Internet Ministries. According to a study conducted by the Barna Research Group, “By the end of the decade we will have in excess of ten percent of our population who rely upon the Internet for their entire spiritual experience and that virtually every dimension of the faith community will be influenced by online faith developments.” Being able to reach people via this media will become essential. The study also noted findings of special importance that teenagers have a very different profile of “cyberfaith” interests than do their elders. “Activities such as reading devotional passages online and submitting prayer requests were of much greater interest to younger people.”

Recognizing a need. Enter Jeannine Smoak, a member of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Fountain Inn, South Carolina. As the Youth Ministry Evangelism and Outreach Coordinator, Smoak recognized a strong need for the representation of the youth of her church for a couple of reasons. First the youth group meets at a location separate from the church at the OASIS Christian Youth Center. Second, the community and other youth needed to know what a tremendous resource the center provides to their surrounding community. So Smoak set out to create a Web site specifically for the center and its youth. Just one problem. She had absolutely no experience designing and building a Web site.

After working with some non user-friendly site building products coupled with the frustration and lack of guidance she encountered, Smoak decided to find out what design tools other churches were using. After speaking with the Web Master at the Southern Carolina Baptist Convention, Smoak learned about the ACS Technologies Extend platform. Pleasant Grove Baptist Church was no newcomer to ACS Technologies, especially since the church was already using ACS for many other management aspects of the church. Once Smoak learned that ACS Technologies also had a solution for Web site development, Pleasant Grove Baptist Church decided to optimize the existing benefits that their 16 year partnership has brought them and order the ACS Extend platform.

Support. When Smoak contacted the ACS Technologies support personnel, she reluctantly commented, “I know nothing about creating a Web site. I don't even know HTML and I have no clue on how to get started.” The ACS support team member was glad to help answer Smoak’s questions and guide her through the steps she needed to produce her Web site. Then, “presto” within an hour on the phone with ACS support, Smoak was feeling confident with her ability to design the site.

Web Savvy. Currently, the Web site is up and running and Oasis Christian Youth Center is meeting the demands of the demographics that they seek to reach. “I was hooked and the rest is history. We wanted a professional look and ACS Technologies gave us the tools that we needed to make that happen. From the get go, Extend was a user friendly and affordable solution,” Smoak explained. The site has been so successful that Smoak spearheaded the project to design and build the main Web site for the church. From church calendars to ministries to classes to prayer requests, they are all just a mouse click away thanks to one woman’s vision and a company that was there to support her with this mission.

Financial Management: The advantage of using ACS Technologies software management tools doesn’t stop there. According to Financial Administrator, Blanche Taylor, “Before we had ACS, we used to have to do everything by hand. One of the greatest benefits for me is not having to hand write checks or spend countless hours compiling monthly reports. Currently the church has 1,826 members which continues to increase steadily over the years. “Without ACS, it would be difficult to keep up,” Blanche admits, “The product helps me with everything from printing out labels to pulling up the ages of children in our Sunday School ministries.”

About Pleasant Grove Baptist Church
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church features a Family life Center, a children's wing which includes 16 class rooms, a large two room nursery and a multipurpose fellowship hall which can accommodate 450 people. The church is home to the Pleasant Grove Christian Academy, a K-3 through 12th grade Christian School and a Kids Camp (before and after school care and summer camp for kids.) In 2003, Pleasant Grove began an Early Childhood Development program for infants and toddlers. God has blessed them with the opportunity to minister to people from birth through the retirement years. In late 2003 the church also opened Oasis, a Teen Center for the community.

ACS Technologies Products & Services Used
People Suite: People, Contributions, Attendance, Connections, Special Mailings
Financial Suite: General Ledger, Payroll, Accounts Payable
Growth Tools: Report Writer
Extend: SiteExtend – Plus

Web Site
http//www.pleasant-grove.org