CCB Success Story: Web-based Technology Allows Resurrection Life Stay Focused on Ministry Mission, February 2008
by Scott Hoover for LHPR, 2/29/08
Resurrection Life (http://www.reslife.org) is an independent, non-denominational church located in Grandville, Michigan. Since 1967, one of most important aspects of Resurrection Life’s mission has been to make sure that everyone of their followers has a chance to learn about God’s uncompromising love and to participate fully in all the church has to offer. This means tracking its followers’ participation on a daily basis offers it own unique challenges. This is where Church Community Builder has stepped in to help make this process much easier and smoother than ever before.
From Cumbersome to Fluid
Keeping track of more than 12,000 followers who call Resurrection Life their church home, as well as more than 7,000 weekly attendees is a hard task no matter the size of your church staff. That is why for the more than 50 church staff members at Resurrection Life, Church Community Builder has been such a Godsend.
“Over the past two and a half years, CCB has helped immeasurably in more ways than I can explain,” says Vicky Sluiter, administrative assistant to the Connection Pastor Tom Smith. “It is so easy to use and has consolidated so many aspects of our ministry that were fragmented before we started using this web-based church management software application.”
One of the difficulties that Sluiter found in using desktop-based software was the time and effort it took to continually download software updates. With Web-based software such as Church Community Builder, no time is ever wasted downloading updates.
“When an update is needed, we are informed that is going to happen and it is completed during the night when our staff is asleep,” she says. “There is no staff downtime or rebooting of the system.”
Additionally, what Sluiter prefers about Church Community Builder is the system is consolidated so only one program needs to be run. “There is no more opening multiple programs to complete a task,” she says. “We no longer have to open Excel to track giving habits and another program to track attendance and another program to track involvement—it is all in one program which saves staff time and makes Church Community Builder easier to train new staff members on.”
Tracking Members with Ease
Sluiter says because Resurrection Life is such an interactive church with its members, Church Community Builder has made if much easier to track members and see just where and how they are involved within the church.
“From the time a new follower attends our church, we want to know where they are in their journey and how we can help facilitate getting them involved in the many different ministries that Resurrection Life offers,” she notes. “Church Community Builder tracks new members from the first time they fill out a ‘Welcome Card,’ whether they are looking for a church home, who may have called on them and what follow up may be needed. It makes our job of ministering to our followers that much easier.”
Also, because it’s Web-based, it is accessible from anywhere in the world. “If I am working at home and need to access a file, I have that ability,” Sluiter says. “Additionally, if a member wants to access his or her information, whether it be attendance, giving habits or programs they are involved in, they (and only that member) also have that ability.”
When it comes to writing reports, the ease of use and flexibility that Church Community Builder offers is immeasurable.
“With the desktop software that we were using before switching over to Church Community Builder, we had to use the reports exactly as they were provided to us,” says Sluiter. “Church Community Builder allows us to create our own specialized reports that make it easier to minister and track our followers. For instance, if giving patterns or attendance changes, Church Community Builder will flag these occurrences so we know and can find out if there is a problem that needs ministering to. It all is just so easy to use.
“Church Community Builder really does all its name says it will do—it makes it easier to build a church community and to keep track of how it is growing and the needs that may arise,” concludes Sluiter. “All the information is in one database. There is no calling from department to department for information and if you do have questions, Church Community Builder’s staff is second to none. In the end, it makes it easier for us to do our job of reaching out to, caring for and ministering to our followers.”
