Local parish podcast a hit with parishioners

It all started with the COVID-19 pandemic. When Masses were suspended at Holy Family Church in Grand Forks in March 2020, three staff members in the parish office decided to do a “Hello, we miss you” video on the parish Facebook page for parishioners.

“We had different groups participate to try and reach out to those who were homebound,” said Stacey Hanson, Business Manager at Holy Family. “It was well received. Once we were able to attend Mass again, we did more videos, giving updates weekly on selling Scrip fundraising gift cards and welcoming people safely back to the parish.”

After a few weeks, the trio stopped producing the videos, and were immediately asked why by some of the more regular viewers. 

“They missed us as much as we missed them,” said Hanson. “We decided to keep going weekly, informing viewers about events at Holy Family with special guests from different ministries and events.”

The video’s creators held a contest to name the show, and CIA, Christians in Action, won out. Hanson says the videos are a wonderful resource to get out information for Holy Family.

“We hear comments from people that we ‘crack them up’ giving information while being who we are,” said Hanson. “We also see it as an evangelization tool.”

Anyone on Facebook can see the show on the Holy Family Grand Forks Facebook page. The producers of the show hope that people see that the Catholic Church has people like them; younger and anything but perfect, and welcoming to everyone. Hanson says they see CIA as using comradery, chemistry, and their God-given talents to bring information to people in the digital age.