Blogger opens new line of communication

Many Catholics would think getting involved at a new parish impossible while they were still in the process of moving.

But Fran Rossi Szpylczyn is already serving St. Edward's in Clifton Park from 150 miles away -- via the internet.

Mrs. Szpylczyn began planning to relocate to the Albany Diocese from Nyack when she married two years ago. She found St. Edward's to be "such a welcoming parish. I probably know more people there than any parish I have ever belonged to."

Jumping in

Mrs. Szpylczyn was eager to volunteer for parish ministries, but transitioning from her job and downstate home has taken a while. But she realized that, in today's world, a new "home parish" can be just a few mouse-clicks away.

So, a month ago, with the permission of Rev. Patrick Butler, pastor, she created "the parish blog of St. Edward the Confessor."

On the weblog (online journal), which is linked to the parish's website, Mrs. Szpylczyn now writes about spirituality, Scripture and prayer.

Online info

"I just love to write, and there are a lot of things about the Church that I love," she explained. "My own spiritual experiences are so vitally important to me."

So far, Mrs. Szpylczyn is the blog's only author, although she hopes other St. Edward's parishioners will eventually submit items.

Her topics have included forgiveness, which she wrote about from her own experience; saints, whom she researches to highlight on their feast days; and Archbishop Oscar Romero, martyred in El Salvador in 1980.

"Father Butler has entrusted me with this," the blogger told The Evangelist. "Anything hugely controversial, he'd probably want to see." However, she doesn't intend to focus on controversial subjects.

Reaction awaited

There's space on the blog for parishioners to comment. Visitors have been few so far, but one more popular feature has been "prayer thread" days, when Mrs. Szpylczyn writes a list of prayer intentions and invites commenters to add their own.

One such list asked parishioners to pray for "those who live in war zones," "those caught in ethnic, political and social strife around the world," and "justice for those who are in need of it."

In the comment section, visitors to the site added: "I would like to ask for prayers of peace;" and "Please pray for our son serving in the Middle East and his family."

Community

Mrs. Szpylczyn intends to track the number of visitors who read the blog. Since she created it using free software, she calls it "an experiment -- nothing ventured, nothing gained."

But the blogger really hopes her venture is a success. "The 'blogosphere' is about somebody writing something and then a group of people having a conversation about that topic, [writing] 'I agree' or 'I disagree, and here's why," she noted. "It's another way to create community."

Since websites are available to anyone online, she added, the St. Edward's blog "is for our parish, but really for a wider audience than that."

Dreams

If the site draws enough interest, Mrs. Szpylczyn hopes to expand it to include interviews with parish and diocesan staff, and even national experts on spirituality. She might also add audio components.

That, she admitted, would be "shooting for the stars," but "I'm truly so excited about this!"

(Find the blog at www.stedwardsblog.blogspot.com. Visitors can also subscribe to the blog so that new entries will be sent to them by email. The parish website for St. Edward's is www.stedwardsny.org. In one blog entry, titled "Fear, Grace, Faith," Mrs. Szpylczyn muses on Mary's reaction to the angel Gabriel's announcement that she will bear a son, Jesus: "So often the scene of Mary and Gabriel is shown to us with her looking beatific and beautiful....Is fearlessness really the goal unto itself? Or is it maybe that we should [be] following in the footsteps of Mary...by proceeding with our fear, but not in service of that fear.")

(9/6/07)