Social Media/Technology update…
Many of you reading this will remember the era of party lines. No, they were not cute remarks that people made to win the esteem of the opposite sex at gatherings. Rather, they were the most economical way to have phone service at your house. Pick up the phone, and even though no one in your house was on a handset, the line was often in use by the other ‘party’ who shared the same line and the cost. I suspect that concept is pretty much unfathomable to the current generation of technologically savvy young adults and children. Things have changed vastly in our communication and technological worlds.
So, too, things have changed in the world of personal finance. Many people bank online, pay bills online and manage their financial affairs without ever stepping foot inside a bank. Technology is such that even craft fair vendors can swipe your credit card on their phones as you buy their wares in church basements and auditoriums. It is a different world in so many ways.
So, it is time for St. Ann’s to do a little catch up in terms of the data we collect, how we contact you and even how people might make their stewardship of the financial treasure God has entrusted to them. To that end, a small Stewardship committee (Bill Hook, Meg Naes and myself so far) have been looking at various options to make St. Ann more responsive to the times in which we live.
As a FIRST step in that process, we will be collecting as many e-mail addresses of parishioners as we are able to. From those addresses we will be able to send out timely notices – about deaths and funeral arrangements of parishioners, special events on the horizon, prayer requests and news that affects this community that is the rock of Normandy. That collection of data will hap-pen via a little paper form (or an electronic one from our Facebook page) that people will fill out on the weekends of Aug. 9-10 and 16-17th. (If you don’t have an email address, we will just be asking for updated information.)
In addition, we will be using the Our Sunday Visitor company to manage an Electronic Offertory giving pro-gram. You can ‘give’ to St. Ann parish by your credit or debit card, or directly from a checking or savings ac-count. We will roll out the OSV version of this program on Stewardship Sunday, Sept. 27-28th. More information to follow. HOWEVER, many banks allow for ACH transfers. (electronic transfer of funds from your bank account.) Those can be set up at any time. Please contact Eileen at ext. 852 and she will make the necessary arrangements.