Florence, SC, August 27, 2008—After more than thirty years of unfailing service and dedication to Catholic churches and schools nationwide, Father Mike Boyle, founder of Parish Data System (PDS), officially announced his retirement on July 31, 2008.

Under the direction of Father Boyle – best known as Father Mike - Parish Data System began creating software programs for Catholic churches and schools in 1978. At a time when personal computers had just arrived on the scene, Father Mike’s original intent in developing the new software was to improve the handling of the census, contribution, and school tuition information of his home parish, St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix, Arizona.

Because church administrative software and programmers were scarce, Father Mike and his team of volunteers began to develop one of the first administrative software suites for Catholic parishes. The program they developed was originally known as the Parish Data System Census/Contribution Program and was later renamed Church Office™. As other churches heard of Father Mike’s experiment they began to ask questions and request demonstrations of the new program.

Since those humble beginnings, the company’s client base has steadily grown to include thousands of parishes across the country that rely on PDS products and services to efficiently manage their information on a daily basis.

Even with the addition of more than fifteen new software modules and services, Father Mike and his team never forgot what was most important to PDS clients. "We have never lost sight of that hands-on approach to solving administrative problems through effective software. Continued dedication to our customers has led us to improve and develop new software as technology has changed and the needs of the church/school have changed," states Father Mike.

"I never imagined our little experiment would one day become the most widely used Catholic church office management software – used by more parishes than any other Catholic software – supporting parishes in 50 states and even in some foreign countries," continues Father Mike. "I am humbled to be a part of such a cause and will forever be grateful that from one small parish I had a tiny part in helping ministry."

Father Mike will be greatly missed after his departure from PDS. The staffs of Parish Data System and ACS Technologies will continue serving the needs of Catholic organizations nationwide and will strive to further the vision he created so many years ago in his home parish of St. Vincent de Paul.

Those who would like to extend farewell wishes to Father Mike may do so at http://www.parishdata.com/fathermike.

For more details on how Parish Data System solutions can benefit your organization, visit parishdata.com, acstechnologies.com, or call 800.892.5202.

About Parish Data System

Since 1978, Parish Data System (www.parishdata.com) has been the leading Catholic church management software solutions by meeting the needs of more than 8,500 parishes, schools and dioceses worldwide. In 2004, PDS joined forces with another church management software leader, ACS Technologies (www.acstechnologies.com), combining strengths and staff to offer the industry's best support and training along with the broadest line of church management software solutions. PDS software is used by more parishes in the United States than any other software, making it the top choice for Catholic management software and services. PDS continues to lead the market with new technology solutions that enable accurate data management, increase communications, and empower growth within Catholic organizations, both at the parish and diocese levels.