Evident Productions

Whether you are involved in, or want no part of churches, they play a vital role in our society.  There’s one in every American town regardless of denomination, protestant or catholic.  Their positive impact in our society unfortunately we don’t hear often enough of the good, but society would rather HIGHLIGHT the bad things that happen surrounding them more often than not.  You simply don’t hear about the elderly couple that got rescued out of their house by a youth group from a local house of worship after a local tornado hit their house.  You don’t hear the numbers of homeless lives that have been saved from death, or given a second chance by a Catholic charity.  You don’t hear of the man who was homeless and God restored him and the man is now leading one of the largest homeless ministries in his city.  The local church bodies and their houses of worship makes an impact regardless of Catholic or Protestant, Presbyterian or Baptist with incredible ways that society fails to recognize often enough.

This month we’re devoting the entire month to questions, issues, and solutions with technology that many churches are facing today.  Churches just like any other institutions, or businesses MUST CHANGE in order to stay relevant, effective AND connect to their audience in the experiences given at their Houses of Worship.  Doing so in a way that’s reverent while balancing tradition at the same point in time is often a struggle.

This four week blog is a response to questions that have been asked of Evident Productions when working with churches and non-profit organizations.  Most of the conversations we have had drill down to a core question.  “How do you justify the cost for technology and upgrades while there are needs for funding in our community or around the world?”

In the next four weeks we’ll take a look at three completely different houses of worship.    They’re from different parts of the country and their denomination, and approach to worship for their parishioners is individually unique.  Each have been gracious enough to share their struggles, lessons learned and solutions they’ve found effective in connecting with their audience, embracing and budgeting technology, while balancing with tradition and core values that make them unique to who they are.

This week we start out with talking to Michael LaRocca who is the Master of Ceremonies at two of the most prominent catholic houses of worship in Las Vegas.  Michael LaRocca is a gifted man with a lot of responsibility on his plate.  You would think that being the Master of Ceremonies for the Bishop of Las Vegas is more than enough for one person.  Michael however also handles the responsibilities of being the Manager of the Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer, along with the Director of Liturgical Ministries at the Guardian Angel Cathedral, as well covering the role of Executive Producer for Cathedral Television in Las Vegas.  To say he has a few responsibilities on his plate is an understatement.

Having a ministry location on The Strip in Las Vegas would be something most people don’t have in mind when they think of the iconic and world renown city.  Having two prominent locations however is taking ministry to another level.  Michael handles responsibilities and manages different roles between the Cathedral and the Shrine on a weekly basis.  His production experience is the component that allows him to do so.

LaRocca started out in local production in Buffalo, NY when he was 14 and in many ways he never left the stage.  From playing the role of the king of monkey’s in a theater version of the Wizard of Oz to moving into musical theater and other staring roles across the country he’s done it all.  Michael has worked in New York city in broadway and various theatrical productions in different roles.  He was the producer of the Miss America production for years and brought the organization up to a level of production they had never been to before.  In between these different roles he managed and performed in nightclub acts which eventually brought him to Las Vegas.

Throughout all of his years in production whether it was in local theater, pageantry production, night club acts or television production Michael has always been involved in churches regardless of where he was located.  In the churches Michael served, he would get involved in everything from singing to lecturing and even running a bible study group.

The Bishop of the Diocese of Las Vegas found out about his show business and event experience and asked Michael to fill the role as the Masters of Ceremonies for the Bishop.  For LaRocca this isn’t just another production experience.  He knows the position well.  Michael knows the background and history of the position that few could recite today.

He said, “Most people think that the Master of Ceremonies is a show business term, but originally with history going back to the 4th century, the Master of Ceremonies was a religious term.  He was the person who coordinated liturgical ceremonies for the Pope, Cardinals, and Bishops.  The term Master of Ceremonies did not become a show business term until the 19th century when minstrel show performances were starting to become an American past time.  This is when these performances along with vaudeville acts started incorporating an M.C..  Some even attempted to get away from the religious term and would spell the position Emcee.

To give you an idea of the ministry and facilities Michael is responsible for here are a few pieces of information about both the Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer and the Guardian Angel Cathedral.

The Guardian Angel Cathedral seats 1,300 and holds mass daily Monday thru Friday.  They hold 8 services for mass on the weekends between 3 on Saturday and 5 on Sunday.  Their largest attended masses are at noon on Sunday for both locations.

The Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer is the largest seating capacity Catholic Church in the state of Nevada with a capacity of 2,250.  They also hold daily mass at 11:30 Monday thru Saturday and hold 4 services for mass on the weekends with one being held Saturday and the other 3 on Sunday.

LaRocca and I discussed some of the ways that the church is struggling and ways they have found effective to connect with their audiences using technology.

Where the church is today when it comes to technology and connecting with their audience?

LaRocca said, ““One of the things that I’ve noticed in the Catholic church is that there is something to be said and noted about TRADITION along with pomp and circumstance.  However, many of the protestant denominations have taken spirituality and added in lighting and sound and other technologies that the catholic church has not done yet.  The key word is YET.

“Each area of the United states is divided up into regions that the Catholic church sectors into separate leadership roles and responsibilities.  We here in Las Vegas are under the Arch Diocese in San Francisco.”

Arch Bishop Neiderauer, who is the head of the San Francisco Arch Diocese, brought up a key discussion with LaRocca and a few other leaders.  He said, “We NEED TO LEARN from our Protestant brothers and sisters and MAKE catholic LITURGY MORE EXCITING.”

LaRocca went on to say, “I am  the envelope pusher of the Diocese in Las Vegas and the Arch Diocese.

“When I took over the Miss Arizona pageant there were people there that said, “You know, you want to do this on TV, and you want to do all of these other things that have NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE and our girls don’t even know how to walk in high heels.  Please Michael, go back to New York.”  I ended up FIRING all of those people and started over again.  Within SEVEN YEARS we were the NUMBER ONE Miss America production in the United States.

“Similarly, I’m TRYING  to do that HERE in Las Vegas with the church.  I want to take CATHOLIC LITURGY and make it SO EXCITING for people that there is this sense of WOW!”

LaRocca went on to describe some of the current solutions that they’re ADDING or bringing into the SERVICE to help the AUDIENCE CONNECT.  “What we’re DEVELOPING here at the Shrine starting next month we will have a GOSPEL CHOIR similar to what you would see in a Baptist church.  They are a catholic choir FROM one of OUR PERISHES in the city (St. James Parish).  THEY are going to start to SING ON a SCHEDULE that would have them here every Saturday.  So now WE’RE ADDING gospel music EVERY SATURDAY into our MINISTRY REPERTOIRE.

“On Sunday mornings at eight o’clock we’re BILLING the SERVICE as a CONTEMPORARY MASS.  Many CONTEMPORARY HYMNS along with DRUMS and other things that YOUNG PEOPLE CAN BE EXCITED ABOUT are all BEING ADDED.  The ten o’clock mass we’re considering at this point HAVING a JAZZ MUSIC STYLE MASS.  The new mass on Sunday will be the TRADITIONAL HIGH MASS with a DIOCESAN CHOIR, ORGAN, TYPANI, INCENSE and other TRADITIONAL ELEMENTS that are known all over the world as part of the IDENTIFIABLE ELEMENTS of mass.

“When people come to Las Vegas and they OPEN UP one of the TOURIST MAGAZINES ultimately OUR GOAL is to GIVE PEOPLE OPTIONS TO CONNECT in MASS in ways that are COMFORTABLE TO THEM.  Whether that’s ways that a young family would be INTERESTED IN CONNECTING to a contemporary mass, or the person that hasn’t been to a traditional mass and is LONGING TO EXPERIENCE that setting.  We want to give them REASONS to come to church.  We WANT TO GIVE them a VARIETY OF STYLES."

Tomorrow we’ll pick up with finding out how the Catholic church is dealing with the balance of tradition while working through the struggles associated with change to connect with their parishioners.

Click here to read- The Las Vegas Diocese and Technology- Contemporary Ideas vs. Age Old Tradition