Matthew Mollman, parish council member, will be speaking at the end of all the masses this weekend to unveil a new sharing app for the community of St. Mark Catholic Church that he has spent the last year and a half developing. The purpose of the app is to support and strengthen our parish community. Father Fuller is allowing this product to be pilot tested at our parish so that it can be perfected before distribution to other parishes.

Acts of Love will allow parishioners to post up to 3 active Prayer Requests that will auto delete after 10 days. The Prayer Request will include a profile picture of the user posting the request along with a votive candle graphic with a numeric counter that will show how many parishioners have acknowledged that they will be praying for this request in the next 24 hours.

The app includes Goods & Services which is very similar to other marketing apps but a whole lot more. Under Goods parishioners will be able to post a limited number of physical items they want to Offer – either to sell, trade, giveaway, rent or loan. Users can also post items that they Need. Under Services parishioners can post Tasks that they need to have performed and Doers can post services they are willing to perform. All posts will include a profile picture of the user making the post.

In the future, Parish Ministry Leads will be able to post volunteer opportunities and sign-up forms under Volunteers which is still in the design phase. The app also includes News & Announcements reflecting upcoming events, ads that missed the bulletin deadline, and any last-minute changes or corrections.

The mobile friendly web app will be restricted to registered parishioners of St. Mark that are 18-years or older. A user’s account will only be activated after verification of name, email, home address, and phone number. All parishioner posts will be validated by a volunteer moderator before being posted for all to see. The app includes a built-in internal messaging system, so users do not have to reveal their email address or phone number unless they choose to do so. There will be no third-party advertisements, user preferences will not be tracked, and all user data will be kept confidential.