It has been a tough year. We are going about our business, doing ministry at our parishes, and all of a sudden life changed because of the pandemic. People still need the Gospel and the church. Ministry never stops and we have to adapt. Coincidently, during this time the tech firm Glass Canvas releases a new platform named TILMA.
What Is TILMA?
TILMA was piloted in the Archdiocese of Vancouver prior to the pandemic beginning. The goal was to get people more engaged, help grow their faith, and bring them back to the church.
Post pandemic the need is more essential. A study done in the Archdiocese by Georgetown University states,
31 percent of weekly Mass attendees say they will go less often when circumstances return to normal, with 42 percent of monthly attendees and 35 percent of those who attend only a few times a year reporting the same. -Georgetown University Center for Applied Research In The Apostolate
My own parish has experienced this first hand as programs had to stop due to the pandemic. We are currently rushing to implement digital programs to still minister to people. The parishioners have been very appreciative.
Nurturing Faith Journeys
In discussing the platform, Glass Canvas President JM Boyd comments,
“The beauty of this ecosystem is that it nurtures individual faith journeys and unites them around the evangelizing efforts of an entire diocese. The power of Tilma uses data around a single system to intentionally send content to users around interests and faith journeys, suggesting content on a personal level. This has never been done in the Church before.” The goal of Tilma is to drive people to encounters beyond the platform, to allow people to evangelize people. Each point of contact nudges users towards real engagement.”
Tilmaplatform.com
The platform is built for ease of use so even those not comfortable with technology can utilize it.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that people need the church more than ever before. With the disconnection from people and the parish, people feel alone. That is a prime environment for the evil one to take someone away from Christ and his church. We must adapt.
TILMA helps parishes keep people engaged with the parish, let them know what is going on, and provides efficient ways to help parishioners along their faith journey. No matter what stage they are at.
Learn more about TILMA here.
Tilma Platform Introduction on Vimeo
Click on the link above to watch the introduction by the creators.
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