No.Is a power-point presentation during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (Ordinary Form, btw) ever appropriate?
It depends.Is a power-point presentation during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (Ordinary Form, btw) ever appropriate?
I don’t think any part of the Mass should be interrupted by a power-point presentation.
Thoughts?
Our diocese is in the midst of closing/clustering parishes. Sometime in July our parish is going to be giving a power-point presentation, apparently during Mass, about it…probably along the lines of who, why, statistics and long term goals. I imagine it will be the parish council chair-person giving the presentation, or maybe some sort of diocesan liaison.It depends.
Is it during the homily? After Communion but before the Blessing? What was the nature of the presentation? Who did the presenting?
Without knowing the answers to these questions, there is no way for anybody to tell you one way or the other.
They also should do it in the Parish Hall or else in a regular meeting room or classroom; not in the Church. The Church is a space that is set aside for worship; it is not an all-purpose meeting room.Our diocese is in the midst of closing/clustering parishes. Sometime in July our parish is going to be giving a power-point presentation, apparently during Mass, about it…probably along the lines of who, why, statistics and long term goals. I imagine it will be the parish council chair-person giving the presentation, or maybe some sort of diocesan liaison.
I don’t think this should be done during the Mass, whether its the homily, or just before the final blessing. They need to wait until the priest exits, then do it.
1.) Not to be nasty, but it doesn’t matter what you think. It matters what GIRM thinks.Our diocese is in the midst of closing/clustering parishes. Sometime in July our parish is going to be giving a power-point presentation, apparently during Mass, about it…probably along the lines of who, why, statistics and long term goals. I imagine it will be the parish council chair-person giving the presentation, or maybe some sort of diocesan liaison.
I don’t think this should be done during the Mass, whether its the homily, or just before the final blessing. They need to wait until the priest exits, then do it.
Not everywhere.They also should do it in the Parish Hall or else in a regular meeting room or classroom; not in the Church. The Church is a space that is set aside for worship; it is not an all-purpose meeting room.
Short videos from the Bishop or a Mission spokes-person, are ok but should really be after the final blessing before the final song.Is a power-point presentation during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (Ordinary Form, btw) ever appropriate?
I don’t think any part of the Mass should be interrupted by a power-point presentation.
Thoughts?
I don’t believe its going to be a video of the Bishop. More than likely, it will be a lay person giving a presentation on the parish clustering/closing situation.Short videos from the Bishop or a Mission spokes-person, are ok but should really be after the final blessing before the final song.
Hi EasterJoy,I don’t have a problem with a projector taking the place of missals or handouts for presentations that must, for good reason, be done after Holy Communion but prior to the final dismissal. I do have a problem with artificial music and any visuals that distract from the Mass. There shouldn’t be a movie or slide show of an entertaining nature going on during Mass, no matter how inspiring it is supposed to be. IMHO.
What has anyone whose opinion has the force of law had to say about this?
One of my local parishes does the same thing. The only thing missing is the ball bouncing across the words. (And yet the people still don’t sing.)My parish is using PowerPoint at all the Masses. It was first started in 2001, when we started a Life Teen program. This was done so the teenagers could see the responses, song lyrics, Lectionary readings, prayers, Order of the Mass and others. It’s also used to help our primarily Spanish speaking/ bilingual parents to learn English. (Since LT Mass is 95-100% English spoken.) So in order to help encourage the parents to stay at the Mass, and not just drop the teens off and then leave.Those were the main reasons PowerPoint was started. It proved to be successful that now all our 10 Masses use it. (FYI: 7 Masses-Spanish, 3 Masses-English.And only one Pastor, sometimes another priest helps the our Pastor.)
So, our PowerPoint presentation is a full blown Mass, AND NOT some side show. It’s a WORSHIP AID. Sort of like a Missalette, only bigger, brighter, colorful,a few Mass theme related pictures, instructions on postures, etc.
Hi Lepanto,One of my local parishes does the same thing. The only thing missing is the ball bouncing across the words. (And yet the people still don’t sing.)
I avoid that parish whenever I can.
Each of the distractions occur irregularly… but a changing powerpoint slide takes place once every few minutes.On Mass distractions. Can ANYBODY guarantee a totally distraction free Mass? OF or EF? Are there not young children who cry and fidget? Does not Father do or say something that causes a distraction? Do not people walk in late for church? Or leave early? Does not the turning of pages of the missal,missalette,song books, and other books cause peolple to lose their focus? A Lector that loses his or her place? An over zealous musician, cantor,choir starts too soon? A handicapped person in a wheelchair? A person using a walking aid trying to sit down? Somebody sneezes, coughs or makes other bodily sounds? Somebody using perfume/colonge? People whispering or talking? Pepole writing checks for the collection? What people wear? Somebody having a medical emergency at Mass? Approaching sirens, ambulance personnel, walking into Mass, tending to the victim? Power surges or outages? Sound system feedback or going out? These are just a few of Mass distractions, that you might find, if people attend every Sunday and Holy days.
So, you see there are good Mass distractions. But there are not called distractions. These are enhancements, worship aids, They are meant for people to participate more fully, then just sitting like an unmovable statue.
In the days of overhead projectors you could buy licensed sets of overheads. I’m sure with the advent of flat screen technology the publishers are now selling licensed PowerPoint slides.While I’m sure whoever thought of this had good intentions, I can’t wait for the day when copyright holders will come down hard on this and demand royalties for such electronic transmission of their texts. That will solve the problem just well, without the need for Bishops or Rome to intervene.
Hi blessedtoo,During a recent Mass, the “worship aid” crashed right at the moment of the consecration and we, the faithful, we left staring at a flashing Microsoft logo for 10 minutes.
Very distracting.