Caroline+Mobile+Devices+Assignment+1

Assignment #1
#|Mobile Devices and Ministry - Is My Parish Ready?

Expected time to complete assignment: 10 minutes

Is my parish ready to embrace and use these tools in learning environments or ministry? Why or Why not?

Please respond with the following information - name, parish, city, state and your response.

Name: Susan St. Lucy Parish, Anytown, MO
 * EXAMPLE: **

Response: As a parish we are just beginning to realize that this mobile technology is more available to us. We have a youth minister that really understands and uses technology with our youth ministry group. Our RCIA coordinator knows about Poll Everywhere, and is using this service which allows a respondent to use a cell phone in polls. But overall, we are still trying to figure out what to do. A majority of our #|ministers and catechists are hesitant to use technology in their teaching or ministry.

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Name: Chris Simons St. Peter Chanel, Roswell, GA

I do not believe that my parish is ready to embrace mobile communication tools in the learning environment yet. I believe that one of the issues my parish is grappling with is communication with minors. It appears that there are consent forms that need to be signed by parents that would allow an SPC staff member to communicate directly with a minor. On the surface it would seem that getting a parent signature wouldn't be too difficult bu I believe that this needs to be done by every group that would want to contact the minors, as part of a class or as a volunteer for an event. I believe that staff here is pretty up-to-date with technology (the majority are on facebook, twitter and have smart phones) but I think policy may be the limiting factor.

Name: Mary Amore Mayslake Ministries, Downers Grove, Il

I do not work at a parish, but I am the Executive Director of Mayslake Ministries and we are definitely ready for mobile technology! In fact last year we created a responsive mobile website and Facebook Page which are accessible on iPhones, Tablets and Androids. We offer videos for spiritual enrichment, blogs and articles. I look forward to creating MP3 audio clips which will feature interviews of upcoming presenters, spiritual conversations, and online retreats. There is no limit to what we can use technology for in our ministry!

Name: Anne Renkes St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Alpharetta, GA

I don't think our parish is quite ready for this type of communication yet. I agree with Chris above that we are somewhat limited in what we can do with minors. I work with Middle School youth and I would have to pick and choose what I would do but first I would need to go through the process of getting permission from parents. It's worth the effort though, because there are so many opportunities to connect with the kids! At this time it's not something our parish staff is all over. I think our H.S. youth minister does some things and I'm learning along with our Elementary coordinator, but that's it. I see the potential, I just need to learn some more and get better at it!

Name: Staci Stroud, Director of Communications St. Robert of Newminster Parish, Ada, Michigan

We're ready! Our pastor is very supportive in our endeavors. All of the ministries at our parish are moving away from using the USPS all the time to using more e-mail and web-based forms and RSVPs. Our faith formation director has really taken the reigns on this and we have made a huge step forward. Our parish website is undergoing its second overhaul; the first was when I started in 2009 and at this moment in 2014. We began an opt-in list for the pastor's weekly e-mail messages, and that has grown to nearly 700. We instituted homily recordings (podcast) 4 years ago and that has proven to be extremely popular; they have gone global. Along with establishing a parish Facebook page, we are also introducing a parish app in mid-September. The use of cell phones is astronomical and we can't avoid this fact. This train is moving along at exponential speeds. We've hopped on and now we're hanging on and riding to infinity and beyond.