According to a Pew Internet & American Life study conducted in April 2004, 64% of all Web surfers use the Internet for religious and spiritual purposes. Statistics such as these fuel the drive to ensure that your organization is properly equipped to accommodate the needs of this strong demographic.

Proactive Approach. The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer was proactive in recognizing this need during the early 90’s establishing their Web site and claiming their rights to the Redeemer.org Web address early on. As the church continued to grow, it became and continues to be the largest Lutheran church in the southeast with approximately 2,900 members.

In 2002, a decision was made to take the church’s site to the next level thereby providing greater functionality and usability, as well as giving the site a state-of-the-art look and feel while retaining Redeemer’s refined image and traditional identity. Since the church already had a long-standing relationship with ACS Technologies, having used their products since 1995, the logical decision was to add the Extend solution to Redeemer’s existing suite of products.

Defining the Team. Director of Small Group Ministries, Jennifer Fenske was selected to head the project and brought her former experience as a Web content writer to the forefront. Fenske’s prior experience helped her to steer this effort and facilitate all of the necessary steps that would be required to see the project through to fruition. A graphic designer was contracted out to create a visual identity for the site, create Photoshop documents, and layer the files to produce live PSD files. ACS service and support personnel provided the technical advice, and Fenske oversaw the content development team at Redeemer.

To drive the content team, Fenske assigned roles to assist with the monumental task of determining what content pieces would appear on the Web site. The team had a wide funnel of information coming in but, in the end, it was Fenske who would edit the final data. Creating a virtual tour was another element that Redeemer wanted accessible on their Web site. Using images taken by a professional photographer Redeemer hired, ACS created a dynamic 360-degree tour of the neo-Gothic sanctuary and other parts of the church.

Measurable Impact. In February of 2004, complete with online sermons, virtual tours and content-rich information, the church launched the redesign of www.redeemer.org. Fenske remarked, “Just today, a member told me, ‘ I used the church Web site to listen to a sermon I missed last week when I was out of town.’ It is incredibly gratifying to know that our efforts are reaching out to virtually anyone, anywhere.” With the new Web site up and running, ministries and the growth of the church has been impacted. For example, visitors have remarked that they were able to research the church prior to their attendance, Web surfers have linked up with church-sponsored small groups, and brides-to-be are using the virtual tours of the sanctuary to help them envision their special day.

Fenske devotes about eight hours a week to managing the site. She is able to access content pieces that her colleagues send regarding updates or new programs in a matter of seconds. She can look at the information, edit it, and input it immediately all because of an ACS feature known as “workflow.” The workflow and editorial process allows Fenske to define distinct editorial process roles for her colleagues in managing the flow of information. Because Extend allows customization to meet the needs of the user, the flexibility offered by the workflow simplifies site management.

Additional Web Site Developed. The site has been such a success, one of the members of the church asked Fenske to design a Web site for his non-profit organization, the Goshen Valley Boys Ranch. Lutheran Church of the Redeemer members John and Connie Blend established the Goshen Valley Foundation in 1997. The Goshen Valley Ranch is located on 400 acres in the Appalachian foothills of Northwest Cherokee County, Georgia. The purpose of the Ranch is to provide hope and a family-model home for boys who do not have either. The goal is to provide a stable, safe and loving environment that allows new attachments to form, giving the boys a sense of belonging and purpose.

Fenske told the Blends about what ACS Technologies had done to create Redeemers Web site and the Blends saw the ACS Extend product as the perfect solution to help them create their Web site for the Ranch. Fenske once again was pivotal in coordinating content while ACS Technologies provided a project manager to support the technical aspects of the site development. Fenske notes, “We knew that we would need to set up the option to provide online donations so I contacted ACS and in no time they told me exactly what I needed to do to make that happen.”

Thanks to ACS Technologies, the Ranch has a viable solution designed specifically to meet the needs of their organization.

About Lutheran Church of the Redeemer
The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer was founded in 1903 as the second Lutheran church in Atlanta, but as the first English-speaking congregation. The first church building was erected in 1905 near the Georgia State Capitol. In 1937, the congregation moved to its second church home at Fourth and Peachtree Streets, on the site of the present education wing.
The third, and present church, was completed in 1952 and has been incorporated into the expanded education and administrative facility and Atrium, which were dedicated in April 1996. Redeemer celebrated its centennial Anniversary in 2003. Redeemer began its ministry with 39 charter members. Today, more than 2,900 worship regularly at the largest Cathedral-style Lutheran church in the Southeast.

ACS Technologies Products and Services Used
People Suite: People, Contributions, Attendance, Connections, Special Mailings, Reservations
Financial Suite: General Ledger, Payroll, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Fixed Assets, Purchase Orders
Growth Suite: Ministry Scheduler, CASS It!, MAX It!, Report Designer
Web Site Building Tool: Extend Platform
Services: Network/Multi-user

Web Site
www.redeemer.org