What would you like to know about St. Joan of Arc? Do you have a story about our parish or of general interest that you think others would like to hear? For story ideas, contact Jeff Rholl, jeff@stjoan.com.

SJA's Webteam Needs You! ...help build community

So what does it take to be a WebReporter or WebPhotographer for the St. Joan of Arc website?? A knowledge of webdesign and HTML? No!... Training as a reporter or photographer? No!... An understanding of computers and the internet? No! An artistic touch and layout expertise? No!... A well connected background at SJA? No!... A time commitment? No! You wouldn't even have to own a computer if you set up an email account at the public library!

No, what joining the webteam at stjoan.com requires is a desire to share the many marvelous stories of our community with each other and perhaps with the world.

WebReporter/Photographer Edie Kalweits thoughts on her experience.

On a typical day, our website gets about 300-500 users reading about 1500 pages of material. All of the material on stjoan.com is contributed by volunteers. Our webmaster is a volunteer, our reporters are volunteers and our photographers are volunteers. No one has ever been paid a penny for producing the stories that many in our parish have made a weekly ritual to read. This is a collaborative ministry and a ministry that impacts people both in and outside of our parish.

I originally got involved because I really enjoy writing and this was a great way to practice that hobby. I've been able to do this, but what I've also gained from the experience is feeling really good about the church I belong to. You get an "up-close and personal" view of all the incredible people at St. Joan's. It's very inspiring!

Marcene Stetz has attended mass at St. Joan’s for the past two years, though she just became an “official” member last Fall. Marcene works at Periscope, an advertising agency in Minneapolis where she is in charge of getting projects printed. She is looking forward to putting her hobby of writing to good use for the web team, as well as meeting more people at St. Joan’s.

Currently, we have about 75 parishioners on our volunteer webteam. While that may seem like a large number, on a typical month we are able to cover only about a third of the events going on at a busy parish like St. Joan of Arc. No, we are not a newspaper with a need to cover every event. We don't report news. We are more than a newspaper. We are a community forum. A place for stories to be told. A place to share ideas and bring the work of the many ministries at SJA to others who are not able to experience them first-hand.

I really enjoy being a "reporter" for the St. Joan's website. It has given me the opportunity to meet some wonderful people that I would not have met. I learn something every time I write up an event, not just from what happens at the event itself, but I find there is somthing about being "involved" in a larger project that urges the best from my brain. It has given me a more positive and clearer vision of what true "Collaborative Ministry" means at St. Joan of Arc Church. It helps to make me not just a "member" of this community, but a work in progress of becoming "community" - a vast difference I am finding. We have been told about "being the Church" and for years, I expounded the words, but until I began reporting and writing I did not "feel" that I AM the church. It is a growing and living thing and guess what? It IS I! I could be YOU as well. Come and join us and see what happens.

JoAnn Potts is a retired music and English teacher and 30 year member of St. Joans. She enjoys working with Anna Vagle each week. She is "in charge" of doing those slides you see at church each Sunday and for preparing the music sheets for the musicians. JoAnn and her husband Jim will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in 2001 and are proud of their family of five children and eight grandchildren. Her hobbies include singing, playing her digital piano, writing her memoirs, reading, writing poetry, entertaining friends, visiting the North Shore and ballroom dancing with Jim.

This website needs more storytellers. We welcome you wherever you are on your journey. We need you! Your skills are less important to us than your desire to help others understand the ministries and the people of St. Joan of Arc.

You see, those 75 parishioners currently on our list include many people who have yet to write a story or take a photograph. But they are on our list and receive our weekly email update. Some day they may find a story to participate in and maybe they never will. Everyone on our webteam is a part of our community and chooses to write or photograph only when they have the desire and the time. That is why we need more than 75 names on our mailing list. Webreporters and WebPhotographers are never assigned to a story. It is completely voluntary and optional. Of our 75 current webteam members, 32 have never volunteered to write or photograph even one story. They simply receive the weekly email listing of upcoming events and features. At some point they may do a story and they may never. We have a group of about 25 team members who have done multiple stories and are regular contributors. The remainder of the team has done a story or two and/or drifts in and out depending on their interest and availability.

Being a WEB reporter has given new meaning to the words "life changing." I know a little more, I'm known a little more and I am stoutly and endearingly and professionally encouraged by our prima webmaster. I became part of a team, a collaborator with the other writers, and with the photographers whose pictures breathe life into my stories. Day by day, there are more people who light the sometimes rocky terrain of my life and there are arms that reach out to embrace and new voices to say, "hello, friend!" Join us. Only you can speak in the 'voice' that is uniquely your own, only you can tell us what you see and hear and feel, and what you have to say is probably exactly what I need to hear. Please join us. I can't wait to know what you will teach us all.

Ronnie Angelus says: "There are three things that make my life work: Talking to my daughter who opens vistas to me and makes me laugh; being in the circle of the Divas, my writing group, who shout "go girl" and give me standing ovations with their smiles and tears; sitting next to Mary and Claude Paradis during Sunday Mass at St. Joan of Arc, which is as close to pure goodness as I will know in this lifetime."

Ideally, we should include everyone in the parish on our webteam. Everyone would receive a weekly update of parish activities. When a parishioner attends an event or sees a feature idea they are interested in, they might choose to send a written report to the webmaster. We encourage you to fill in the signup form if you would like to be included on our mailing list. Although it would be wonderful to have every parishioner receive our weekly emails, we probably only need about 200 parishioners on our list to effectively have someone that would be interested in reporting on any given event or feature. That is the goal of this article. We are in need of more webteam members, especially reporters. The only commitment you are making is to receive a weekly email from the webmaster. Whether you actually write a report is up to you at a later date. Would you be willing to join our team? Thank you!