Technology helps religious leaders reach their flocks during pandemic
The long COVID-19 quarantine has drawn many people back to their religious traditions, while also encouraging them to start some new ones, according to Rev. Brian Gannon of St. Theresa Church in Trumbull.
Gannon, who delivered Lenten blessings from a Cessna 172 airplane during the early weeks of the lockdown in March, said the pandemic forced churches to embrace technology as a way of maintaining a sense of community even while capacity limits kept attendance at 100 in the church that can hold as many as 1,200.
“We brought in a couple of Conex boxes (shipping containers) and placed them on flatbed trucks in the parking lot, so with the doors open it created a kind of mini-altar,” Gannon said. “Then we wired up an FM radio transmitter that allowed people to come and sit in their cars outdoors and hear the Mass.”
The drive-in services typically drew about 90 vehicles.
Other religious leaders have adopted similar strategies, with clergy now recording podcasts and conducting virtual services via Zoom and Facebook Live. The practice likely will continue even after the pandemic is declared under control, as a way of reaching the infirm and those who have moved away, but wish to maintain a spiritual connection with
Trumbull, Gannon said.
And, in addition to new traditions like Zoom Masses and children’s discussions, churches also may have to adopt new methods of maintaining older traditions such as distributing Communion.
At St. Theresa, one of the first challenges of the lockdown was to the church’s perpetual adoration — a continual vigil in the parish’s chapel that has been ongoing since 2017. Once again, technology played a role in maintaining the tradition.
“We moved the adoration from the chapel to the main church, and installed electronic key fobs,” Gannon said. “We kept it going all through the quarantine, and it’s been a great source of solace.”