Ruth+Manlandro+-+Article

Cathedral Parish is located in St. Augustine, Florida. The parish was founded in 1565 with the founding of St. Augustine, which makes it “The First Parish.” This is an interesting concept since in many ways the parish is not utilizing current technology for communication with its parishioners and ministries. The RCIA team consists of 10 people ranging in age from 40 to 70 with varying technology experience.

During the summer of 2012 while attending the Digital Discipleship Boot Camp the author realized that modern technology could benefit the RCIA team. The team relied on email for all communication and materials for teaching. The idea was developed to utilize a WIKI as a means of communication, teaching materials, and improve collaboration among the team.

The wiki was developed to include: Google Calendar, Teaching materials, teacher schedules, topics of study, and other important information to the team. The wiki was presented to the team on August 25, 2012 at a meeting. The team learned how to become a member of the wiki, navigation, and what was available on the wiki. Many of the team members embraced the use of this technology and have found it to be extremely useful. Gone are the days of searching through numerous emails for needed materials and information.

There are a few of the team members that have not embraced the technology and would like to revert to the previous method of communication. There are many team members that find the wiki to be useful and have asked that one be created for the RCIA participants.

The RCIA has become more organized, collaboration has improved, and information is at their fingertips. The WIKI has been a great way of improving organization for this team of ten.