Logos II provides robust church management program

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
August 26, 2004

For several years the majority of the parishes and Catholic schools have used computer programs to ease the burden of their record keeping tasks. In the last eight months about nine parishes have switched to a new, more robust church management software program called Logos II.

According to Margaret Wood, information service tech with the Diocese of Sioux City, a demonstration of this new software has been planned for 10 a.m., Sept. 15, at St. Lawrence Church in Carroll. Due to limited space, call Wood at (712) 233-7515 by Sept. 6 if you plan to attend this demonstration.

She pointed out that about six years ago several parishes in the Diocese of Sioux City began to use a computer software program called Servant Keeper. While the majority of parishes have some sort of computerized bookkeeping system, about half have Servant Keeper.

"Servant Keeper was a nice program to get from paper into a database," noted Wood. "Since that time, lots of parishes - small parishes and large parishes alike - have outgrown it. It just doesn't keep up with our needs."

Along with other limitations, given the fact that this particular program was based on the Protestant Church, there was no efficient way to keep track of sacraments.

"So I went looking for a new software," explained Wood. "I had six or eight parishes help me in that search. Basically, we met for about six months."

They determined what parishes needed and then looked over various programs.

"Over the course of that time, we picked Logos," she said.

Logos II is a church management software by Lowell Brown Enterprises of Santa Paula, Calif., that keeps track of names, addresses, phone numbers, church contributions, sacraments and more.

Why this program?

"It was written for the Catholic Church - the fact that we can track sacraments," stressed Wood. "We have never been able to track sacraments electronically. Under Canon Law we are required to keep track of all baptisms, all marriages in sacramental registry books which are hand-written ledgers. We are still using those registry books, but then when those entries are made they can also be made in the computer."

This allows for easier searching.

After the new software was selected, the first three parishes to use it were all in Sioux City. This enabled Wood to run over to a parish as questions arose, rather than trying to work out details over the phone.

"Right now we have about nine parishes that are either on it or in the process of getting on it," she noted. "The diocese is not mandating this new software, it is up to each individual parish to determine whether they want to go to Logos."

The cost is $1,400 for a single user and $1,650 for a network, up to 10-person multi-user version. This is special pricing secured by the diocese. If parishes go to purchase the software on their own, the cost would be about double.

"Some churches think that the price is minimal - it is so needed that they are willing to pay it. Other parishes, especially smaller ones, really get held up over the price," she acknowledged.

While it is more expensive than Servant Keeper, Wood noted that it is less expensive than many programs.

She mentioned that she could work with parishes to help them determine which option - single-user or network-worker - is best for their particular situation.

As more parishes begin to use Logos, Wood would like to eventually have parishes send vital statistics in electronically, on a disk. This would save time for both the parishes and the diocesan offices.

This software program is catching on in numerous dioceses throughout the country. The Archdiocese of New York has mandated it for all of their parishes.

She anticipates additional parishes in the Diocese of Sioux City will go with Logos because it is a more robust program and accommodates record keeping for sacraments.

"It is the kind of software that will make you go wow," said Wood.

She pointed out that this is perfect software for use by volunteers as the program allows for limited access use. For instance, a volunteer can typeset past sacramental history without having the ability to look at contributions.

"You have people that are willing to help, but there is always that worry that you don't want them to see things they don't need to see. This is just one scenario of what this software can do," said Wood.

There will be upcoming training sessions for parishes that have purchased the software.