New York, NY - The Greek Orthodox Diocese of Boston will host a one-day seminar dedicated to using parish management software and the Internet for parish ministry. This hands-on seminar is open to all and will be held on Saturday, December 9th from 9:30 a.m. 3:00 p.m. in Boston, MA.
Fr. John Touloumes, Holy Trinity in Pittsburgh, MA; Mr. Theo Nicolakis, Information Technology Director for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese; and Ms. Marion Carlson, Fox Hill Point Studio, will lead the following workshops:
Workshop 1: Parish Management Software Getting Started
Workshop 1 provides a general overview of how parish management software can be used effectively in the administration and ministry of a Greek Orthodox parish. The main focus will be parish management software, specifically: the process of converting to computer-based records; the benefits of computer-based records for churches; basic features of parish management software; special concerns for Orthodox parishes. This workshop will also look at what software tools are available for day-to-day tasks such as parish bulletins, mailing labels, membership, financial reports, keeping up with postal regulations and discounts and more. This session will be particularly useful for parishes just starting to implement computer use in the parish office as well as parishes upgrading their old equipment and looking for ways to maximize their powerful new equipment. There will also be a segment on computer safety discussing how to avoid viruses, and data loss. This workshop will also cover computer maintenance.
Workshop 2: Parish Management Software Going Farther
This workshop offers a more detailed look at using advanced financial and sacramental features of parish management software in Orthodox churches. One of the most important tasks a parish management software program can help with is the recording, tracking, and reporting of pledges, regular offerings, and special contributions that work their way through a church office. This session will cover how computer software can make managing those financial records easier and more reliable. Stewardship-specific topics include: how software fits into parish financial operations; ways to increase stewardship participation using software; special concerns for Orthodox parishes. Another important function an Orthodox parish management system can provide is a computer-based Parish Sacramental Registry. Computer software can help extend the usefulness of the information found in these valuable books and help safeguard these records against accidental loss. Useful features such as how software can be used to produce sacramental reports, letters and certificates will be addressed. It will also show how memorial records and memorial contributions can be combined to regularly save hours of work in reporting memorial contributions.
Workshop 3: Building a Parish Web Site
The Internet is emerging as the premiere medium to reach individuals around the world. Realizing this potential, many parishes have begun to develop web sites to communicate with parishioners. This session will explore various strategies to build a parish web site. Participants will explore parish web sites and have the opportunity to discuss how a web site can benefit a parish, in addition to studying the strategies behind these sites. This session will assist both parishes planning to build web sites as well as parishes who are aiming to expand their current site. The session will also highlight the various free offerings from the Archdiocese Department of Internet Ministries, such as web hosting of parish web sites, email listservers, message boards, chat rooms, and the availability of web-based calendars for parishes.
Workshop 4. Creating a Parish Calendar on the World Wibe Web
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Department of Internet Ministries has a licensed web calendar software for every parish in the Archdiocese. This software allows parishes to post parish news and information instantly and easily. Subsequently, this information is viewable to anyone via the parishs web site. This session will explore the creation and use of church calendars on the World Wide Web. Attendees will look at example Church calendars and learn how to both create and modify a web-based calendar for their own parish.