4 minute read
Ascension Mission Church Livestream Brings Liturgy and Community to All
Last year, the global pandemic that began changing the way Americans live — and worship — was an entirely unprecedented event. Annunciation, like all Catholic churches across the world, had to adapt to new ways of serving God’s people. Our Tech Ministry, highlighted in the February 2021 newsletter, quickly sprang into action to find new and better ways of keeping our faith community connected in a time of social distancing. At our mission church of Ascension, one parishioner has gone above and beyond to make the livestream of our Masses available to all.
Fred Costanzo and his wife, Andrea, have been parishioners of Ascension in Puako ever since their retirement brought them from Northern Virginia to Hawaii eight years ago. The couple had long been active in their Virginia parish, so it came naturally to them to dive right into life at Ascension. In addition to serving as a lector and Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, Fred is also on the Parish Pastoral Council.
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In the summer of 2020, Fred heard that Fr. Tony wanted to begin livestreaming the Masses from Annunciation and Ascension. With a background in engineering, Fred decided to lend his talents to this new Tech Ministry. The first order of business was to help the mission church acquire a strong enough Wi-Fi signal to enable the livestream. Next, Fred identified and donated the necessary livestream cameras.
Over the past year, Fred has found his involvement in the Ascension livestreaming very rewarding.
The livestream setup outside Ascension Mission Church allows for overflow seating.
Tech Ministry helper Liz Chock with Fr. Tony and Fred and Andrea Costanzo at Puako house after Palm Sunday Mass
“The livestream allows people to stay connected with their fellow parishioners,” he says. “Even if they aren’t comfortable being here in person, they can see their fellow parishioners coming into the church or receiving Communion, and they witness the offering of Mass. Even if we reach out and just reach one person who otherwise wouldn’t experience the virtual Mass that week, it’s a good thing. I’ve had nothing but really good feedback from people. Praise the Lord that we are making this available to them.”
Thanks to Fred, the weekend Mass livestream from Ascension is certainly reaching more than just one person — typically, a Sunday Mass will end up with between 200-300 household views! In addition to providing an experience of the liturgy for those who are confined to the home due to health restrictions and concerns, the livestream is also drawing “visitors” from around the world who remember our mission church from a past vacation on the island.
“We have a lot of one-time visitors, and that’s what we touched on with the livestream,” Fred says. “We are seeing comments from people far away saying, ‘Hey, we love coming there when we are in Hawaii.’ The fact that we are reaching both the homebound and distant visitors — that’s a blessing. It’s very rewarding, and we are really reaching out to people in more than one way.”
Another tremendous blessing to come from the Ascension livestream is the ability to broadcast the Mass outside on the parish property next to the church parking lot in Puako. During peak visitor times and holidays such as Christmas and Easter, there is often a need to accommodate more people than the church itself allows. With a large-screen TV and quality loudspeaker, this new outdoor space can accommodate about 45 socially distanced chairs. A large blanket is also set out for small children to sit up front. Eucharistic Ministers walk over from the church when it is time to distribute Holy Communion.
“The open-air environment at this location provides a unique spiritual setting from which several parishioners and visitors can safely participate in the Mass,” Fred says. “Sometimes, there might be a family of five or six coming from the resort hotels, and they’ll peek in and if it’s crowded, they’ll leave. Now we have the overflow area that is really nice. It’s under the shade of a mango tree, and you’re outside in Hawaii. We try to make it more convenient for visitors to continue their faithfulness to the faith while on vacation.”
The livestream camera is set up and ready to record Sunday Mass.
Over the last year, Fred has been the primary volunteer working to bring Mass from our mission church to hundreds of people weekly. He is thankful for the help of his wife, Andrea, and the new members of the Tech Ministry now learning the ropes. Moving forward, he hopes to see this ministry continue to grow and serve the faithful both near and far.
“As with any successful ministry, we can always use additional tech-savvy volunteers to assist us in providing this timely and valuable service to our parish ‘ohana,” Fred says. “We will gladly provide the necessary training to anyone who is interested. It’s such a rewarding and satisfying feeling knowing that we’re able to reach many of our Christian brothers and sisters who may otherwise miss out on sharing the spiritual benefits of our liturgies during Mass.”
