I am the IT leader at East Cooper Baptist Church, a 2,400 membership congregation located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This is the first I’ve enrolled into this forum; nice to virtually meet everyone…
I’ll get right to it: There’s been some interest in our congregation having a digital platform setup exclusively for church members; an intranet for church members if you will. A platform that’s secure and accessible via a web portal that’s integrated into our public website. A “contained” environment where we (the internal staff) can expedite communications, keep the congregation informed, and offer tools and resources that enhance engagement, shepherding, and collaboration.
Are there any congregations using such a resource? If so, what platform or software solution do you use? How has it enhanced communications with the church body, etc.? What have been the benefits? Also, if you’re willing to share, the potential costs of said platform?
We’re looking at ways to move away from the deluge of church emails going out and improving our communication apparatus to our church community.
Terry, welcome to the group. I’m also in Mount Pleasant, SC and would be happy to help answer any questions you may have. There are a ton of great platforms out there that can meet this need, and beyond. You have Rock RMS, Realm by ACS, CCB, FS1, and so many more. These systems will allow you to handle communication, and other ChMS related functions like giving, membership management, events, needs, etc…
We can connect offline if you want to share more about the systems you all have in place now, or if you have any other specific questions feel free to email me.
As Patrick mention there are several ChMS that would do what you want. We use Realm at our church of about 1500 members. It is not perfect, but I have not found any that are, but I am impressed with it and it will do what you were discussing. One of the reasons we went with Realm instead of some of the other CHMSs is that it has a feature called Pathways that let us track our visitors. We also have a system called the 4 Ds that we use to teach our congregation on how to be a Disciple that makes Disciples and Pathways helps us keep track of our member progress. If you would like to contact me you can email me at wbennett@fbcwoodbridge.org.