Nun helps parishes compute

The former teacher has spent the past six years traveling to parishes in the Diocese to help staff members adapt to the new system.

"My expertise is in organization," she explained in a recent interview at her newest "home," St. Mary's parish in Ballston Spa. "I can go into a place and see how things should be set up -- what [records] to keep, what to throw away. I also have the ability to teach others, which is why I move around quite a bit."

New skills

After she left her last position as head of the dietary department at St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam, Sister Suzanne took courses in accounting and computer operating. In 1990, she offered her skills to parishes in need of help with their new computers. She calls her area of expertise "parish office management."

When Sister Suzanne comes to a parish, she decides how many computers are needed there to operate efficiently. Working with Rev. John Close of the diocesan computer operations office (see article on page 5), she orders the equipment.

After the computers are installed, the nun sorts and organizes parish files. Many are in poor condition; Sister Suzanne shook her head over files stacked haphazardly in manila envelopes or left loose in file drawers.

Teaching others

Later, she demonstrates the new software to parish staff members. Most parishes use the "parish data system" to keep a census of registered families, and the "parish ledger system" for keeping track of their finances.

"Of the people I found working in rectories, many were older women" with little computer experience, she explained. "I teach others to use the software or do it myself."

It takes about six months for Sister Suzanne to get a parish running smoothly and a year before she feels comfortable moving on. Parishes that have benefitted from her services include St. Helen's and St. Luke's in Schenectady; Immaculate Conception, Glenville; St. Michael's, Cohoes; Our Lady of Fatima, Delanson; St. Stephen's, Hagaman; and Assumption/St. Paul, Mechanicville. She came to St. Mary's in Ballston Spa just a week ago.

Common system

The nun joked that she is often a "clog" in the running of parish offices, having to halt old record-keeping systems to introduce new ones. But for priests who are transferred from one parish to another, she said, having a uniform system will prove invaluable.

"One of the aims of the Diocese is that if each parish had the same setup, no matter where you go, it's easy to fit in," she explained. "The benefit of computers is that they're so fast and accurate."

(To contact Sister Suzanne Petronis, CSJ, at St. Mary's parish in Ballston Spa, call 885-7411.)

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