Older than the United States constitution, the congress, and the presidency, Bethel Baptist Church was built in 1780 and has remained intact for over 220 years. It continues to operate today in much the same tradition, except that the building has been renovated, the music has been updated, and they now reach an international audience through their church Web site.

Problem. When Dennis Welch joined the church as associate pastor in 1999, Bethel Baptist had an antiquated Web site that wasn’t meeting the needs of the church. “We had a volunteer updating our site, so it was often out-of-date—it was a totally dead Web site.”

Welch wanted a site that could be easily updated by a layperson and could be managed in house so they wouldn’t have to rely on a volunteer to keep the site up.

Solution In 2001, Welch attended an OurMinistry.org conference that demonstrated the ways that this Web site system could help churches easily build and manage their own sites without having a background in Web design.

“I have no background in Web design—building our site using OurMinistry.org was not hard to do,” noted Welch. “Our Web site is now easy to operate and easy to keep up.”

Now, Bethel’s site is much more user-friendly—from the back end programming to the front end user interface. Welch especially appreciates the navigation and image uploading features. “It’s very easy to control,” says Welch. Bethel uses the site to list upcoming events in order to keep their congregation current with church activities. Additionally, Bethel can post news about the church and its community so that members can access information online. Bethel also uses the site to post church office hours, church services, Sunday school and Bible study times.

Currently, Bethel is looking to expand its site even further by becoming a part of the South Carolina Baptist Convention network of Web sites, which also utilizes ACS. Here, Bethel will reach an even greater audience and benefit from content syndicated to their site from the State Convention Web site. Overall, Bethel Baptist Church has truly migrated from the old to the new to expand its outreach.

Bethel uses the Financial and People modules to manage all church functions and organize valuable information so that anyone at the church can access information that they need at any given time. This along with the Web site solutions helps Bethel Baptist keep on top of its membership and control the church in an organized fashion.

About Bethel Baptist Church
Well over two hundred years ago...1780...Charleston fell to the British as the Revolutionary War still raged. That same year Bethel Baptist Church was organized in South Carolina. The United States of America was only four years old. The U.S. Constitution wasn't adopted until 1787 and George Washington didn't become President until 1789. Bethel Baptist Church is older than the Constitution, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Presidency. In 1848 a new sanctuary was built to house the growing congregation. The building is still in use today. Bethel Baptist Church has been represented in every war America has seen, from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War to Viet Nam. As Bethel's ministry now spans four centuries from 1780 to 2002, it is interesting to note the innumerable changes that have taken place over these years. But Bethel Baptist Church's faith in God and her bed-rocked commitment to the old-time gospel of Jesus Christ has not changed. At Bethel the Bible is still taught, preached, believed, and practiced.

ACS Technologies Products & Services Used
People Suite: People, Attendance, Contributions
Financial Suite: General Ledger, Payroll, Accounts Receivable
Service Suite: Support, Training, Network/Multiuser Module