Scott Thomas has been a parishioner at Holy Family Parish since 2004 and a dedicated music minister for over 30 years. He is also in charge of the sound system at the parish and recently started a Tech Ministry to train other parishioners to support the parish in this area. Scott was saddened by the idea of an Easter where parishioners would not be able to come together to sing Alleluia.

After giving it some thought, Scott decided to try an idea that he had seen in another community. A virtual choir is not an easy undertaking by any means, but he was determined to make it happen. He thought that this would not only be a good way to get everyone to sing together, but it could also be Father Andrew V. Nguyen’s Easter Surprise.

The Monday before Easter, he sent all the music ministers an invitation to participate in this “secret project,” together with a guide track, a video with instructions, and a request to send each video back no later than Holy Thursday. Scott didn’t know exactly how many people would respond in such short notice, but the response ended up being more than what he had hoped for. In all, 24 music ministers sent individual videos, including two recordings from Hawaii and two from France. What started with the intention to bring local people together to sing in the time of Shelter-at-Home turned out to be an opportunity to connect with those parishioners who have been music ministers at the parish and are now living far away.

After many late nights of experimenting with software that Scott had not used in a while, synching audio and pictures and composing all individual videos into one, the video was ready just in time for Easter Sunday.

Full story at The Valley Catholic.