With more people responding to images on a screen rather than words on paper, the Diocese of Pittsburgh is finding new ways of taking the gospel to the Millennial generation while staying connected to older audiences.

A grant made possible by sacrificial gifts through Our Campaign for The Church Alive! will provide mobile video production equipment, a new editing suite, and remote-control HD video cameras to televise Masses from St. Paul Cathedral.

“We are becoming more adept and creative with video-based evangelization and spiritual formation,” said Father Nicholas Vaskov, newly-named executive director for communications at the diocese. “This upgrade will help fulfill Bishop Zubik’s vision of connecting directly with parishioners through programs intended to deepen their prayer lives.”

New mobile cameras and light and sound equipment will help producers share inspirational stories of ministry across all six counties of the diocese.

The grant will lead to the creation of more short videos for social media, which are critical for reaching younger Catholics with the message and mercy of Jesus and His Church.

The funding also makes possible a new video editing suite to speed up production and provide for greater server capacity, as well as support for training and marketing.

“This grant will help bring us into the digital age and enhance viewers’ experience of the liturgy,” said Father Kris Stubna, rector and pastor of St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section. “Three robotic cameras will replace our outdated equipment and be run from an upgraded control room.”

Diocesan videographers assist volunteers at the Cathedral in broadcasting and recording Sunday, daily and special Masses. They air on Comcast cable channel 95 in the City of Pittsburgh, Xfinity On Demand, and on Christian Associates TV (CATV), an ecumenical cable and Internet channel that the diocese operates on behalf of the wider Christian community in southwestern Pennsylvania.

The diocesan Office for Media and Technology was founded nearly 50 years ago to provide Catholic educational videos for use in parishes and schools. In 1976 the office began producing the Mass for Shut-ins at the WPXI-TV studios. The 1990s saw Bishop Wuerl’s “The Teaching of Christ” begin its long run on KDKA-TV.

Thanks to a campaign grant, the diocese converted a cable signal that reached only a few neighborhoods in the City of Pittsburgh to add an Internet channel on CATV, but until now lacked the capability to produce more local programming.

The grant also will help Father Stubna with his ongoing challenge of operating the equipment at the Cathedral.

“We are blessed to have a number of dedicated, long-serving volunteers for our television ministry, but we need more people,” Father Stubna said.