By
BRIAN D. WALLACE
Fairfield County Catholic,
June 28, 2008
"This is going
to help our parish on so many levels," says Msgr. Martin P. Ryan, pastor
of Saint Edward the Confessor Parish of New Fairfield. "This software
will enable us to communicate better while at the same time gather everything
from our parish calendar to sacramental records. We'll have information
at our fingertips that we don't have now."
Msgr. Ryan is speaking
about the new ParishSOFT®
church management system that will revolutionize administration and
record keeping in all 87 parishes of the Diocese of Bridgeport and lead
to improved electronic communication between parishes and parishioners.
ParishSOFT collects
a wide range of information - sacramental, family census, religious
education, parish events, Safe Environment data, and offertory giving,
for example - and brings it all together in one central, easily accessible
database, creating a unified record for each parishioner.
OFFICIALS FROM
PARISHSOFT met with representatives from 15 parishes across the Diocese
of Bridgeport on June 10 to introduce the new church management software.
ParishSOFT collects a wide range of information - sacramental, family
census, religious education, parish events, Safe Environment data, and
offertory giving, for example - and brings it all together in one central,
easily accessible database, creating a unified record for each parishioner.
(PHOTO BY PAT HENNESSY)
Powerful System
"ParishSOFT is a
powerful system that automates and standardizes information," says Deacon
Bill Koniers, director of Parish Finance Services. "It will be a great
resource for our pastors and parishes."
It works with Microsoft
Word, Excel, and other Office programs to create a user friendly database
for recording all parish information. Many parishes in the diocese have
been using the program for years, with great success (see
story below).
Deacon Koniers and
ParishSOFT officials unveiled the new system at a gathering of clergy
and employees from 15 parishes at the Catholic Center on June 10. Enthusiasm
ran high among the 80 pastors, parish accountants, bookkeepers, and
business managers in attendance.
"This new system
will give me instant access to every parish member and their families,"
says Father Joseph Saba, pastor of Saint Charles Borromeo Parish in
Bridgeport. "It gives me a broad look at sacramental participation,
a giving history, details on other areas of participation in the parish
- and even a photo. The fact that we're going to gather all this together
on to one screen will empower us."
Many of his inner-city
parishioners already prefer to give online and receive e-mail communications,
Father Saba notes.
Largest U.S.
Provider
ParishSOFT, the
largest provider of parish information systems and web solutions in
the U.S., was chosen to provide the software and lead the training effort
for the transition to standardized electronic records. The entire project
is expected to take 18 months to two years, and will be overseen by
Pat Krause, project coordinator in Parish Finance Services.
According to Deacon
Koniers, ParishSOFT is the last major piece in the transition of parishes
from old manual accounting and informationgathering practices to a new
era of information technology.
In a little over
a year's time, the diocese issued a new Parish
Administration & Finance Manual and launched the online web-hosted
QuickBooks accounting system, which has revolutionized accounting practices
and captured the attention of other dioceses and media outlets across
the country.
Everything Else
"When we completed
the accounting platform, we knew we had one piece still missing - everything
else," says Deacon Koniers. "It occurred to us that we had put the building
blocks of a new finance and accounting system in place, but we needed
to go beyond that and provide the tools to manage all other information."
Another bonus of
the ParishSOFT project is a strategic partnership with Our Sunday
Visitor, the largest publisher of parish envelope systems in the
U.S., to create more efficiency and move toward an electronic giving
option, enabling parishioners to make offertory gifts and other contributions
online.
"We're moving into
an era where people are paying bills and making most transactions online,"
Deacon Koniers observes. "The good news for many parishes is that people
tend to be more generous when making a pledge online, and parishes around
the nation that added an online option have seen an increase in offertory
collections."
Msgr. Ryan says
that new system will be a time saver, but he adds the benefits go well
beyond priests and staff. The electronic record will also ratchet up
"customer service" when an individual comes in for a baptismal, marriage,
or other record.
Time Saver
"People may have
no idea how much time we spend trying to change addresses or find records,"
he says. "Many parishes have records all over the place. The new system
will put the records in one place and that will better serve everyone."
Deacon Koniers notes
that the Catholic Church has been one of the great record keepers in
world history and that "going electronic" represents an evolving ability
to adopt the latest technology and use it in service of the Church and
her people.
Great Step Forward
"The new system
will not only organize us but also help us do a better job identifying
our resources and planning for the future," he concludes. "The Church
needs to be more accountable and creative in its management of time,
talent, and treasure, so that we can meet the needs of individuals and
parishes. This project is a great step forward in good communication."
(For more information
on ParishSOFT, contact Pat Krause: call 416-1504 or e-mail pkrause@diobpt.org
)
Parish
employees embrace ParishSOFT
"This
keeps track of everything happening"
By PAT HENNESSY
Fairfield County Catholic,
June 28, 2008
For
two millennia, the Catholic Church has been known for the excellence
of its record keeping. Nothing compares with the thrill of visiting
an ancient stone church in Europe, asking politely to see the records,
and seeing the marriage of your grandparents or your mother's baptism
date in some impressive, leather-bound registry.
It's not so much
fun, though, to look through heavy registry books or heaps of file cards
for someone who is getting married or needs a sponsor certificate for
a Baptism. The workload gets heavier when the staff gets calls for parish
sacramental information from outside the diocese, sometimes from people
who aren't even sure they were baptized at the parish.
On the Move
"People don't live
in the same parish from the time they're baptized for the rest of their
lives," observes Msgr. Chris Walsh, pastor of Saint Joseph Parish in
Shelton.
When he went looking
for a program that could both give him an accurate representation of
his parishioners and provide them with quick access to parish records
and easily manage multiple mailings, Msgr. Walsh settled on ParishSOFT®,
which has now become the official church management program for the
entire diocese. Sacramental preparation gets a strong assist from the
new management program.
"It gives you a
really good picture of the family you're working with," says Sister
Rita Petrarca, A.S.C.J., Saint Joseph's pastoral associate. "When people
call to make appointments, I can see if they've made all their sacraments.
If they're arranging for a baby's Baptism and I see that they aren't
married in the Church, I can encourage them to think about their own
situation and help them with that."
"IT CHANGED
MY AGE!" says Sandy Mihalek, pastoral assistant at Saint Patrick
Parish in Bridgeport, looking at her family record with Office Manager
Barbara Porter the day after her birthday. The new ParishSOFT church
management program keeps family records current, a great help to pastors,
parish ministers, and directors of religious education. (PHOTO BY PAT
HENNESSY)
Saint Patrick Parish
in Bridgeport, under the leadership of Father Chip O'Neill, has been
using ParishSOFT for the past six years. During that time, the staff
has learned to modify the program to take advantage of its many features.
The staff began with basics like liturgical scheduling, then moved beyond
as they discovered other possibilities.
Running History
"When I go out to
visit the homebound, I'm not just bringing the Blessed Sacrament, I'm
bringing the care and concern of the Church to each person I visit,"
says Sandy Mihalek, pastoral assistant for the homebound at Saint Patrick's.
"With this program, I can keep a running history of each person I see.
In the family record I can list the names and ages of the grandchildren,
if that's important to a person I visit. I can make a note of their
health problems, or hospital visits, and keep track of everything that's
happening."
Unlike an Excel
spread sheet, which merely stores data, ParishSOFT updates records -
as Mihalek discovered when she checked out her own, and found that it
had updated her age on her birthday. The technology has a sense of humor,
too - her record is pink, as are all women's; her husband's, like all
guys, is blue.
Good for Non-Techies
While Msgr. Walsh
and Father O'Neill are both technology buffs, and enjoyed choosing the
program that best fit their needs, even non-techies have been pleased
with the benefits of ParishSOFT.
"I can't even set
my own watch, but my finance staff and accountants have enlightened
me as to the great benefits of the program," says Msgr. Frank Wissel,
pastor of Saint Mary Parish in Greenwich. "Better than that, I have
a member of my parish staff who is a genius at this. In 20 seconds,
Elva can tell me what Mass attendance was at any one of our eight weekend
Masses."
Elva
Giuliani, Msgr. Wissel's business manager, is indeed an expert, having
worked with personal computers for the past 20 years. Her experience
led her to appreciate the possibilities ParishSOFT offers, and to expect
more to come.
"We had multiple
databases before, but this puts everything into one package," Giuliani
says. "Right now we're registering students for religious education.
We set up a class, set up a catechist, and send the information out
to families - by e-mail or hard copy, whichever the record lists as
best for them."
WITH MORE THAN
20 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE in computers, Saint Mary Parish, Greenwich, Business
Manager Elva Giuliani (foreground) is happy to explain the advantages
of the new ParishSOFT program to religious education assistant Margaret
Loellmer and their pastor, Msgr. Frank Wissel. (PHOTO BY KAREN LEFFLER)
Timely Reminders
The program also
helps them avoid last-minute changes.
"It has a list of
families whose children were registered in our program last year, along
with their ages," Giuliani continues. "If a family hasn't registered
yet for this year, we can send out a reminder to them instead of having
it go to every family in the parish."
Giuliani has found
the ParishSOFT technical support to be excellent and looks forward to
discovering what else the program can do when the diocese schedules
training sessions. She echoes the hopes of pastors, office staff, and
parish ministries of all kind when they look forward to learning what
else ParishSOFT can do for their parishes.
"I know we've going
to have one little epiphany after another as they show us the possibilities
in store," she predicts.
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