Email links pastor, parishioners

The phone is ringing a little less often at St. Francis de Sales Church in Loudonville. That's because the pastor, Rev. David Noone, encourages parishioners to dash off emails before they address envelopes or dial the telephone.

"By now, they know that the fastest way to get to me is through email," he explained. "People know that I'm going to respond quickly, and I do."

Throughout the Albany Diocese, pastors and parish administrators are jumping onto the information superhighway by using email and the internet to coordinate parish activities, streamline committee meeting times, interact with parishioners and get on top of their ever-expanding schedules.

Practical and quick

Father Noone publishes his email address in the parish bulletin, and also can be reached through a link on the parish website. As a result, he finds himself increasingly fielding questions and arranging meeting times electronically.

"It makes it a lot easier from a practical point of view," he commented. "Eighty-five percent of the people on the church's committees have email. It's easy to remind them about meetings or send them minutes."

For Rev. Arthur Becker, pastor of Holy Trinity parish in Cohoes, email is "easier than playing phone tag."

He sometimes refers parishioners who catch him after Mass with complicated questions or requests to his email; that way, he explained, he won't forget what they said. The virtual reminder helps him to address his parishioners' needs.

Clearinghouse

Rev. Jerome Gingras, pastor of St. Mary's Church in Clinton Heights, has a personal email address so he can send information to his staff, but he prefers to list a general email address for the church for questions and comments from parishioners.

For the most part, those who email St. Mary's "are people who comment on the weekend liturgy or something in the bulletin, or have a prayer request," he said.

Sometimes, parishioners forward funny anecdotes they've heard, in response to Father Gingras' self-admitted penchant for telling stories during his homilies.

"It's much more convenient to do certain things by email," he said. "It's stuff that they would feel free to tell me after a Sunday Mass, but they can't get to me. Also, they send it through email if it's a reaction to something and they want to get it off their chest right away or talk about it right away."

Easing stress

At St. Francis de Sales, the staff always asks for the email addresses of new parents who want to have their babies baptized and engaged couples looking to get married.

Father Noone said that making some of the arrangements electronically can take stress out of sacramental preparation.

"It makes it so much easier to get in touch with these folks," he noted. "I can send out information, and they can send me information. In the past, I'd call them and they'd be at work, or they'd call me and I'd be out. This makes it a lot easier."

Always in reach

At St. Henry's parish in Averill Park, Rev. Brian Raiche, pastor, and his staff list their email addresses on the parish's website as well as in the bulletin and diocesan Catholic Directory.

Since he's always moving and may not stay in the office for an extended period of time, "it's the easiest way to contact me," he said.

Email also allows Father Becker to undertake some administrative tasks outside of normal business hours.

"I wouldn't call someone at 10 at night, but I would drop an email at 11," he explained. "It's so much easier than sitting and answering a whole bunch of phone calls. You can do a lot of things very quickly."

COMMUNICATIONS

Computers keeping parishes in touch

Parishes are tackling traditional tasks through the use of bits and bytes rather than paper and ink.

At St. Mary's Church in Clinton Heights, for example, lectors, servers and Eucharistic ministers log on to the parish's website to get their monthly schedules. The parish school also communicates with parents through email, and students can receive some of their homework online.

Rev. Jerome Gingras, pastor, also appreciates that emails from the Diocese update him quickly upon the death of a fellow priest.

In touch

At Holy Trinity Church in Cohoes, parishioners and historians email requests for parish records, often for the building of a genealogy.

Parents also let Rev. Arthur Becker, pastor, know about their college-aged children's school addresses, so the parish can keep in contact with them while they are pursuing higher education.

St. Francis de Sales parish in Loudonville often receives questions from other parishes about how they're operating their programs, and from parishioners detailing prayer requests, or asking for hospital visits or counseling.

Recently, a Siena College student emailed to ask to speak with Rev. David Noone, pastor, about a term paper that she was writing.

Quick and easy

One of the most useful purposes for parish email remains the mass dissemination of information in the shortest amount of time, said Father Noone.

"We sent out a notice to the parish council members that our meeting was going to change from one location to another," he recalled. "We didn't have to pick up the phone and call a single person, and they all showed up -- except for one person who checks her email once a month." (KD)

(1/15/04)