Web Watch

Scott M. Fitzgerald

St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Community, Juneau, Alaska

http://www.alaska.net/~loki/index.html

Recently, I received an e-mail from the pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Community in Juneau, Alaska, asking me to check out his parish’s website. The parish authors call this site an "on-line newsletter." When the page loads, a small picture of the church appears, and below, some nice artwork leads to the 15 sections of the site. Under
the "Parish Schedule" section, you will find information on the sacraments and services of the parish. There is a listing for devotions and a section for each of the four choirs. An open, friendly atmosphere pervades, and invitations for folks to get involved are everywhere. At the "Staff/Ministries" section, one finds more than just a listing of who works at the parish. All the key people are listed, but that reminder appears again to "get involved!" At the bottom of this page one will come upon a huge picture of the parish secretary. It’s the largest picture in the whole site, which is fitting because, as all of us know, it’s the parish secretary who has the real power!

Located in the next section is "Upcoming Events." Here you will find a general parish calendar of events. It is plainly organized and very readable. At the bottom of every section is an icon, presenting an opportunity to e-mail the pastor with your comments.
The pastor has his own section, too, with biographical information and a little humor. The
light-hearted nature of the folks at this parish comes through in their "Church Humor" page. Finally, much of the rest of the site focuses on some simple catechetical ideas healing and forgiveness, church customs, abortion, etc. The site
also has links to Catholic sites all over the world.

These people may indeed be far away from most of us, but their website makes them a more personal part of the larger community and gives us a glimpse of what makes St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Community so special. This is what makes the internet so wonderful people of common belief but of different culture and geographical areas can connect, share and broaden their horizons.

We have been rating these websites each month in three areas: accessibility, content and presentation, each getting a1 (low) to 5 (high). This site is readable and simple to navigate in. Parishioners and newcomers will find what they need in a straightforward but attractive format: accessibility, 5/5. This site goes beyond the simple one-page-homepage idea. There are many levels to this website, and the folks at St. Paul have obviously put a lot of work into the content. I’d like to see some more in-depth information on the various leaders and organizations, beyond the names and phone numbers. There are the simple
descriptions, but I’d love to see more. For content, I give it 4/5. The tasty original graphics and artwork in this site are simple enough (and most of the pictures small enough) that the page still loads quickly. The site is well thought out in its organization, and it is updated regularly. For presentation, I give it 5/5.

Bottom Line:

Check out these WWW sites

Holy Redeemer, Burton, Mich. http://www.holyredeemer.org/index.html
St. Francis of Assisi Parish, La Quinta, Calif. http://www.cyberg8t.com/stfran/stfrancis.html
St. Andrew Parish, Daly City, Calif. http://www.hooked.net/users/amdg85/standrew.html

Does your parish have a Web site you want ML readers to know about? Write and tell us how you think it rates on accessiblity, content, and presentation. Send e-mail to MdrnLitrgy@aol.com.

Scott M. Fitzgerald is the Director of Music at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Owosso, Mich. Scott also works as a composer, freelance writer, and computer consultant. His homepage on the WWW is http://www.shianet.org/~orgel.