Fr. Mike Chenier keeps parishioners connected with the parish YouTube channel

When physically separated, keeping a family connected can be hard.  It's even harder when it's your Parish made up of hundreds of families!  But Fr. Mike Chenier, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Sault Ste. Marie, has been hard at work keeping his parishioners connected through the Parish YouTube channel.
 
 When the pandemic hit, Fr. Mike asked parishioners to make videos of how they pray together as a family.  He asked them to record explanations of how they do it so other families can learn and be encouraged to do the same.
 
 "With this pandemic, family prayer becomes even more important.  I wanted to help families learn from each other practical ways of praying together," says Fr. Mike.
 
  
The first 'Family Prayer' video debuted on March 25th.  Since then, Fr. Mike has posted five more Family Prayer videos on the Parish YouTube channel.  "I'm grateful for the help of some of my college students who have helped me edit the videos.  They do a great job putting together the video clips sent in by our families," says Fr. Mike.
 
 Fr. Mike has also recently begun a weekly 'Parishioner Update' video that's been a creative way to keep parishioners connected.  "I asked people to email me short video clips of any milestones in their family, such as graduations, birthdays, engagements, baby announcements or births, first steps, family deaths, whatever.  Whether good, bad, small, big or otherwise.  We put together videos to communicate these milestones.  The response has been great!" says Fr. Mike.


In addition to the Family Prayer and Parishioner Update videos, Fr. Mike has posted videos of Parish choirs singing Lent and Easter music, as well as videos of his own original music.

To check out more videos, click here to visit the St. Joseph Parish YouTube channel.