Parish Software for the Orthodox Church in America

An OCA parish is often several parishes at once: cradle families whose grandparents built the church, converts who came through the catechumenate a few years ago, and inquirers who found the parish online last month. Services are largely in English, the parish council is run by volunteers, and the same dozen people tend to carry coffee hour, the altar, and the cleaning list. ParishSignUp gives that parish one place for signup sheets, confession times, hospitality rotations, and catechesis, with your OCA diocese recorded on the parish itself.

What an OCA parish actually needs from software

Most OCA parishes do not need accounting or a website builder from their parish software; they already have a treasurer’s ledger and a website. What wears clergy and council members down is the coordination: who is hosting coffee hour on the third Sunday, who can serve at the Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesday, which catechumens came to class, and how to keep confession times visible without passing around a paper sheet. That coordination is what ParishSignUp handles.

Built for the way OCA parishes run

A path from inquirer to received

Many OCA parishes receive a steady stream of converts. With Parish Plus, Catechesis follows each person from inquirer to catechumen to received, with dates. The catechist starts each class and shows a QR code, and those attending scan it as they arrive, so the attendance record builds itself through the year and stays with the person after reception.

Fellowship hour on a rotation

Create named hospitality groups and rotate them across every Sunday of a recurring coffee hour sheet. Anyone can still bring a dish; the group on duty is responsible. Swap one Sunday to an open parish potluck, such as the patronal feast, without rebuilding the year. Trapeza sheets add fasting and non-fasting menu suggestions for Lent and the Nativity Fast.

Confession times people can find

Every parish gets one confession link listing all upcoming dates and all priests. A recurring schedule, such as Saturday after Vespers, keeps times open about two weeks ahead. Only the penitent and the assigned priest can see a booking; the database enforces it. If Father is ill, he cancels the date and everyone booked is notified.

Your diocese on the parish record

Choose OCA as the jurisdiction and pick your diocese from the list, from the Diocese of Alaska to the Diocese of the South and the Archdiocese of Canada. A diocese administrator approved by ParishSignUp can then see the parishes that chose that diocese and their published signup sheets, read-only.

OCA dioceses you can choose

When an OCA parish is created or edited, its admin can pick one of these, or “Other / not listed”:

Diocese of Alaska; Diocese of the West; Diocese of the Midwest; Diocese of the South
Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania; Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania
Diocese of New England; Diocese of New York and New Jersey; Archdiocese of Washington
Archdiocese of Canada; Diocese of Mexico
Albanian Archdiocese; Bulgarian Diocese; Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America

A season in an OCA parish

The parish has eight families willing to host fellowship hour, and the same two always end up doing it.
The council creates eight hospitality groups and a weekly coffee hour sheet that rotates them. Each Sunday has a group on duty, reminders go out by email or Telegram, and the load spreads across the year.
Five inquirers start classes in September, hoping to be received at Pascha.
The priest adds them to Catechesis as inquirers, moves them to catechumens when they are enrolled, and records attendance at each class by QR code. At Pascha their reception date is recorded on the roster.
Great Lent begins and the Presanctified Liturgy needs servers and readers every Wednesday.
An altar server sheet repeats every Wednesday through Holy Week. Servers sign up from the parish link and get a reminder the day before, so the priest isn’t calling around on Tuesday night.

What it is not

ParishSignUp does not keep accounts or process online giving, does not run child check-in, does not keep sacramental registers, and does not build your parish website. It is a website that works well on phones, not an app from an app store. Keep the tools you have for those jobs and let ParishSignUp handle volunteers, confession, and catechesis.

Setting up an OCA parish

Create the parish and choose Orthodox Church in America as the jurisdiction
Pick your OCA diocese, or “Other / not listed”
Give the rector and any second priest or deacon the Priest role
Set the recurring confession schedule
Create hospitality groups and a recurring coffee hour sheet
Print the parish QR code for the narthex so visitors and parishioners can join

Questions from OCA parishes

Can our OCA diocese see our parish’s information?

Only if your parish lists the diocese and someone from that diocese has been approved as its administrator. They then see the parishes that chose that diocese and a read-only view of published signup sheets. They never see member emails, draft sheets, pledge amounts, or who booked confession.

Which calendar does the Gospel of the day follow for an OCA parish?

By default, the new calendar, which many OCA parishes keep. A person who follows the old calendar can switch to it in Profile Settings. The reading comes each day by Telegram or email at the time they choose, in English (King James) or Russian (Synodal).

Our parish belongs to the Romanian or Albanian Archdiocese within the OCA. Which do we pick?

Choose Orthodox Church in America as the jurisdiction, then the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, the Albanian Archdiocese, or the Bulgarian Diocese from the OCA diocese list.

Do parishioners need to download an app?

No. ParishSignUp is a website that works on any phone. Parishioners join by scanning the parish QR code or opening the invite link, and some sheets can even accept a signup with just a name.

Is it free?

Signup sheets, confession scheduling, hospitality groups, visitor cards, and reminders are free with no ads. Parish Plus, priced by parish size and shown in the app, adds membership forms, surveys, stewardship pledges, catechesis, and analytics.