National Convention:     Speakers

Each PDS speaker finds special satisfaction in helping church staff learn PDS programs. Their work puts them in contact with hundreds of churches each year. You’ll benefit from that experience here at the convention! Following is a list of all speakers for the 2009 convention!

Speakers

Mike Boyle, Founder of PDS

Born in Chicago, Mike joined Vincentian Fathers and Brothers in 1950. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1959 and assigned to a seminary in California. From 1969 to the present, there followed a number of assignments in three different parishes in California and Arizona. While pastor of a parish in Phoenix in 1978, work began on what was to become Parish Data System, a complete computer program for use in Catholic parishes and schools. In 2004, Parish Data System was purchased by ACS.

David Childers, Certified Trainer

David and his wife Marcia live in Tucker, GA, a suburb of Atlanta. He has 30 years of full-time ministry experience as a minister of music in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia. He is currently serving as minister of music at First Baptist Church in Jefferson, GA. David has served as information technologies director at Dunwoody Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. He has 14 years of professional experience as a computer consultant and trainer. He is a Microsoft® Office user specialist and enjoys building Web sites and assisting churches in enhancing their ministry skills with the use of technology and ACS software. His hobbies include fishing, playing sports, and enjoying family time with Marcia and their two teenagers, Emily and Andrew. They also enjoy being grandparents to Hailey, Emily’s daughter.

Meg Crawford, HDR, Diocesan Implementation Consultant

Meg joined PDS in 2007. Originally from Ottawa, Illinois, she moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1997, working for Humana, Jefferson Community College, and Ingenix in the areas of customer service, sales, training/development, and business education. She has an eclectic background with a bachelor’s degree in Theatre and a master’s degree in Human Resource Development. Meg and her husband, Bruce, live in Louisville. Other interests include made-to-order bath and beauty products, the arts, local festivals and fairs, and photography.

Deacon John Cunneen, PDS Dealer

Deacon John Cunneen and his wife, Sue, are the PDS Dealers in the Los Angeles and Orange dioceses.  John is retired from IBM, where he specialized in working with small businesses and non-profits.  He and Sue currently have a consulting business, Parish Administration Consulting, which works with over 70 parishes and schools in Southern California, including providing assistance with implementing capital campaigns and stewardship programs.  He also serves as deacon at St. Linus Church in Norwalk, California.

Rex Frieze, Church Management Consultant

Rex holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in business and accounting. He is also a certified public accountant. Rex’s secular work experience consists of six years with an international CPA firm and several years as corporate controller for a conglomerate of oil companies. While in the oil business, he felt God’s call to surrender his life, business and financial skills, and professional abilities to full-time Christian service.  Rex has served twelve years as an assistant pastor of administration. While serving in this capacity, he felt led to develop Frieze Consulting, a church management consulting firm. He has spoken at local, regional and national conferences in the areas of church management and administration, minister’s taxation, personal financial planning and biblical principles of finances. Rex is the author of the Frieze Resource Library, a collection of management and administrative resources that assists church leaders in organizing and operating God’s house in a more “decent and orderly” manner. Thousands of churches from all over the country are presently using these resources. You can review these resources at Frieze Consulting’s exhibit booth.

Paul Goldsworthy, Diocesan Implementation Project Manager

Paul has been working professionally with PDS for 20 years. He began consulting for churches in West/Central Florida, helping them integrate technology with their ministries. In 1994, he joined the team at the home office in Phoenix, Arizona. Over the years, he has done technical support, training, documentation, project management, and even some programming. He is currently the Diocesan Implementation Project Manager. When he is not traveling, Paul lives in Peoria with his wife, Cheryl, and sons, Carter and Jason. The family has recently been adopted by a couple of cats, Patches and Stripes.
 

Joseph Gordon, Senior Programmer

 Joe has been a programmer at PDS since the beginning in 1978. He is the chief architect for all PDS-related technologies. He lives in Phoenix with his wife and son.

Karen Komlos, Director of Programming

Karen has been a programmer at PDS since 1985.  She has worked on many projects over the years including Church Office, Formation Office, School Office and Facility Scheduler.  She lives with her husband and dogs in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Beth McCabe, Training Event Coordinator

Beth has been with PDS since 1991. Originally from Orangeburg, South Carolina, and raised in Hendersonville, North Carolina, she moved to Phoenix in 1985 where she completed her education. Beth joined the PDS family in June 1991 in Client Services as a client billing, shipping, and accounts receivables representative. In 2001, she moved into the Accounting department and assisted in Human Resources, utilizing the PDS Ledger/Payroll programs. In 2005, she joined the training team, providing training materials and monthly PCP videos. Beth now also provides online and on-site consulting.  She and her husband, Cary, now live in Peyton, Colorado, with their four-legged children: Bear, Cinnamon, and Sandy.

George Newburn, Director of Stewardship, American Martyrs Church

George Newburn has been a parishioner of American Martyrs Church in Manhattan Beach, California for the past 36 years.  Following a 32 year career in the pharmaceutical industry, George has served the past 14 years in church ministry, the last five as Director of Stewardship for the parish.  As we seek to become a total stewardship parish, stewardship has grown to include a newly formed stewardship council and a growing awareness of stewardship and its role in fostering a Christian community in which the spiritual and social needs of parishioners can be realized through a total stewardship program of ministry, prayer, and finance. 
 

Marvin Owen, Diocesan Implementation Consultant

Marvin Owen joined ACS Technologies as a programmer and helped to write the initial code for the company’s main product, ACS. Instrumental in developing a larger, more experienced programming department, Owen took over as Programming Manager and gradually expanded his position to include overseeing the support and training operations of the company. He helped the company adopt more efficient programming procedures and made a natural transition to Vice President and General Manager in 1998. Under his leadership, the company evolved a more clearly defined Customer Support department that better met the needs of its clients. Prior to joining ACS Technologies, Owen was a Consultant with Arthur Anderson. He holds an undergraduate degree from Furman University and an MBA from Wake Forest University. Owen is an active member of the Central United Methodist Church in Florence, South Carolina.

Mike Perales, Diocesan Implementation Consultant

Mike has been with Parish Data System since 1998.  Over the years he has handled responsibilities in the areas of Technical Support, Client Data Conversions and Interoffice Network and Desktop Administration.  Mike works with the Diocesan Implementation project team where he is responsible providing analysis of challenges faced by diocesan staff and developing solutions to their unique requirements.  Working closely with diocesan staff, Mike handles the rollout and training of applications and services throughout the implementation phase.  A native to Arizona with a degree in Electronics Engineering Technology he and his wife Kathleen have two children and reside in Arizona.

Michael Sawyer, Programmer

Michael joined the PDS Team in 2003 as a technical support representative. He then moved to the programming department in 2004. Michael is married, has two dogs, and a growing number of nieces and nephews. As a native Arizonan, Michael has seen lots of change. He enjoys mountain biking, the occasional round of golf, watching movies and spending time with family and friends.

Mark Seymour, Manager of Training & Conventions

Mark joined the ACS team in February of 2001 as the training manager.  Mark has been trained as a church consultant and has earned seminary degrees in church ministry, youth ministry, children’s ministry, and music ministry. His education, combined with 12 years of full-time church staff experience, gives him valuable insight in a number of ministry areas. He has also worked on staff with Awana® Clubs International developing curriculum and training clients and trainers around the world.

Larry J. Shima, Financial Management Consultant

Larry graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. degree in Industrial Administration with a minor in Accounting. Upon graduation from ISU, he attended the U.S. Navy Supply School in Athens, Georgia, and served on active duty for seven years. He continued his military career in the Navy Reserve and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

During his civilian career, he has been Systems Analyst for Honeywell, Manager of Internal Control for Super Valu Stores, Director of Internal Audit for Target Stores, and Controller and Human Resources Director for several corporations including the American Radio Relay League, Inc., in Newington, Connecticut.

Currently, Larry is a financial consultant to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. In this capacity he assists the diocese in performing financial and special reviews.  Additionally, he provides financial consulting services to various parishes throughout the diocese in the area of internal controls.  

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Phoenix Council, St. Vincent de Paul Society, and chairs the Budget Oversight and Board Audit Committees. Additionally he is on the boards of Fountain of the Sun Country Club and Fountain of the Sun Community Association, serving as Treasurer for both. The organizations are not related.

Johnny Stoupenos, Director of Business Development

Johnny works from the corporate office in Florence, SC as Director of Business Development for PDS and the Catholic market.  He has been involved with PDS since it joined forces with ACS in 2004.  Johnny's primary role is to build buisiness relationships with Dioceses, Archdioceses, and other companies who serve the Catholic market in order to better serve our PDS clients.  He came to PDS/ACS after working in the industiral supply market for 25 years.  He holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and Accounting and resides with his wife Robin in Florence.

Maria Treptow, PDS Account/Office Manager

Maria has been with PDS since 1995. Before that, she worked for St. Joseph’s Catholic Church where she was the office administrator and user of PDS programs. She has taught Religious Education, Adult Education, and has a Certificate in Theology. As a PDS office manager, she worked in Human Resources, Accounting Department, utilizing the PDS Ledger/Payroll. Maria moved into the Account/Office Manager role a few years ago where manages the PDS accounts, oversees operations in the Phoenix office, and works with diocesan and dealer representatives. She resides in Phoenix with her husband, Walter.