From humble beginnings: The GabrielSoft Story
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May 2, 2022
May 2, 2022 byDid you know that GabrielSoft did not find its origins within eCatholic?
That may be surprising, considering that the mission of GabrielSoft has always aligned very closely to the mission behind eCatholic: providing excellent and easy-to-use technology that helps you evangelize, communicate, and enhance your ministry.
As the founder of GabrielSoft likes to say, “It’s our church too.”
So, while you might be familiar with the “Peter moment” experienced by the eCatholic founder and CEO, we wanted to share a similar story about the very beginnings of GabrielSoft.
Armand Brunelle, the creator of this easy-to-use church management software solution, sat down with us to share the story behind a software he created for a single parish that would eventually serve the Catholic Church worldwide.A simple ask
My pastor knew that I had a background in software development, but I was still surprised when he approached me one Sunday after Mass in 1999 to talk business. Father was experiencing a few roadblocks within the parish ministry because there was no place to archive parishioner data and information. So, he asked if there was any way I could help.
I agreed and enlisted the support of my brother, and together, we built a new database that would allow my home parish to easily manage and update data and information on their parishioners. We called it Gabriel.
It wasn’t long before a neighboring parish caught sight of our simple church management system and asked for help as well. Within two years, I founded GabrielSoft serving about 25 parishes within the diocese of Fall River (Massachusetts).
A leap of faith
Interest in GabrielSoft grew steadily over the years, but our small team was comfortable with our workload. Offering GabirelSoft on a national level seemed like a big task, but a few thoughts repeatedly came to mind over the years…
We started GabrielSoft to help just one parish...but what if others needed help too?
Does current church software still meet the needs of the ever-evolving Catholic parish?
What if parishes are looking for a new perspective on harnessing their data?
In 2017, it was finally time to make the jump. Once we realized that our collective experience with data management could assist so many, we were all-in for GabrielSoft.
Taking a leap of faith, the software was updated to serve parishes better and accommodate data for the needs of a Catholic diocese. Before we knew it, this new beginning helped our team to reach customers in new places, California, Wisconsin - all over the nation! Soon enough, the updates we made in 2017 were paving the way for even bigger milestones to come.
Things are just getting started...
We keep our eyes set on making improvements to help enhance relational ministry. In 2018, we trademarked Parishioner Relationship Management® in order to help others understand the GabrielSoft approach to parish data management. It’s not just about your data, but about the relationships you can build because of your data.
Shortly after, GabrielSoft was honored to be chosen by the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont as the exclusive data software partner for every parish in the diocese. Since then, GabrielSoft has formed exclusive partnerships with five additional U.S. dioceses. In addition, GabrielSoft also serves a parish in the Archdiocese of Perth, Australia!
A new adventure
The Lord has provided so many blessings for the entire GabrielSoft team. The most recent of which was when we decided to unite our efforts with those of eCatholic. Joining the eCatholic product suite was the move that would allow the net of GabrielSoft to be cast wider than we ever thought possible.
GabrielSoft really was all about service to the Church first - and I’m happy to see that it remains that way. It might not look the same as when it was a simple church project in a Boston suburb, but we never lost sight of the main purpose: to provide software that truly understands the needs of your Catholic parish and empowers you to fulfill the church’s mission.
