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CHICAGO — Horizons has turned 40 and is celebrating its growing communications apostolate with a one-month fundraising campaign.
The campaign began Sept. 1 and will run until Sept. 30.
In early 2018, Horizons was informed that there were not sufficient chancery funds to support the apostolate, due to general financial constraints.
As a result, Horizons would no longer benefit from the annual Stewardship Appeal and would have to rely solely on grants, parish subscriptions, donations and ad sales.
Trusting in Providence, Horizons did not shrink in the face of challenge. Rather, it did just the opposite. It dug into its revenue-generating plan and diversified its publication projects and platforms, extending its reach through digital communications. Horizons is currently operating in the black.
This past year alone, Horizons developed a social media presence, a digital newsletter, the eparchial app, ParmaByz, and Horizons Press, its faith resource publication arm.
More than simply a communications apostolate, Horizons believes the most important investment it can make is in Byzantine Catholic youth.
For this reason, Horizons is pleased to introduce its new video production branch, Horizons Media, staffed three days a week by Bowling Green State University film graduate David Bratnick, 22.
“So far, work has been pretty intense, and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon,” said Bratnick, who began at the end of August. “At the same time, it’s been incredibly educational and a blessing working with the Horizons team.”
“I am really excited for the upcoming projects we have planned,” he said. “I think this is the start of something truly great that will benefit our church in ways we have not yet had the opportunity to explore.”
Bratnick will produce video news reports and mini-documentaries for Horizons’ social media platforms, as well as educational and promotional videos for eparchial projects. His salary, until Dec. 31, will be covered with funds from Horizons’ 2017 pilgrimage to Fatima. This current appeal will help to secure his funding for 2019.
Horizons is also pleased to have the continued part-time contribution of Sara Kenes, 20, a bioengineering student at the University of Pittsburgh. Kenes works five hours a week to maintain the ParmaByz app, Horizons’ digital newsletter and various web platforms.
Horizons was first published as a special section in Byzantine Catholic World, the newspaper of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, in 1978.
By year’s end, the Eparchy of Parma announced it would launch Horizons as a separate eparchial newspaper, starting Jan. 14, 1979. The founding publisher was Bishop Emil J. Mihalik; the founding editor was Father Donald Petyo.
Father Michael Hayduk succeeded Father Petyo in 1986. Bishop Andrew Pataki was editor for six months in 1992, followed by Father Nicholas Rachford until 2003.
The first lay editor, Loretta Nemeth, succeeded Father Rachford. Though retired, she continues to contribute articles regularly.
For 40 years, these editors provided quality reporting for their readers and an accurate recording of the news and events within the local church, ensuring a first draft of history of the Eparchy of Parma.
Help keep this important communications apostolate going. Give online at https://parma.org/make-a-donation and click on “Horizons Fund” or mail in your check with the coupon below. Thank you for your continued readership and support.
Caption 1: David Bratnick sits at his computer in Horizons’ satellite office, located at St. Mary Parish in Whiting, Indiana, and edits video footage from the Uniontown pilgrimage. Bratnick is originally from the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Parma, Ohio. (Photo: Laura Ieraci )
Caption 2: Sara Kenes is from Annunciation Parish in Homer Glen, Illinois. She maintains the ParmaByz app, the digital newsletter and various web-based platforms.
As published in Horizons, Sept. 9, 2018.
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