The Technology Office of the North Deanery was founded in 2015 to provide strategic direction on technology to deanery parishes and schools.
First, what is a deanery? It is a group of parishes organized under the leadership of a dean, who is normally one of the parish pastors. The dean is appointed by the Bishop. This makes a deanery a geographic substructure of a diocese, which is led by its Bishop. This is particularly useful in geographically large dioceses. For example, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis includes all of the city of Indianapolis, plus much of Indiana south to the Ohio River. Its deaneries enable local collaboration.
The North Deanery in our archdiocese includes the ten parishes on the north side of Indianapolis. Most of these parishes have a school, and the deanery includes Bishop Chatard High School as well. We serve a diverse community. The schools total almost 4,500 students, and the parishes include well over 10,000 families.
The formation of the Technology Office recognizes the growing importance of technology to the success of our missions in Catholic education and evangelization. Schools today are heavy consumers of technology, as we prepare our students for an increasingly complex future.
Technology can be expensive, so our office helps to manage technology-related costs in our parishes and schools. We develop overall strategy, assist with technology planning, and oversee implementation projects.
The Technology Office also advocates for the appropriate use of technology in our lives. Today, technology presents both opportunities and challenges to human dignity and our care for God’s creation. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we strive to engage technology in support of the Church’s mission, with strong alignment to the Gospel and the teaching of the Catholic Church. This is reflected in our focus on digital citizenship and digital equity.