Tag Archives: messages

Help Your Parishioners Find Mass

Administrators, , ,

Have you ever been on vacation and needed to find current Mass times for parishes in the area? This is the struggle of millions of Americans.*

*source not cited

The guy in the video below knows exactly how you feel. 

Now you can DiscoverMass times easily, even while on vacation. Never use your 4th of July family reunion as an excuse again. Jesus is waiting and he wants to see you.

1.

Simply click the DiscoverMass button on your myParish App home screen.

2.

Tap the “churches near you” icon.

3.

Allow location services by tapping “ok”.

4.

And presto! You now have a list of churches in your current area and the Mass times.

Don’t forget to remind your parishioners of this awesome feature and how they can use it on vacation this summer. We have made it easy for you. Here is a sample message you can use. Remember to send it out as a push notification.

Jesus wants to see you while you are on vacation this summer. He is truly present at every Catholic Mass in the world. It is easy to find churches in your area by using the DiscoverMass button in myParish app. Click here for more info: https://myparishapp.com/find-mass-times-vacation-myparish-app/


As Diocesan Publications’ Solutions Evangelist, Shultz is committed to showing parish and diocesan staffs how to use our communication tools to their best advantage.  As an experienced speaker on all things Catholic, he has addressed topics such as the Sacraments, chastity, and boldly living the Catholic faith.  Tommy Shultz also served as director of youth and young adult ministries for the Diocese of Baker, OR. 

message

Message Me!

Administrators, Ideas & Tips, Message Ideas, , , ,

Craft great messages for the best results.

Sending messages via myParish App is a terrific way to keep your parishioners informed. However, there are a few tips to create great messages, making them more effective.

  • Include most relevant at beginning of message because that’s what shows in a push notification.
  • Send your message now, and then add as an event to remain on calendar.
  • Use messaging and events together to keep information available on the calendar.

Here is an example of a “weak” message:

“We need volunteers! There are many volunteer opportunities here at St. Ann’s. This week, we are cleaning the church. Call the church office if interested. “

This message is really unclear. It doesn’t tell parishioners when they would be needed, and there is no phone or email included so that they can easily contact the office if interested. They would have to hunt around to find the contact information.

Here is an example of a “stronger” message:

“Help clean the church for Christmas! Wednesday, December 21 at noon, volunteers are needed to clean and decorate the church for Christmas. Snacks and drinks provided and all ages welcome. Please call Patty in the church office at 616-555-5555 for more information or to volunteer.”

Then, make sure you put this event on the app calendar.

A few simple tweaks to a message can make a big difference!

mission

Where Are We Going? How Are We Getting There?

Administrators, Ideas & Tips, Message Ideas, , , ,

And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Mt. 2:9-12

Imagine traveling to an unknown land, no map, no GPS. Just a star and a whole lot of faith. And it worked!

Our faith communities are a lot like these wise men. We have faith, but often are a little fuzzy on where we are going and how to get there. That’s where a Parish Mission Statement comes in.

Most parishes have their mission statement on their website and their bulletin. But people get so used to seeing it there, they never really SEE it. And that mission statement is important! It tells your parish family where they are going and how to get there.

One way to draw attention to your parish mission statement is to send it out as a Message in myParish App. Maybe you can send it out once a month, or once a quarter. It’s a good way to remind your faith community: This is where we are going. This is how we are going to get there.

Just A Short Suggestion

Administrators, Ideas & Tips, ,

When creating content for myParish App, do you find yourself running out of space if you include a web address? Many times, we want to direct users to a website, but the actual web address can be long. What’s the solution?

It’s easy: use a link shortener! One of the most reliable is Bitly. It’s easy to use. For instance, the web address for the landing page of the Diocese of Grand Rapids is this: http://www.dioceseofgrandrapids.org/Pages/default.aspx. Pretty long. By using Bitly, you get this instead: http://bit.ly/1u6ydMV. That takes up far less space, and takes your reader to the same page.

Using a link shortener is just one short suggestion to help manage your app content.