A Testimonial from:
Faith Reformed Church
Cedar Grove, WI
May 2004
"We’ve
had Church Helpmate at Faith Reformed Church for less than two years, but I
can’t imagine how we managed without it. We expected to use it primarily
for membership records, but we soon began using it for so much more—group
rosters, meeting attendance, and contributions to name a few. This software
has saved us countless hours!
Shortly after we got it, a leader of our GEMs group for
girls came into the office begging us to help her get a mailing out to the
girls. Since the girls were already in the Church Helpmate database, all I
had to do was add them to the GEMs group, and with a few more clicks, I
printed out labels. Not only did it help her out, but she no longer feels
guilty about asking for labels or even personalized letters.
We publish a members’ directory quarterly. With Church
Helpmate we can print an updated one in minutes. The individual and
household functionality is excellent. And it’s so easy to use. Now, when
students leave for college and our “snowbirds” head south for the winter, we
use a secondary address to keep them informed of church life.
Last year, I began using Church Helpmate to record
contributions. Each week I do this on my home computer. Then I take the
data file to church and sync it up with the file there. It works like a
charm! Our members were really impressed when I had their annual
contribution statements ready for them on Sunday, January 4th!
Shortly after our newly called pastor was installed, we
published a pictorial directory for which we received digital files of the
family photos from our vendor. Those photos are now connected to our
household records in Church Helpmate. Our pastor can match up a family name
with faces by just clicking on a little camera icon.
Perhaps the most robust and promising application of
Church Helpmate for our church currently lies in our Wednesday evening
program for kids, “Adventure Island.” Since its inception in September of
last year, enrollment has grown by leaps and bounds—largely because the kids
continue to invite their friends and classmates. Of the current enrollment,
only 40% of the kids are children of member families.
From the beginning, we were determined to register,
record, and maintain attendance records for this program. Though we had not
used its meeting and attendance functions before, Church Helpmate proved to
be the perfect solution. We print its roll-call reports weekly and check
off the kids as they enter. Because the report includes attendance history,
we can provide the small group leaders with “missing you” postcards and the
names of kids who have been absent for three consecutive weeks—all before
they leave that evening.
As a result of this ministry, we now have scores of
household records that include children of non-members, many of them
unchurched. We know they are interested in their children’s religious
education, so we feel challenged by God to take the next step in this
outreach opportunity. We plan to invite those families to our summer
outdoor services with personalized invitations produced by mail merge from
Church Helpmate.
Church Helpmate has met every expectation that our
church was looking for in a membership database, including ease of use. The
windfall for us is that we were able to use it above and beyond those
expectations and that it has become such an important tool in our growth and
outreach mission. I highly recommend it, whether you are a seasoned user or
new to church management programs."
- Julie Keller
Administrative Assistant & Treasurer
Helpmate Customer Since:
March 2002
Helpmate Products Used:
Church Helpmate
Church website:
www.faithreformedchurch.org
