Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George, BC
Connecting a Distributed Diocese on One Shared Platform
Organization Size
100+
Duration
6 Months
The Situtation
Parish information was spread across aging, disconnected systems
The Diocese of Prince George needed a sustainable way to manage parish information across a geographically dispersed network.
Many parishes relied on Parish Friendly and locally maintained processes for household, donation and parish records. At the diocesan level, this made it difficult to establish consistent practices, improve visibility across parishes, or build toward shared services such as fundraising, reporting and safe-environment administration.
With legacy technology approaching the end of its useful life, the Diocese had an opportunity to do more than replace software: it could establish a common platform for its parishes and diocesan offices.
The Constraints
A diocesan rollout had to work for parishes of very different sizes and capabilities
The transition could not disrupt essential parish operations.
Parishes varied in staffing, technical comfort, data quality and readiness for change. Historical records contained duplicates, incomplete information and inconsistent conventions. Some parish staff also needed more individualized support than a traditional software rollout would provide.
The Diocese therefore needed to migrate legacy information while continuing day-to-day work, protecting parish-level access, and helping users become comfortable with an entirely new way of managing their records.
Meribah Flow's Approach
Roll out in cohorts, support people closely, and make the Diocese the long-term owner
Meribah Flow worked with the Diocese to move parish operations onto MF360 and Salesforce through a phased rollout rather than a single cutover.
Parish data was reviewed, migrated and validated in cohorts. Staff received a Salesforce sandbox where they could practice before working in the live system, supported by in-person training, recordings, office hours and ongoing assistance.
Access was designed around parish responsibilities so local users could work with the records appropriate to them while the Diocese gained the advantages of a shared platform.
Just as importantly, the implementation emphasized diocesan ownership. Training resources, common processes and local support were established so the system could continue to mature after the initial project ended.
Outcome
01
One shared platform
Parishes moved from independent legacy systems toward a common diocesan environment.
02
Strong early adoption
Approximately 75% of parishes were actively using Salesforce within the first 90 days.
03
A foundation built to grow
The implementation created infrastructure for more than parish recordkeeping.
Reflection
The Prince George rollout reinforced an important lesson: successful diocesan technology projects are ultimately adoption projects.
Migration and configuration established the platform, but hands-on support, clear ownership and repeated opportunities for parish staff to learn were what allowed the new system to take root.
Rather than recreating every legacy process, the Diocese established a shared foundation it can continue improving as parish needs, diocesan priorities and technology evolve.