Technology improving communication in Church

A Illinois priest who manages a diocesan agency and a parish has found his laptop computer to be his library.

A diocesan chancellor in Michigan notes that computers and the modems which connect them have become invaluable in communicating in the Church community.

To the campus minister at a university in the birthplace of the new technology, personal computers and electronic mail are as taken for granted as a telephone in his work with the wired-in generation.

New tools

Around the country, pastors and others involved in ministry agree that the tools of technology have changed how they do their work, but not what they do.

"The greatest advantage is how it can massage information," said Father Joseph Brink, the pastor of the 1,400-family, "rural-becoming-suburban" St. Mary Parish in Alexandria, Ky., of his parish's computer. "Once the names are entered in the database, we can easily identify a certain class of parishioner -- such as widows, for example -- who may be the subject of special ministry."

The personal computers also link the parish staff. "We use them for planning, for projecting school enrollment and financial contributions, for scheduling ministries and facilities," he said. "I couldn't imagine operating without them."

Connected

Electronic connectivity has been on the agenda of the Diocese of Saginaw, Mich., for most of this decade. The "Saginaw Connection" began with one laptop computer and one telephone line in 1992 and has grown to four lines and four personal computers. It handles more than 50,000 messages a year, with 111 parishes and 450 people using the system.

"The basic goal or philosophy is to facilitate open, honest and frequent communications," according to Thomas Schroeder, chancellor of the diocese and the architect of the system.

The system's main benefit is allowing parishes and agencies to deal with issues quickly as they arise, to respond quickly, and to be short and to the point in written response compared to a letter, Schroeder added.

Communication

A Dominican priest in California finds the personal computer as necessary and commonplace in a computer-literate community as a telephone.

"We do all major communications with the students through e-mail," said Father Patrick LaBelle, director of the Catholic chaplaincy at Stanford University at Palo Alto, Calif. "They are so used to hooking into the electronic way."

Every Stanford student is assigned an e-mail address. The priest said his chaplaincy has 1,000 students on its e-mail list.

"We have our own page on the (World Wide) Web," Father LaBelle said, "which contains everything from describing individual ministries to reproducing the weekly bulletin."

Father LaBelle said when he advertised a Confirmation class by means of bulletin notices and flyers, three persons attended the first meeting.

"As a matter of curiosity, I put it out on the e-mail and the next week we had 23," he said. "We see that kind of thing on a regular basis. Students comment on homilies, ask questions, seek advice. I check my e-mail several times a day."

Not a luxury

When Father Gerald Gonderinger was named founding pastor of St. Stephen the Martyr Parish in the suburbs west of Omaha, Neb., six years ago, it was a parcel of property and an idea. Today, it is a parish community of 1,800 families, the majority young, most having children under high-school age.

"Then, I thought a fax machine was a luxury," recalled Father Gonderinger. "Now, it's used at least two or three times a day," he said.

Father Gonderinger also carries a cellular telephone. It has been invaluable in emergencies, he said, noting that he has received four death notifications on it.

"'Gee, that's sort of a luxury,' some people may say about a cellular phone," said Father Gonderinger, "but I guess that depends on whether or not someone in your family has just died."

Another tool winning quick acceptance at the suburban Omaha parish is a scanner, which was donated.

"I thought it might be an extravagance, but I bet we use it 20 times a week. What it's really used for is publishing: for religious aids, worship aids, we scan music and art. It's changed things in terms of materials we are able to give to people. Our publishing is more creative and more professional," he said.

Emergency calls

Father Mark Williams is pastor of a parish in Peoria, Ill., and director of evangelization for the Diocese of Peoria.

"I have a cellular phone for incoming emergency calls," he said, "and I also use it for outgoing calls since I spend a lot of time on the road."

Being able to carry a notebook computer has improved his efficiency, Father Williams believes.

"It's helpful for documents in a particular way," he said. "I've loaded in the documents of Vatican II, the (new) catechism and have them instantly available for reference when I'm writing or preparing a homily," he said.

Library

His computer is also his library, said Father Williams. "The closest Catholic library to Peoria is in Chicago. It's hard to justify the time, let alone the expense, of going to Chicago to get a book," he said.

Downloading information on the Internet solves his problem.

The modern tools that are available are tools of ministry, Father Williams stressed, not replacement for ministry.

"It can save time -- time for study, research and prayer," he said. "But it's important to remember that technology is a tool and we are not to be its slave."

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