Financially Supporting an Expanded Audio-Visual Booth
We live in a digital world, and what a wonderfully engaging world it is! The pandemic has provided us with many opportunities to expand our digital outreach at Holy Family, and we have adapted our method for mission to match the demands of the digital age.
When COVID-19 first shut us down in March 2020, we ran out and bought a video camera to live-stream our Masses. We then taught ourselves how to launch a YouTube channel and the ins and outs of keeping it running. We subsequently invested more than $65,000 in state-of-the-art live-streaming equipment and technology, and that has had a tremendously positive impact on our ability to reach our community. We were blessed with almost 100% financial support from our parishioners for this! Thank you!
Fast-forward to the present. Our time in ‘the booth’ (otherwise known as Fr. Jude’s confessional) has out-lived its practical usefulness. We are so grateful to our Audio/Visual Ministry folks for their dedication in bringing us together online. The time has come when we need more space to be able to offer the best content available to our congregation both physically in the church as well as online. To that end, we have hired an outside contractor to expand ‘the booth’ so that it can accommodate three operators. Our new digital presentation system, ProPresenter, will allow us to simultaneously display lyrics, Mass parts, etc., on the screens in the church and the live-stream broadcast. This kind of technology requires more than one operator to do it properly.
The time has come when we need more space to be able to offer the best content available to our congregation both physically in the church as well as online.
We need your help!$!
There are several costs involved in bringing our systems up to date. We are thankful that we are still in a position to operate, but the reality is that Offertory giving is currently 15% below forecast. Our renovations are going to cost $20,000 and we are also spending $26,000 to replace our wireless microphones that the Priests and Deacons use in the sanctuary. You may have noticed recently that the sound has been cutting out – a result of equipment that has run its course and an issue with the radio frequencies over which they are broadcasted.
Recent research has indicated that upwards of 20% of pre-COVID attendance will be negatively impacted by the pandemic. In other words, people are staying home. With that in mind, it is critical that our digital outreach be excellent so that we can remain engaged with as many parishioners as possible. We all know what’s it’s like to click on a poorly recorded YouTube video – we want to avoid that.
Recent research has indicated that upwards of 20% of pre-COVID attendance will be negatively impacted by the pandemic
The digital world is the new mission field. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus tells his disciples to “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and that is what we intend to do!
If you would like to donate, there are a few ways that can occur. You can click on the QR-code below or in Our Family Overview or in the building, send an Interac e-transfer (hfparish@dol.ca), call the office, or visit our website at holyfamilylondon.ca/giving for more details.
We thank you, in advance, for your generosity.
Please call Tim Firth at extension 224 if you have any questions, and as always, all donations are tax deductible.
Options for Giving (link to our Giving page)
