Metro Detroit parishes say devices help communication with younger demographic

Metro Detroit — While the parish bulletin is still king, the prince-in-waiting might just be the parish app.

As more and more parishioners become accustomed to receiving information through the use of electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets, local parishes are becoming more technologically savvy in their efforts to stay in communication with those in the pews.

Over the past several months, parishes across the Archdiocese of Detroit have launched or upgraded mobile apps — short for applications — in an effort to spread information across multiple platforms.

“Part of the benefit of having a mobile app is the communication points with parishioners,” said Ryan Eggenberger, outgoing digital media manager at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth. “We post Sunday homilies on the app and post notifications of parish events and reminders.”

Eggenberger said the parish used the app after the Islamic State committed a series of atrocities against Christians in the Middle East. The parish sent out a notification through the app, calling for parishioners to pray the rosary at 7 p.m. for the souls of those who were killed.

“We really use the app as a community building tool for the parish,” Eggenberger said. “It increases communication; you can never over-communicate. With everything so noisy, it’s nice to have a simple, basic reminder of what’s happening in your parish. A lone Christian is a dead Christian, so this is a way to stay connected.”

While some parishes use mobile apps primarily as a way to stay connected with parishioners, others hope to leverage the user-friendly format to draw in new faces. Old St. Mary’s Parish in downtown Detroit, for instance, hopes to use its app to attract some of the many people who visit the city’s Greektown district.

“Being in the heart of Greektown, a lot of people are pulling out their iPads and looking for churches and Mass times,” said Randy Bowers, operations manager at Old St. Mary’s. “We would like it to become an information front for people, whether they are Catholic or not. Giving enough information about the church and what’s going on, but not an overload.”

To design their apps, both Old St. Mary’s and Our Lady of Good Counsel hired Kruse Solutions, a Troy-based company that has built apps for other local Catholic entities, including Mercy High School in Farmington Hills, Holy Martyrs (Chaldean) Church in Sterling Heights and the Eastern Catholic Re-Evangelization Center in Bloomfield Hills.

Old St. Mary’s’ app reflects its website, with a calendar of events, Mass times and devotions. Bowers would like the app to evolve so the parish can send out news bulletins or quick bits of information, and hopes the modern presence can help the parish stay connected with a younger Detroit audience.

“When most people see a bulletin, they sort of forget about it,” Bowers said. “This is another tool to evangelize, making it easier for people to see our notices. We are the third oldest parish in the archdiocese; a number of people still like paper bulletins, but a lot of younger people are moving back into downtown and picking up on the devotions, and this is how they get their information.”

While common wisdom says apps and mobile devices are primarily geared toward younger people, Holly Shanefelt, director of technology and communications at St. Isidore Parish in Macomb, said people of all ages have been receptive to the parish’s app.

“What has impressed me is the variety of people using the app,” Shanefelt said. “It’s a wonderful thing, and we shouldn’t categorize older people as if they don’t care about technology.”

Shanefelt said the key to a successful app is a simple design; she credits Diocesan Publications for designing a simple app, called MyParishApp, that allows users to access information about their parish without experiencing data overload.

“Once the app is set up, it really doesn’t take too much to manage it,” Shanefelt said. “People can access our bulletin, the directory or visit our electronic giving page. There are no ads or too many links, and we can set messages to go out at scheduled times, so it is not too much work for parish staff.”

With smartphones and tablets becoming more readily available, Shanefelt and others around the archdiocese feel apps will become a vital tool for Catholics to stay connected with the parish community.

“I think mobile apps like these are going from the exception to the norm,” Shanefelt said. “We aren’t going to phase out the paper bulletin anytime soon, but the world has gone digital. And this is a great way to show the Church is with how things are today.”

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Parish apps

To learn more about parish apps and see if your parish has one, visit myparishapp.com.