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Staying Connected to Your People and Your StaffConnect with your parishioners as much as possible?and make use of all available communication vehicles:?Parish Website:?Update often and designate a specific location or page on the site for parishioners to go to for updates. Also include a way for parishioners to sign up for email updates. See #2 below.?Email:?Send regular email messages, at least weekly. Numerous email options exist, some free, that allow for email messaging – ConstantContact, Mail Chimp, Flocknote – pick one and start using if not already doing so.??Social Media:?We’ve seen a number of pastors using social media pages to connect with families, going on Facebook live to post messages, broadcasting daily Mass, etc. This is inspiring! If you’re not on social media, now is the time to “Put out into deep water” and start using this powerful communication tool.Your main tools for meeting and communication during this time will be streaming and video conferencingStreaming: Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Instagram LiveSpirit Juice Studios has tips for how to do this with your phoneVideo Conferencing: Zoom and Webex both offering free Pro accounts. Also: Facebook Messenger and Google HangoutYou can start a Google Hangout within Gmail, with a Chrome extension, or a cell phone appZoom, Webex, and Facebook Messenger all have apps as well?Phone Outreach:?Commit to spending a lot of time on the phone and call parishioners often. If needed, invite a team of parishioners to help manage the call volume. Use this time as an opportunity to:?Check-in and personally see how each parish family is doingProvide updates/reports on how the parish is responding and/or what is being offered (e.g. live stream of Mass)Ask families if they have any prayer intentions that the parish staff could pray for and/or the pastor could remember at MassElectronic Giving: Provide an easy way for parishioners to send their tithe electronicallyWeShare is a popular choice for Catholic parishes. LPi is waving the monthly subscription fee for the next 6 monthsAlso see 5 of the Best Church Online Giving PlatformsPlan Ahead: How will you and your staff connect if/when you need to work from home? If you have not done so, form a disaster response teamFace-to-Face – Zoom or something similarCallsText or something like SlackEmail selectively and succinctly – inboxes get full quickly when everyone works remotely ................
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