in 1991 as a need by a youth minister in Denver, Colorado. Working in a large parish he found that there were no software applications that met the needs of his growing parish youth and religious education program.
In 1992 the Religious Education Database© was born as a response to that need. Starting out as a DOS-based program written in dBase the program supported the information needs of the parish, allowed easy data entry and access to class lists and personal information far quicker than the old 4x6 cardfile system had.
In 1993 the RE Database© moved to the Windows® platform and moved out of the parish and around the city. Other youth ministers heard about it and requested copies. Still very much a work in progress, the original Windows® version included powerful reporting capabilities and an easy to use query system. The first multi-user version of came out this year as well.
In 1996 the first 32-bit version of the RE Database© emerged for Windows® 95. With a new look and improved support for keywords, group management and custom reports, the new RE Database was a hit.
The Ministry Database Census / Membership© program of today began as a vision in 2002. Building on the foundation of the RE Database we realized it was time to completely rethink the system. We realized there was a great need for the diverse ministries in a parish to be able to tap into a single database system. One-stop shopping if you will, for all your information needs. Or as we like to say, "Change it once and it changes everywhere!" Budgets and staffs were suffering in the new economy and that meant more time spent with paperwork and less time with people-work. The problem was, nothing on the market allowed you the flexibility to set up a single database that could be customized for each department's and program's needs. So we set out to create the first fully extensible ministry centered database system.
So here we are, 16 years since the first version helped a parish youth minister keep track of his kids. Today's Ministry Database© gives you the flexibility to customize itself for almost any data storage need. It has a robust security model which lets users see only the data that they are supposed to see. It has many easy-to-use features to make common tasks simple and includes powerful wizards to make uncommon tasks easy. As the world has become more interconnected with technology and budgets and staffs shrink, the Ministry Database© stands poised to aide youth ministers, religious educators and pastoral staffs do the office and information parts of their job more efficiently, so that they can have more time to minister directly with the people.
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Steve is a 17 year veteran youth minister and religious educator. In addition, he has worked as a speaker, trainer and RCIA director. Steve has a background in computers, networking, web design and programming as well as degrees in Youth Ministry and Pastoral Ministry. In addition to the Ministry Database, Steve enjoys watching movies and spending time with his family. 
Jason has worked in parish and diocesan youth ministry positions for over 12 years. His wide range of experience and understanding of the needs of youth ministers helps to ensure that the Ministry Database meets the real needs of religious educators. When he isn't doing ministry or software stuff, he's at the lake with his family enjoying the important things in life. 
