Broadcasting in a Time of Darkness

BROADCASTING LIGHT IN A TIME OF DARKNESS Bringing Christ to our Community via live-stream…

BY JEREMY KIOLBASSA, DIRECTOR OF MUSIC AND LITURGY

The Beginning To me, the past eight months have seemed to speed by while feeling like a lifetime all at once. I look back on the week of March 9th with a host of mixed emotions. For one, this was the last time that our parish choir was able to sing together. On Wednesday, March 11th the choir performed a sung vespers service for Lent. Together we chanted the Psalms, the first being Psalm 62. Today, one verse in particular resonates: “In God is my safety and glory, the rock of my strength. Take refuge in God, all you people. Trust him at all times.” In all honesty, I don’t remember singing that line. I had to go back to the breviary and re-read the words. Like so many little “pre-pandemic” moments, this single line of poetry floated by undetected, and only in hindsight can I truly appreciate its significance.

Like most people at the time, we had no idea of the true scope of the impending pandemic, or what it would mean for our church. Rumors about “closing down for a couple weeks” really started to circulate on Monday, March 9th. I remember having a conversation with Fr. Steve where we discussed the possibility of livestreaming Sunday Mass, although at the time the idea still felt like speculation at best. The idea of closing down was just a rumor, after all. In reviewing my emails from that week, I found a message from Thursday, March 12th, saying “the Archdiocese of Chicago has not moved yet to cancellations.” Within 24 hours of this message, we got word that the schools would in fact close, and Masses would be suspended until further notice. It was at that moment that it became clear that we needed to figure out how to broadcast the weekend Mass, and fast.

I spent the rest of Thursday intensely trying to figure out how to livestream video to our Facebook page, and researching live-stream apps (I think I downloaded five or six that day). We decided to broadcast from the school chapel, since it is a more intimate space and easier to control, especially when it comes to sound. We didn’t have any video equipment, and it seemed silly to purchase if we were in fact only going to do this for a couple weeks. I soon came across an app that enabled us to use multiple devices as cameras. For our first broadcast, we cobbled together all of the devices we could find. Our cameras and “control room” consisted of three iPhones and an iPad, propped up on miscellaneous furniture and books. We had managed to create a mini studio out of an unlikely hodgepodge of equipment. Despite the haste with which it was put together it all worked. We broadcast our first Mass on Saturday, March 14th, and have broadcast every day since then.

MARCH 2020

In March 2020, St. Benedict Prep created an e-learning platform with live and pre-recorded instruction for over 670 students because of the Covid-19 pandemic. MARCH 27, 2020

Fr. Steve celebrates the first All School Mass during Lent 2020.

Expansion and Growing Pains In the weeks following our first broadcast, it started to become clear that we were going to be doing this for much longer than we anticipated. In late March, our efforts caught the attention of WTTW Chicago, and we were featured on a series called “Firsthand” which chronicles the local response to the pandemic. One of the camera men, after seeing our mismatched equipment, donated a set of professional tripods and lights that he wasn’t using. We also invested in some additional new tripods, a digital sound mixer, and swapped out our personal devices for a set of iPads from our school. Though by no means a professional set-up, our recording rig did start to look a bit more serious than when we had started. The greatest technical challenges came when we decided to move from the school chapel into the church for Holy Week. At first, things seemed to go smoothly. Holy Thursday and Good Friday seemed to go pretty well, aside from the odd glitch in one of the cameras. Saturday and Sunday, however, is when things headed south. Some of you might remember that the video feed from the Easter Vigil froze several times, and eventually just stopped altogether. Easter Sunday was even worse, and it was a matter of minutes before the stream was interrupted. Despite our earlier success, it began to become very clear that there was still work to be done, and that our little set up was not as reliable as we thought. Over the next few weeks our tech department worked to fix the problem. We upgraded the control device to a new iPad Pro, which increased the processing power. We added a second Wifi hotspot in the church to improve the connectivity of the devices, and added a hard-wired internet connection for the control device. All of these upgrades have greatly improved the reliability of the system, and we haven’t had any major issues with the equipment since making these upgrades.

Despite all of the efforts to improve our broadcast system, it still has its limitations. For one, the cameras on the iPads are not very powerful. In order to have a clear video, they need to be right up on the altar. Even when they are close, the picture quality is not nearly as clear as we’d like it to be. Having iPads all over the altar is also impractical and distracting when people are attending Mass. Finally, though the outgoing broadcast is done through a hardwired connection, the cameras (iPads) still depend on WiFi to connect to one another. WiFi, by nature, will never be as reliable as a hardwired connection. Though it has served us well, our current setup is by no means a permanent solution.

The Future What has become apparent over the past seven months is the value of our live-streaming ministry in keeping our community connected. It is our hope to continue to broadcast Mass every day, and to make this a permanent ministry of the parish. Even when things get back to normal, what a blessing it would be to share celebrations with friends and family across the country. Grandma and Grandpa would be able to attend First Communion from their home in Arizona, and relatives in the Philippines could attend a baptism or wedding in real time. All of our parish concerts, presentations, and events would be able to be shared with friends across the globe. The possibilities are endless.

If we plan to continue this ministry, we will need to invest in a system that is both reliable and non-invasive to our sacred space. The new system would include professional HD cameras, which will be almost invisible to the gathered assembly, and several pieces of dedicated video equipment that will allow us to control and produce professional-level broadcasts. The cost of the new broadcast system is about $40,000. If you are interested in donating to this endeavor, or would like to learn more about it, I encourage you to reach out. I would be happy to tell you more about it.

As we move forward through these uncertain times, I revisit that line from Psalm 62: “Trust him at all times.” I recall the moments of uncertainty and I realize that, though often frustrating, each one has caused us to grow and improve. I know that you too have probably been challenged by the state of the world, but know that there is hope. If we trust in God, we realize that even the challenges he puts before us will help us to become the best version of ourselves.

APRIL 4, 2020

Fr. Steve is interviewed by The Associated Press about Holy Week. APRIL 19, 2020

Bengals did their part by donating “cleaning care packages” for local fire and police stations and PPE equipment to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.