Gabriel Software Migration
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Gabriel Software Migration Plan
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We learned a lot about ourselves throughout COVID-19. As individuals, we had to rethink how we did just about everything in our day-to-day lives. Some would say we used to zoom back and forth from place to place before we were forced to actually do nothing but Zoom from place to place. As a Church, we had to examine many things, including how we could improve communication between the Church and parishioners. The Diocese of Biloxi is improving operations and communication thanks to a new partnership with Gabriel Software.
Originally developed in 1999 as a software package for a single Catholic church in Attleboro Falls, Massachusetts, Gabriel helps parishes manage their communications and member engagement via a state-of-the-art cloud-based platform established in 2016. Its trademarked Parishioner Relationship Management vision looks to bring the concepts of customer relationship management to the Church.
Gabriel Software is a Catholic Company, with a thorough understanding of the unique needs of parishes and dioceses.
Gabriel Software — the mission of which is to serve the Church — delivers functionality for parishes and dioceses. Gabriel enables its clients to communicate with their parishioners and members and leverage current communication methods including e-mail and texting.
Parishes are in the stages of changing to Gabriel Software for such functions as sacramental and financial record keeping, committee notes, ministry scheduling and faith formation. Plans call for the conversion of all parishes to be complete by the end of the July 2021 with the diocese offices fully converted by the end of September 2021.
We are confident that Gabriel Software will greatly aid pastors and parishes in connecting with parishioners as we continue the mission of the Church in the digital age.
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Complete Training and Conversion Schedule
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Diocesan Support Team Project Training* Tuesday, June 1, 2021 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pilot Parish Orientation* Wednesday, June 2, 2021 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Pilot Parish Conversion Day Thursday, June 3, 2021 Pilot Parish Go Live Days Friday, June 4, 2021 through Tuesday, June 8, 2021 Diocesan-Wide Intro Webinar* Tuesday, June 15, 2021 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Parish Migration Sign Up Available** Tuesday, June 15, 2021 after webinar All Parish Migration Complete July 20, 2021 Diocesan Offices, CSA, GPC Migration September 1, 2021 -
* All training will be done virtually for all parishes and the diocesan support team.
** Gabriel can convert 10 parishes per week – sign up window will be mid-June to mid-July on a first come first serve basis
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Pilot Parishes
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• Blessed Frances Seelos, Biloxi
• Immaculate Conception, Laurel
• Our Mother of Sorrows, Biloxi
• St. James, Gulfport
• Our Lady of the Gulf, Bay St. Louis
• St. Michael, Biloxi
• Holy Family, Pass Christian
• Holy Spirit, Vancleave
• St. Thomas, Hattiesburg
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Q - Do I have to be physically present in my office for training?
A - No you do not! Because it will be virtual training all you need is a quiet place that has a connection to the internet. Just click the link in the email from your office computer, laptop, tablet or in an emergency your phone!
Q - Who should attend Pilot Parish Orientation?
A - The more the merrier! Pastors, priests, parish secretaries, administrators, youth ministers, religious education coordinators, parish lead volunteers, parish council members, parish finance council members…..literally anyone who works or volunteers regularly at the parish!
Q – What is the process for converting from our current system to Gabriel?
A - In general, most parishes/missions will enter their last offertory into their current database on the Monday/Tuesday of their conversion week. On Tuesday at the end of the day the parish will take a back-up record of their current system and upload it to Gabriel using a secure drop-box link provided by Gabriel. Gabriel will convert the data on Wednesday and it will be downloaded to the parish Gabriel shell on Thursday to go live. There will be exceptions to this flow but overall this is how the conversion will work.
Q – How do I get my “back-up record?”
A- That will vary from system to system. Gabriel will provide support for this procedure for each parish during their conversion week.
Q – Since we are a Pilot Parish, do we need to attend the Diocesan-Wide Webinar on June 15th?
A - It will be most helpful for all Pilot Parish teams to attend this important webinar. It will allow you to see the software introduced to the diocese and you could learn more about the capabilities of Gabriel in this larger presentation.
Q – Will Gabriel Support be available to Pilot Parishes during the transition?
A - YES! Gabriel will introduce the support team during the orientation and give access to you during the transition. USE THIS TOOL!
Q - Will we be able to ask questions during our orientation on June 2nd?
A - YES! The purpose of this orientation is to give the pilot parishes a “leg up” in being in a smaller, more focused group. Training videos and live support are always available to you as a Gabriel client.
Q. - What are the benefits of moving to Gabriel?
A. There are many! Here are a few important ones:-All parishes will now be on one platform that will have state of the art technology/security
-All parishes will have access to all components of the Gabriel platform
-Interface will now be possible between parishes and the diocesan offices for reporting
-Ability to Email/Text straight from a family/group record within the platform
For further questions please reach out to Dave Wyrwich (dwyrwich@biloxidiocese.org).
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Learn more about how we are called to respond to the Great Commission of Jesus
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