Christ and Saint Luke's Episcopal Church is considered one of the signature buildings of Norfolk, Virginia and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is generally considered to be the finest example of 20th Century Gothic Revival design between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia. Not only is it noteworthy on the outside, it is memorable on the inside through ministering to a congregation of 1,200 people in a largely military populated town.

Refining Processes. To successfully meet the needs of this incredible church requires a well-oiled system and impeccable administrative processes. ACS Technologies has been their software management solution since 1999 when the church recognized a need to consolidate the several software packages that they previously used. According to Business Administrator, Joyce Safford, “ACS is very user friendly and the transition was a breeze.”

Safford is a native of New England, a graduate of Westfield State College and a member of the National Association of Church Business Administrators (NACBA) having earned her certification as a Fellow Church Business Administrator in 1996. She is the former President of the Tidewater Chapter of the NACBA. She knows her business. Safford has used ACS for the past ten years and mainly utilizes the financial aspects of the software. “The majority of our staff use ACS. It is a first-class product that grows with your organization,” Safford explained.

Meet Changing Needs. Safford notes that ACS tends to be versatile with the customization of its reports. “In church work we are working with governing boards that rotate. As a new group comes in, they bring fresh new ideas and requirements with them. We need to be flexible and ACS allows us to do just that.”

Support. Using ACS definitely is a time saver especially when it comes to their support. Safford remarks, “I think that the support is absolutely fabulous. I call, get through and have my answer in an instant.” Having support readily available for their clients is of particular importance to ACS Technologies.

Handling Large Projects. Jane Dembert is the communications secretary at the church and has used ACS for the past five years. Dembert uses the People modules frequently and finds that she saves a significant amount of time sorting data and creating reports for the pastoral staff. Having the ability to input information just once and then recall that data is a commonly used feature within ACS and helps to simplify large scale projects. “One of the projects that I use ACS for is the yearly phone directory. In it, we have our members name, address, as well as phone and email information. Using ACS makes it so much simpler to complete this project,” Dembert admits.

Dembert uses the built-in mail merge program and is able to export information into whatever program that is required. Dembert explained, “Since I have a background rich in database experience, I like all of the combinations of data that I am able to retrieve. With ACS it seems like the possibilities are endless and being able to customize them is great too.”

About Christ and St. Lukes Episcopal Church
At Christ and St. Luke's Episcopal Church, in Norfolk, their mission is to share with all persons the worship, teaching, and joy of the Lord as their heritage knows them, and through their witness to bring others to love and serve Him. They are a diverse and inclusive community that seeks to serve Christ actively and joyfully, both in reaching out to those in need in our city (through a weekly soup kitchen, for instance) and in our common life and worship.

ACS Technologies Products and Services Used
People: People, Contributions
Financial Suite: General Ledger, Payroll, Accounts Payable
Services: Network/Multiuser

Web site
www.christandstlukes.org