Tag Archives: Lent

manage myparish app

It’s Almost Easter! 4 Ways to Manage With myParish App

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Folks outside the parish office don’t know that Easter planning begins right after the last verse of “Joy to the World” at the Christmas recessional. As joyous as Easter is, it can be tough on parish staffs.

Using myParish App can help.

  1. Use messaging. Often. Your parish has a lot going on – study groups, missions, special services, extra confession times. Taking 5 minutes a day to send out a message can help keep folks informed.
  2. Keep important app information updated. This is the time you’ll really want to make sure bulletins are up-to-date on the app, as are Father’s homilies. Also, make sure basic parish information is current. People travel a lot this time of year and look for a church – you don’t want them to show up for 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday when you changed the schedule 8 months ago.
  3. Tell people about the app. Keep the Launch Kit banner up in the parish hall. Have teens pass out information during coffee after Mass. Run information on how to download the app in the bulletin. Remember, this is the time of year when folks who often don’t go to church will be there – giving them the app is a wonderful gift!
  4. Use the app yourself. First, you’ll know for sure if something isn’t right! But use the app for your own spiritual enrichment. Too often, parish workers set aside their own spiritual life for everyone else’s. You can’t give what you don’t have, so dig into the readings of the day, set prayer reminders to go off to  help you stay on track, and enjoy one of the other features such as “Living the Good News” or “Real Life Catholic.”

Enjoy the rest of Lent, and have a wonderful Easter!

featured events

A Notable Feature

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Learn to use Featured Events to promote parish activities.

Today, let’s focus on using the “Events” feature to promote parish activities, while at the same time promoting the use of myParish App more fully.

First, create your event: you can do that by going to your admin page. Click on the “Events” tab at the top. Then, under the “English/Spanish” tab on the left side, you’ll see “Add  event” with the calendar icon. Click on that, and fill in the applicable information. Don’t forget to click “Add” when you’re done to save the event.

You won’t want to use the Events feature for everything that is going on in the parish. This is really for Featured Events. For instance, if your parish is planning special study groups and/or activities during Lent, this is the use for Featured Events! Set Ash Wednesday on March 1, and then add in Bible Studies, Stations of the Cross, youth activities, fish dinners, etc.

In addition, tell your parishioners about the Featured Events in at least two different places outside the app.

A sample bulletin announcement might be: “Be sure to check out our Lenten Featured Events using myParish App. It’s a quick way to see what is happening during Lent here at St. Meinrad’s. Don’t have the App? Aren’t sure how to use it? Please ask a parish staff member or call the parish office at xxx-xxx-xxxx.”

You can also put a similar message on your parish Facebook page: “Don’t miss any of St. Meinrad’s Featured Events during Lent. As we grow in holiness, we also want to grow in communication! Use the myParish App to stay in touch during this holy season. Don’t have the App or not sure how to use it? Talk to a parish staff person or call the parish office.”

If  you’re going to be using the App heavily (during Lent, for instance), the Sunday before Ash Wednesday would be an excellent time to host a “Redownload Sunday.” Break out the t-shirts from your Launch Kit, and round up volunteers for each Mass to help those who don’t yet have the app, or need a quick tutorial.

Happy event planning!

Groups feature

It’s A Group Effort: Making The Most Of The ‘Groups’ Feature

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As a myParish App administrator, you’ve hopefully had a chance to check out the new Groups feature. (If you haven’t, please do. We know you’ll find it helpful!) This feature has the potential to not only help with day-to-day communications needs of a parish, but also help with information needs for religious education, schools, small groups and the many other groups that a church employs for the faithful. The Groups feature is flexible enough to handle targeted communication as well as on-going discussions.

Here are just a couple of ideas to help your faith community make the most of the Groups feature:

  • If you are using Groups for administrative needs (i.e. church/school employees), make sure your list of members is up-to-date.
  • It may take a bit for people to get used to using the Groups feature. A few reminders are a great idea.
  • Again, for administrative needs, keep Group discussion timely. You don’t want to post a reminder for something that is a month away. People will forget. On the other hand, posting something the day before won’t give you the best results either.
  • Make sure you (and any Group moderator) know your diocesan policies on social media usage. For instance, any group that involves children and teens (18 and under) should have two Group moderators, so that two adults can view all messaging. This is for the protection of church staff and volunteers, as well as our children.
  • Let small group leaders know about the Group feature and how to use it. For instance, if your parish typically has Advent and/or Lenten small groups, the leaders can become Group moderators in order to extend discussions and post reminders.

These are just a few simple tips on how to use the Groups feature. If you’d like to know more, or to activate the Groups for your parish, please use our contact page. We’ll be happy to help.