Most parish websites are stuck in 2007 — hard to update, impossible to contact, and completely disconnected from the ministry happening on the ground. Tilma exists to change that.^1
Built by Glass Canvas, a Vancouver-based team of mission-driven Catholic disciples, Tilma is a digital ministry platform designed specifically for Catholic parishes and dioceses.^2 It's not just another website builder — it's a holistic ecosystem that connects parish websites, content libraries, people management, donations, event registration, and email communication in one streamlined tool.^3
At its core, Tilma helps parishes move "from maintenance to mission."^4 The platform provides curated formation and evangelization content from trusted Catholic ministry partners like Ascension Presents, Word on Fire, Abiding Together, Grotto Network, and Busted Halo.^1 Content is organized by life stage, felt need, and faith journey — so a newly married couple sees marriage enrichment resources while a parent finds articles on raising kids in the faith.
"The Tilma platform has been a game changer for us. It has enabled our parishes to deliver great content to parishioners without having to spend endless energy pursuing content and mechanisms to make it happen," said Makani Marquis of the Archdiocese of Vancouver.^5
The results speak for themselves. After launching with the Archdiocese of Vancouver, parishes saw a 5% increase in giving just by adopting the platform — and those who actively engaged it saw increases up to 30%. Despite COVID, the Archdiocese saw a 67% increase in parishes running evangelistic programs like Alpha and Bible studies.^4
Tilma was designed so that anyone on a parish team can manage it, regardless of technical skill. As co-founder J.M. Boyd put it: "We made it so that a 65-year-old volunteer secretary can use the software."^4 Features include a drag-and-drop website builder, customizable forms with payment integration, parishioner database with segmented communication, event management, blogs, multilingual support, online giving with tap-to-give terminals, and a parishioner self-serve portal.^1
The platform has gained significant traction, partnering with the Archdiocese of Denver and DeSales Media (Diocese of Brooklyn), among others.^6 Glass Canvas was founded by Jason Jensen, whose step of faith 13 years ago to serve the Church full-time rather than take corporate clients has shaped everything the company builds.^2
"We didn't get into this because we thought it was a great business idea… We got into it because we love the Church and want to see her thrive." — Jason Jensen, CEO^2
Available as a web platform with subscription-based pricing, Tilma offers tiers starting with a Starter package for resource libraries and scaling up to full parish website management with managed services.
