stints with the DeSales Media Group in Brooklyn, New York and Communications Office of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, London. He frequently blogs on faith and culture in ‘Musings in Catholic Land’