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Reverend Michael J. Boyle, C.M.

September 24, 1928 – April 3, 2022

Reverend Mike Boyle

The entire ACS Technologies family is deeply blessed to remember the life and legacy of PDS Founder Father Michael Boyle. His passion for equipping the Catholic Church for success with the newest technology made a way for parishes across the country to better preach the Gospel and minister to those in need. Without his contributions, we would not be able to effectively serve the unique needs of thousands of churches and dioceses in their Kingdom-building work. Fr. Mike’s presence and personal ministry have had a lasting impact on both our company mission and individual hearts. We will forever be thankful to have worked alongside him, and we remain inspired by his heart for serving the Catholic Church. Continue reading from Fr. Mike’s obituary to learn more about his life and PDS journey. 

Fr. Mike Boyle was born to Bernard Boyle and Josephine McElhinney in Chicago, IL. on September 24, 1928. He was baptized at Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica on Chicago’s west side on October 5, 1928. Mike was the oldest of four children, 1 sister and 2 younger brothers. He was a product of the Catholic school system of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Over the course of his elementary school years, he studied at four different schools in the city. He entered Quigley Seminary as a freshman in 1942, but withdrew in 1945, applying to St. Vincent’s College in Cape Girardeau, MO. 

He graduated in 1947 and began his novitiate in the Congregation of the Mission at St. Mary of the Barrens in Perryville, MO. He withdrew from the novitiate after nine months, citing that he was uncertain as to whether he wished to be a priest. However, it seems that his parents had made the decision to return to Ireland and he wished to join them in Ireland. It did not take long for him to decide to return to the United States, where shortly thereafter he re-entered the novitiate, and continued his studies for the priesthood. He made his final vows on September 8, 1955, at St. Mary’s Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood on June 7, 1960.

Reverend Mike Boyle

Fr. Mike was a pioneer in the application of technology for use in ministry. In 1978 he was the pastor at St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix. With the help of a parish volunteer and a high school student, he founded Parish Data System (PDS) which became a familiar name in many dioceses. They spent the equivalent of a small truck purchasing one of the first Altair computers. He recognized that things like databases, barcode scanners, check scanners, could make staff be more efficient so they could spend more time on ministry. The PDS team developed programs for tracking sacramental records, financial records, parish census, scheduling and other data. Fr. Mike never lost sight of who used the software and was constantly encouraging the development team to keep things simple for the typical user. In those early days of PDS they would travel around the country to spread the message from Diocese to Diocese. This program is still being used by thousands of Catholic churches and dioceses and is still being developed.

Fr. Mike has inspired the PDS team with his insights, technical savvy, and drive for excellence for 40 years. He also helped guide the team in their personal lives with his wisdom and humor. He was always looking forward to whatever the next thing was on the horizon. We will miss his daily influence in our lives.

Over time, he retired from the PDS work, but maintained a pastoral presence in “his city” of Phoenix. In his later years, Fr. Mike continued to serve in various parishes in the Diocese of Phoenix, living among the diocesan clergy. Most recently, he served at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Scottsdale, AZ.

During the winter, Fr. Mike caught the COVID-19 virus. He recovered, but the disease left him weak. He returned to St. Mary of the Barrens, the place where his journey began on February 8, 2022. Shortly after his arrival, his health weakened. After an extended hospital stay, he returned home to St. Mary’s, and shortly thereafter, Fr. Michael Boyle returned to God, on Sunday, April 3, 2022.

Over the last few years he organized his homilies and made them available to all. He recorded the entire 3-year cycle to play last week, this week, and next week. If you would like to listen to them, you can find them at www.homilyweek.com

Diocese and Parish Management Tools

PDS™ is a complete parish management solution built with tools for connecting your parishioners, tracking sacraments, equipping your parish staff, and much more. But that’s not all. PDS tools enable your diocesan staff to coordinate, collect, and share information and resources with all of your parishes.

Background Checks

Background Checks Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Provide security for your parish. Your parishioners want to know your parish is

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CASS It

CASS It™ Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Save money with discounted bulk mailing procedures. PDS CASS It! provides your office

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Church Office

Church Office™ Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Efficiently manage family and parish information. PDS Church Office empowers parishes to simplify

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Community Analytics

Know more about the people in your community.​ Use data to make better informed decisions. Dioceses Develop thriving parishes and clergy. Use geographic, demographic, and

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DioEdge

DioEdge™ Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Create synergy between the diocese and parishes. Keeping accurate and up-to-date contact information is

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DioOffice

DioOffice Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Maintain consistent databases across your diocese and parishes. Help your diocese maintain up-to-date contact

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DioView

DioView™ Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Streamline financial reporting between parishes and diocese offices. PDS DioView™, coupled with PDS DioView

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eGiving

eGiving Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Accept your parish’s collections and appeals online 24/7. Financial contributions are the primary source of

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Facility Scheduler

Facility Scheduler Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Schedule rooms and equipment efficiently and easily. PDS Facility Scheduler removes the worry

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Formation Office

Formation Office Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Easy management of religious education programs. Organize student and family information, quickly see

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General Ledger

Ledger™ Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Create and maintain accurate financial records. PDS Ledger simplifies the administrative tasks of financial

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Ledger/Payroll

Ledger/Payroll™ Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Make payday painless with payroll management. Take the hassle out of preparing and managing

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Ministry Scheduler

Ministry Scheduler™ Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief A flexible solution for scheduling masses. Easily coordinate and assign ministers for various

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Parish Life

Parish Life™ Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief An online parishioner portal for anytime access to your parish. Parish life doesn’t

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Sacramental Register

Sacramental Register™ Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Quickly locate registry entries and preserve your valuable records. PDS Sacramental Register provides

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Websites

Refresh Websites allows you to easily build a professional, user-friendly site using templates and drag and drop editing

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Product

Designed to fit who you are.

For Parishes

Everyone plays a part in church ministry.

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Pastoral Teams

You're called to change lives. Our solutions give you the insights you need to grow people spiritually, build a healthy church, and fulfill your life's mission.

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Parish Staff

Software alone can't do all the big and little things your staff does everyday to keep your church afloat. It never will. But if it can help them do what they do better, we've done our job.

Parishioners

Parishioners

When someone calls your parish their home, it has to mean something more than names on paper. Give people multiple ways to get involved, connect, and take advantage of all you have to offer.

For Dioceses

Coordinate information, service, and resources.

For Specific Ministry Goals

Focus on what matters most.

There’s nothing more important than serving the Church. That’s why we continue to invest in all the ways we support the Church. We’ve never been more capable of serving Catholic parishes than we are right now. 

Administration

Administration Equip your parish administrator with the tools they need. Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Better manage your parish information.

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Children & Youth

Children & Youth Create an environment where kids flourish. Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Better manage religious education programs. Organize

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Diocesan Management

Catholic Dioceses ChurchManagement Solutions Serving the Church together. By working together, we can create more opportunities for ministry. Diocesan Office Staff Not only do we

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Faith Formation

Faith Formation Nurture the most important part of someone’s life. Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Cultivate faith in the next

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Greek Orthodox

Greek Orthodox Parish Data System is the top software solution for parish membership, stewardship, management, and financial accounting needs. Bridging ministry and technology to the

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Liturgy & Worship

Liturgy & Worship Plan masses and share them with the virtual world. Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Schedule and track

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Media & Communications

Media & Communications Engage everyone in your ministry. Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Connect with the right audience. Build your

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Pastoral Care

Pastoral Care Lead your parish with effective ministry tools. Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Never forget small details. Record comments

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Stewardship

Stewardship Encourage faithful stewardship of time, talent, and treasure. Share this information with others in your parish. Download Brief Accept collections and appeals at any

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For The Greek Orthodox Church

Parish Data Systems provides software solutions to the Greek Orthodox Church, her parishes, metropolises, and Archdiocese.

Talk to an Expert

We’ve helped thousands of parishes reach their goals, and we’d love the opportunity to hear about what you hope to accomplish next. Our real, friendly experts are standing by to help you make the best possible decision. No obligation.

Product

Topical Instruction Valuable Advice Training & Events Unmatched Support

No one else can set you up for success like we can.

When you choose a software product to manage the operations of your ministry, you’re not just choosing software. You’re choosing a ministry partner, and there is nothing more important to us than making sure you have what you need to continue to do the work of the Lord. Nothing!

Topical Instruction

Tap into a wealth of knowledge and master vital aspects of your ministry.

Valuable Advice

“Without counsel, plans fail, but with many advisors, they succeed.” 

— Proverbs 15:22 ESV

Specialized Training & Events

Develop valuable skills and experiences at events designed for growing vibrant, healthy ministries.

“I love PDS and am with all of you for the long haul. Thanks for continuing to give us such a great CATHOLIC product for our parishes.”

Chris

Parish Life Director

Unmatched Support

We’re passionate about supporting your ministry with service levels that consistently rank above our competitors. We offer several support options and have teams of people to help your ministry reach its full potential.

Consultation

We're by your side each step of the way.

We can help you make a smooth transition. It’s something we guide churches through nearly every day. Our team is standing by to assist you.

Moving your staff over to PDS can be a clear, straight-forward process. Our team can work with you to develop a plan for mapping over your profiles, groups, and contributor records. We can also review your data after it has been converted and offer suggestions for any remaining clean-up. 

We offer direct, one-on-one instruction from certified trainers who can walk you through key areas of your setup process. This 2-hour guided assistance is conducted online through our web conferencing tools and may be divided into two 1-hour increments if preferred. Any number of staff people are welcome to sit together for this training. Instruction will cover whatever areas you wish to prioritize for your training, such as: Admin Setup, Managing People Profiles, Giving, Ministry Areas, and Accounting.

With thousands of successful launches already to their credit, our launch team can help you utilize proven best practices to achieve your ministry goals. Many of our coaches are former church staff who understand how churches operate. We can help you implement PDS effectively and launch it successfully to your staff and parish.

Realm is an excellent tool for your ministry staff, but it also connects your parishioners in amazing new ways. After you’ve transitioned your staff to Realm, we can equip them with ideas, materials, and guidance for rolling out Realm’s free mobile app (Realm® Connect™) to your entire church.

Honoring the legacy of Reverend Michael J. Boyle, PDS Founder

Catholic Church Management Software and Services for Parishes and Dioceses

The smartest way to Evangelize in today’s Catholic Church.

Options for Catholic Church Software
have never been better.

We are passionate about finding solutions to make serving and leading your parish easier. Parish Data System™ was founded by a Catholic priest, Father Mike, which has made us dedicated to serving The Church and has led us to develop the best Catholic church management software available on the market. With more solutions and tools, we have never been more capable of serving Catholic parishes and dioceses than we are right now.

Leading Catholic Software

Ministries

Experience personalized solutions to match your parish's roles and ministry goals.

Parish Management software

Tools

Find the right tools for the most important job in the world. Not all tools are equal.

Services

Equip your parish or diocese to serve parishioners in amazing ways.

We offer solutions designed for parishes and dioceses.

For parishes, everyone is a part of the team: pastoral care, staff, parishioners, and volunteers. Offering ways to connect your parishioners, track the Sacraments,  or help staff do their jobs better, PDS™ is a parish management software solution designed to help your community grow spiritually.

For dioceses, we have made it so coordinating, collecting, and sharing information and resources are consistent and straightforward. This enables your diocesan staff to coordinate information flow in a standardized way, thus making reporting information comprehensive and accurate.

Your investment in PDS also means an investment in our team. Our customer service representatives provide unmatched support to ensure you have what you need to continue to build The Church. Data conversion, valuable advice, training, events, and topical instruction is just the beginning of how we will set you up for success. We are here to help you so you can serve the community and do the Lord’s work.

Give us a call at 1-800-736-7425 to talk to one of our experts and see if PDS OnDemand is right for you. Or visit our Contact Us page.

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Parishes & Dioceses Served
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Faithfully Serving Catholics Since 1978

How It All Got Started

Father Mike Boyle“In 1978 when I was a priest at St Vincent’s Parish in Phoenix, AZ, our parish secretary kept all her information on index cards—hundreds and hundreds of index cards. I knew there had to be a better way to track the information critical to the unique needs of the Catholic Church. I assembled a small team with knowledge of parochial administration, church office procedures, church administration, and computer programming. My goal was to create a system that allowed us to spend less time recording information and more time using that information to minister to our parishioners. Other parishes agreed, and so we grew.”

— Father Mike

Continuing Our Legacy of Innovation

Over 40 years later, Parish Data System is still listening to our church partners and we are still making it our mission to find a better way to help them serve their parish and parishioners. With PDS and Realm we have two solutions that will allow you to spend more time ministering. In many ways, it feels like we’re just getting started.

1970s

’70s – Good times. Dy-no-mite!

ACST - 1970 DecadeParish Data System™ (PDS) was founded in 1978 by Father Michael Boyle, Roseanne Trombley, and Joseph Gordon to meet the real-world needs of the Church.

1970s

1980s

’80s — Were like, totally rad.

1980'sThese were our DOS days. PDS expanded rapidly from just the original PDS Census/Contribution program. PDS Journal, PDS Facility Scheduler, PDS Ledger/Payables, and PDS Foccus programs were released.

1980s

1990s

’90s — Aced it. Alrightyyyy then.

ACST - 1990 DecadePDS continued to expand its product lineup introducing PDS Religious Education, PDS School Management, PDS Grade Book, and PDS Payroll. We also began the transition from DOS to Windows when PDS Census/Contributions Version 17 was released for both MS-DOS and Windows. Our first diocese product was released, called PDS Link.

1990s

2000s

’00s — We all survived Y2K.

ACST - 2000 DecadeWhat a decade for innovation! Starting in 2000, PDS Church Office, PDS Formation Office, and PDS School Office were released for Windows and could share the same database between them. In 2004, ACS Technologies® purchased Parish Data System keeping it as a separate brand and continuing its development. For example, we introduced a couple new diocesan solutions: PDS DioOffice and PDS DioView. We also made the move from installed software to our PDS OnDemand solution.

2000s

2010s

’10s — Because YOLO.

ACST - 2010 DecadeRealm® was born! And after a few years in development, we began marketing Realm to Catholic parishes and dioceses. (It’s our fully web-based parish management option.) Plus, we added a couple new product initiatives for Catholic dioceses: Realm Network and Realm Office. Of course, we also continued to enhance our core PDS solution with the release of PDS Version 9.

2010s

2020s

’20s — Just gettin’ started…

Timeline 2020We couldn’t be more excited about where things are headed. We’ve entered this new decade with a few recent acquisitions, and we are rapidly working on integrating everything into our single-system approach. Specifically, we are really excited about two new solutions. MissionInsite™ gives churches tremendous information and insight into their communities, and MinistrySmart™ teaches parish staff how to make the most of their ministry. In July 2020, we released PDS Version 10 which provides parishes with better accessibility, performance, and security in PDS.  Of course, we continue to do our bi-weekly updates to Realm as well.

2020s
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top 20 most popular church management software
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Realm is a leader in Church Management on G2

The Top 20 badge is a trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Capterra Top 20s constitute the subjective opinions of individual end-user reviews, ratings, and data applied against a documented methodology; they neither represent the views of, nor constitute an endorsement by, GetApp or its affiliates.

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