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Chase Crouse

Overview​

Chase Crouse is the Pastoral Associate for Evangelization at St. Teresa Catholic Church in Austin and CEO/Co-founder of Hypuro Fit, a Catholic fitness and nutrition app company. He represents the archetype of what works at St. Teresa's tech-forward parish - a successful entrepreneur who also serves in ministry. A native of Friendswood, Texas who experienced a major reversion to Catholicism around 2012, he served as a NET Ministries missionary and has held multiple ministry roles including Director of Youth Ministry at St. Teresa previously.

Professional Background​

Current Roles​

  • Pastoral Associate for Evangelization, St. Teresa Catholic Church (returned ~November 2025)

    • Implements Father Larry's vision for non-liturgical ministry and catechesis
    • Part of three-person leadership team under Father Larry (alongside Brian Wheeler and Chris Treadaway)
    • Previously served as Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry at St. Teresa (left in 2022)
    • First stint included part-time campus ministry for the school

  • CEO & Co-founder, Hypuro Fit

    • "World's first Catholic fitness and nutrition app/company"
    • Integrates theology of the body with strength training and coaching
    • Currently implementing AI features (launching spring 2026)
    • AI focus: meal planning, macro tracking, customization
    • Company has grown enough that team runs day-to-day operations

Previous Ministry Experience​

  • NET Ministries: Two years as missionary
  • Region 3 Young Adult Coordinator: Archdiocese of New York
  • Director of Campus Ministry: John Paul the Great Catholic University

Education​

  • Bachelor's degree: Communication and Media Studies, John Paul the Great Catholic University
  • Master's degree: Biblical Theology, John Paul the Great Catholic University

Personal Background​

  • Family: Married to Viva, has children
  • Origin: Native of Friendswood, Texas
  • Faith Journey: Experienced major reversion to Catholicism around 2012
  • Interests: Fitness, nutrition, Catholic theology of the body

Key Projects & Interests​

Hypuro Fit AI Integration​

  • Developers currently working on AI features for spring launch
  • Focus areas: meal planning, macro tracking, personalized customization
  • Philosophy: "self-mastery for self-gift" so Catholics can better live vocations

Parish Analytics & Data​

  • Interested in AI for parish data and parishioner analytics
  • Wants to track objective metrics to improve ministry effectiveness
  • Discussed with Chris Treadaway about what can/should be tracked

Catholic Excellence Philosophy​

  • Strong advocate for "authentically Catholic but technically excellent"
  • Rejects excuse of "oh, we're a church, so we can offer subpar things"
  • Believes whatever church does should demonstrate technical excellence

Philosophy & Insights​

On Faith and Excellence​

"We want to be authentically Catholic, but like technically excellent. For a long time, the church, not just our church, lots of churches the past 50 years, they've kind of used the excuse, oh, we're a church. So like we can offer subpar things... it just doesn't work."

On Ministry Credibility​

  • His entrepreneurial success builds credibility in tech-forward parish
  • Demonstrates that ministry leaders can also be successful business people
  • Model for integrating faith and marketplace success

Interaction History​

2025-12-17: Brief Introduction at St. Teresa​

Context: Met Gary during visit to St. Teresa campus; participated in initial group discussion before leaving for another commitment.

Key Topics Discussed:

  1. His role as Pastoral Associate for Evangelization (just returned ~6 weeks prior)
  2. Hypuro Fit company and upcoming AI features
  3. Interest in AI for parish analytics and data tracking
  4. Philosophy on Catholic technical excellence

Background Shared:

  • Left St. Teresa in 2022, just returned ~1.5 months ago
  • Company grown enough that he's now "founder owner" with team running day-to-day
  • Developers working on AI implementation for app

Interest in Gary's Vision:

  • Engaged with discussion about youth-led church revitalization
  • Noted potential for students to intern with parish entrepreneurs like himself
  • Expressed openness to continued collaboration

Notable Quote:

  • "I need an AI assistant" (half-joking about parish workload)

Strategic Value & Collaboration Areas​

What Chase Brings​

  • Successful Catholic tech entrepreneur credibility
  • Experience with AI implementation in consumer app
  • Ministry leadership and evangelization expertise
  • Model for faith-business integration
  • Parish influence and connections
  • Theology of the body / fitness expertise

Potential Collaboration​

  1. Student Internship Pipeline

    • Could mentor students in entrepreneurship
    • Hypuro Fit as potential internship site
    • Model for Catholic business education

  2. Parish Tech Innovation

    • AI analytics for parish data
    • Ministry effectiveness measurement
    • Parishioner engagement tracking

  3. Catholic App Ecosystem

    • Knowledge sharing on AI implementation
    • Catholic tech entrepreneur network
    • Best practices for faith-based apps

Connections & Network​

  • Father Larry: Pastor at St. Teresa
  • Brian Wheeler: School principal, fellow leadership team member
  • Chris Treadaway: COO, fellow leadership team member
  • Viva Crouse: Wife, co-runs Hypuro Fit
  • John Paul the Great Catholic University: Alumni network
  • NET Ministries: Former missionary network

Notes & Observations​

Personality Traits:

  • Entrepreneurial and action-oriented
  • Balances ministry calling with business success
  • Values technical excellence in Catholic context
  • Grounded in theology (master's in biblical theology)

Communication Style:

  • Direct and practical
  • Comfortable discussing business and faith together
  • Self-deprecating humor ("I need an AI assistant")

Trust Level:

  • Initial meeting - positive first impression
  • Credibility established through Chris Treadaway relationship
  • Shared values around Catholic technical excellence

Values Alignment:

  • Strong - excellence in Catholic endeavors
  • Integration of faith and marketplace
  • Openness to innovation

Transcripts​

transcript-iddateone-line-summary
2025-12-17-st-teresa-catholic-school-visit2025-12-17Brief introduction at St. Teresa discussing AI for parish and entrepreneurship