Extension Magazine - Fall 2021

40 IGNITE
Donor Profile
Tech company funds
seminarians and priests
Supports Church evangelization in the digital age
Long before the pandemic
spurred an
uptick in online activities,
leaders of a Texas-based
organization
saw an opportunity to
serve the Church by using digital
technology to not only open new
paths toward proclaiming the Gospel
but to support seminarian education
in Extension dioceses in the
process.
eCatholic is a leading-edge
software platform
built “by Catholics”
to specifically serve
the technological
needs of the Catholic
Church. Founded
in 2005, the
company began by
making it easy for
parishes, dioceses,
schools and ministries
to create beautiful
websites. It
expanded to include the development
of applications that support
accepting online donations and
payments as well as live-streaming
Mass and other events.
Founder and CEO Josh Simmons
explained, “Our mission is simple:
to help the Church fulfill her mission
of evangelization by providing
amazing software and phenomenal
service. Our goal is to help the
Church more effectively communicate,
evangelize and engage people
Josh Simmons, founder and CEO of
eCatholic, shares Catholic Extension’s
mission to build up and transform faith
communities.
through beautiful, simple tools
that foster relational ministry.”
A “Peter” moment
For Simmons, the road to creating
what is now the largest provider
of websites to the Church came
by way of what he describes as a
“Peter” moment. He was working
in many roles for his parish—supporting
youth and music ministry,
along with faith formation. To
help support his growing family,
he ran a burgeoning
website business
on the side.
The 70-hour work
weeks were taking
a toll.
He said, “I had
an idea. What if I
could continue to
serve the Church
without working
for the Church?
What if I could take
my love for web design and use
it to help solve a dire need in the
Church? And what if I could make
enough money doing it to support
my family?”
But fear of failing gnawed at
him. “What if I quit a secure job
that I loved to chase a big idea,
only to sink in the waters of
the unknown?” Like St. Peter,
Simmons heard God’s call and
assurance to “be not afraid.” He
took that leap of faith and eCatholic
was born.
“e-Vangelizing”
In 2013 Joe Garcia was having a
similar “Peter” moment. He was
a one-man team, leading information
technology (IT) endeavors
in the Extension-supported Diocese
of Amarillo, Texas. In fact, his
diocese was one of the very first
eCatholic clients. “I saw firsthand
the benefits of the platform, especially
in a diocese where resources
were scarce,” said Garcia. “I could
get the parishes on a good platform
and be confident that if they
needed support, eCatholic was
there for them.”
Given his prominent work in
the diocese at a young age, Garcia
was among those from 20 dioceses
whom Catholic Extension
gathered in 2010 for a young adult
leadership summit.
But after seven years in diocesan
IT, Garcia was looking to a take
break. Friends encouraged him to
meet Simmons, yet he resisted the
idea.