Parishes evaluating video ministry

By Bill Doyle | CFP Correspondent

When the pandemic forced the diocese to suspend public Masses for several weeks a little more than a year ago, St. Patrick Church in Whitinsville took no time to adjust to livestreaming services.
That’s because St. Patrick began livestreaming Masses on YouTube four years ago to reach out to homebound people after the church was introduced to livestreaming at a Rebuild conference at the Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Maryland.
St. Patrick livestreams three weekend Masses as well as funerals and weddings. About 100 people watch the three Masses online. The pandemic has dropped attendance at the church’s four weekend Masses from 300-400 to about 200, said Father Tomasz J. Borkowski, St. Patrick pastor.
“It’s just trying to reach out to as many people as we can, wherever they are,” he said of livestreaming. “Some of them cannot be with us in person.”
Father Borkowski said St. Patrick will continue to livestream three Masses even after the pandemic ends to reach the sick and infirm who are unable to attend. He’s not concerned that livestreaming will hurt in-person attendance.
“I think, by and large, people are looking forward to coming back to church,” he said. “If they choose not to come back to church, it’s not going to be because they can watch it online. There may be some other reasons.”
St. Patrick installed the last two of its three cameras on church pillars just two weeks before the diocese suspended public Masses due to the pandemic. The parish is exploring adding hymn lyrics to the livestream broadcasts.
St. Patrick livestreams have also been shown on the website of St. Peter Church in Northbridge which doesn’t livestream its Masses. St. Peter pastor Father Thomas G. Landry alternates celebrating livestreamed Masses at St. Patrick with Fath er Borkowski.
The parish uses four cameras, three positioned on pillars and one on a tripod. Shawn McPherson was hired to handle the audio and eight volunteers, including one Blackstone Valley Tech student and one Northbridge High School student, take care of the video.
Father Borkowski said he’s heard of parishioners buying laptops for elderly parents so they can watch Masses online and he’s visited people who have told him how much they enjoy watching Masses and praying with him online.
“The members of the parish are not just the people who are registered and physically present, but anybody who tunes in online as well,” he said.
Father Borkowski said people from Germany, Spain, Portugal and England have watched weddings and funerals at St. Patrick online during the pandemic. The day after Easter, a woman from Douglas called the church to say she hadn’t attended Mass for six years, but she felt connected to St. Patrick by watching the church’s livestream Masses for six months. The following day she registered in the parish and plans to return in person.
St. Louis Church in Webster has livestreamed the 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday on YouTube since shortly after public Masses were suspended. Father William F. Sanders said 80-100 people tune in.
“It’s certainly served its purpose during this pandemic,” Father Sanders said. “There’s no doubt about that. But the future – that probably needs to be really discussed on a lot of levels.”
Livestreams serve homebound parishioners and those who aren’t yet comfortable attending Mass during the pandemic, but Father Sanders compared the challenges of livestreams to those facing schools teaching remotely.
“Are the kids in their jammies?” he wondered. “Are they snacking while they’re there? How much attention are they paying? It’s hard to measure that. It’s harder for us. I think teachers can hold students accountable. It’s even harder for us to know.”
Father Alex Castro, pastor at St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in the Fiskdale section of Sturbridge, said his parish had never livestreamed Masses until public Masses were suspended last year, but the livestreams have been well received. Father Castro estimated that 30-35 people watch the livestreamed 8 a.m. Sunday Mass on YouTube or Facebook.
Father Castro said 250-300 people attend the parish’s four Sunday Masses, down from 400-450 prior to the pandemic. The parish has received thanks via emails and Facebook comments, but Father Castro wonders if the livestreams could eventually hurt attendance.
“That is a concern,” he said, “that it becomes more convenient and they become more comfortable with the livestreaming. We emphasize that presence is still important. Community and the presence of the community, you cannot exchange that for the comfort of your home.”
Father Castro isn’t certain if livestreaming will continue after the pandemic.
“Right now, yes,” he said, “because we would like to reach out to people who are homebound who cannot join us for Masses. But we have to evaluate that.”
Father Daniel R. Mulcahy, pastor at Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Brigid in Millbury, believes livestreaming will continue.
“Yes, it’s here to stay, I think,” he said. “We’ve had a great response from it. The overwhelming response is one of gratitude.”
The 9 a.m. Sunday Mass at Assumption is livestreamed on Facebook each week and either the 4 p.m. Saturday Mass or the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass at St. Brigid is taped and shown on local cable access. The parish didn’t begin livestreaming until Masses were closed to the public last spring, but it has broadcast Masses on tape-delay since before Father Mulcahy joined the parish nearly seven years ago.
Well over 100 households, including those from Father Mulcahy’s former parishes in the diocese as well as families in Florida, Texas, Illinois and New York, watch the livestream Mass each week. The parish’s four weekend Masses average about 100 attendees.
Father Mulcahy said some people watch while conducting what they call, “brunch with Father Dan,” and others watch as families.
The parish has also livestreamed holy hours, Holy Week services, rosaries, Benediction, faith formation and Bible study.
“I think it’s wonderful,” he said. “I think it’s a great thing and I think we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface as far as how we could use it. There are all sorts of ways to use media, but the Catholic Church is a sacramental Church and there’s only so much technology that people can stand. I know people have been very happy to get back to church and there are some things that don’t translate as well over the media.”
Is Father Mulcahy concerned that some people may not return to church in person if they can watch Mass online?
“I know some priests are,” he said, “and I think there are still people who are afraid to not only come to Mass, but to do a lot of other things. I’ve heard folks say they go to the grocery store, they go to this, that and the other thing, but Mass, no. And we’re a lot safer than a lot of those other places. So yeah, I would say there is some concern about that, but I’m really hoping that people get vaccinated and then return to church.”
Father Mulcahy has seen a lot of people return to church, especially older people who have been vaccinated.    
Father Mulcahy said some people have been so inspired by watching Mass online, they have returned to the confessional for the first time in decades.
St. Stephen Church in Worcester began livestreaming the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass on Facebook shortly after churches were closed to the public, generating hundreds of views throughout each week.
Parishioner Neil Isakson volunteers to livestream each Mass on his iPhone, which sits atop a tripod next to him and his wife, Paula Dwyer-Isakson, in a pew near the front of the church. Mr. Isakson said many people have thanked him and Msgr. Robert K. Johnson, St. Stephen pastor, for the livestreams.
Mr. Isakson, Deacon Paul Reuter and Reuter’s daughter Lucy handle what Isakson calls “an accidental ministry.” Deacon Paul refers to it as “a ministry born of necessity.”
Deacon Paul is a musician and he provided microphones that fit the iPhone and microphone stands. Lucy records the 11 a.m. Mass on her video camera and posts it on the church’s website after her father edits it.
The number of viewers for the livestreams has steadily decreased as people slowly return to church, but Mr. Isakson said lots of folks still watch.
Mr. Isakson often “likes” comments that viewers post during and after the livestreams so the viewers can feel more connected to the Mass.
Mr. Isakson is much busier at Mass than he used to be.
“I have been used to going to Mass over the years and focusing entirely on the liturgy,” Mr. Isakson said. “Now, I have to spend a lot of time thinking about what’s going to happen next, where I need to turn my tripod and my camera, should I zoom in or not zoom in, what the lighting looks like. There are all kinds of things I’m thinking about in addition to the fact that I’m trying to celebrate the liturgy with everybody else.”
The parish is exploring purchasing a better camera for livestreams.
“I’m sure that there’s a future for streaming Masses,” Mr. Isakson said. “We’re sort of a small army of livestreamers in churches right now. I don’t know that any of us planned it, but we’re all doing it and very likely there’s a future for it. I would like to think the ideal is still that we can gather in person with one another regularly.”