More TV Masses

For the past year, St. John the Baptist Church in Schenectady has been videotaping a weekly Mass for broadcast on Channel 16, the public access channel in Schenectady.

Originally, the liturgy was recorded in the parish center, but the 5 p.m. Saturday Mass in church is now the one that's taped, according to James Cronin, a parishioner who does the taping. The Mass is shown at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday, and at 2:20 p.m. on Monday and Thursday

Mr. Cronin donated a video camera to the parish and uses it to tape Mass from the balcony each Saturday. He also has a VCR handy that tapes the picture fed from the camera; whichever tape is better is used for broadcast.

The Channel 16 studio is located right around the corner from St. John's, so getting the tape to the studio is no problem. There's also a live wire installed by Channel 16 that the parish may use for live broadcasts, such as Christmas Masses.

People who watch St. John the Baptist's Mass each week let Rev. John Rosson, pastor, know when it hasn't aired for technical reasons, and those who attend the televised Mass don't seem to mind being videotaped.

"The people know they're on television. I think that most people are pretty accustomed to it," Mr. Cronin said.

In addition, daily Masses from St. Mary's Hospital in Troy and St. Peter's Hospital in Albany are shown at 4 p.m. Monday through Friday on Channel 18 on Time Warner Cable in Albany. (PQ)

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