WhizFish Builds Mobile App for First Parish in Diocese of Palm Beach

Port St. Lucie, FL, March 13, 2015 --(PR.com)-- WhizFish Interactive has developed a mobile app for St.. Bernadette Catholic Church, in the St. Lucie West area of Port St. Lucie, Florida, to engage with parishioners, and prospective members on their mobile phones and tablets. The mobile app, published in iTunes and Google Play, was directed by Parish Pastor, Father VictorUlto, who believes that society's "mobile first" behavior also applies to the Holy Catholic Church.

The mobile app allows the church to interact with members through a good number of innovative features including, push notifications sent right to users' phones and tablets, mobile sign-up forms, daily readings, podcasts of homilies, music, a direct link to the parish social media channels including YouTube, mobile giving, prayer walls, ministry schedules, church newsfeeds and more.

"This is a modern day evangelization tool," said Fr. Ulto. "Outreach needs to be through the communication channels people are using, and mobile is maybe the most prevalent channel there is. We know this will appeal to younger, busy families, but we also know that the number of those over 50 are using mobile technology more and more. We see our parishioners of all ages bringing their mobile devices to Mass and we know this will help us better communicate with them."

The number of native mobile apps being published by Catholic parishes is increasing steadily. Some think that Pope Francis is responsible as he has spoken favorably about using modern technology to spread the Good News. He has his own Twitter account and can be seen stopping in St. Peter's Square to take "selfies" with those visiting the Vatican. Those "Pope selfies" later show up as viral social media posts.

St. Bernadette is a part of the Diocese of Palm Beach. Fr. Ulto was "recruited" to the area to launch St. Bernadette. He helped found the faith community and oversaw the parish construction and the explosive growth of membership. It has as its mission: To be a warm, loving community of faith, as we practice good Christian Stewardship. We develop and foster spiritual and social needs which are realized through proclaiming the Word of God, acknowledging his gifts and joyfully making a return by sharing our gifts of time, talent, and treasure.

The St. Bernadette mobile app was developed by WhizFish Interactive, a digital company that specializes in mobile apps for schools and churches.