Founded in 1982, Simpsonwood UMC sits cozily surrounded by neighborhoods and a local middle school in Peachtree Corners, GA. Lindsey Evans, once an administrative assistant and now the Church Operations Manager, came on board as a staff member in January 2020. The church committee had just decided to transition from ACS Desktop to Realm due to the appeal of a cloud-based solution that could help eliminate repeat efforts by providing tools for both the staff AND congregation to interact with each other as well as increase engagement within their ministry.
Lindsey and the staff took advantage of ACS Technologies’ training and were excited to implement Realm throughout their whole church–staff, groups, and congregants. Then COVID hit…and like most churches, their mission came to a halt, including their after-school ministry for a local middle school within walking distance from the church. While a large portion of the kids attending were members of the church, most brought friends from school as well.
Lindsey used this time during COVID to set their ministry up for success, implementing the many tools Realm offered, including the benefits of an integrated accounting solution. As the world started to re-open, attendance began climbing back up to what they were used to, and in August 2021, Simpsonwood was able to start hosting its middle school ministry again. By the fall of 2022, they were up to 60+ students! And they know this because, as Lindsey shared, marking attendance in Realm is much easier than the process she had to trudge through prior.
“Marking attendance was so difficult before that I had to have a sheet of instructions to help me, and I still didn’t know how to do it! But with Realm, marking attendance is just easy. AND, I could EASILY give this task to a volunteer to do because it’s so easy to learn.” – Lindsey Evans, Church Operations Manager
While they reviewed other software solutions, such as Shelby and pieces of Planning Center, Realm’s unified solution made the most sense overall. It allowed them to consolidate efforts, streamline processes, and create efficiency in ministry.
“I would recommend Realm because it’s easy to use, but also robust AND efficient. It’s so nice to be able to track so many different things in one place, from attendance to giving…to signing up for events or even signing up for mission trips! It’s easy for our staff AND our congregation, too. The accounting was separate prior to our switch to Realm, but having it all in ONE place has been EXTREMELY helpful. It’s a huge time save for us and the congregation and overall makes things more efficient.” – Lindsey Evans, Church Operations Manager
Realm has helped Simpsonwood United Methodist Church continue to thrive, with their weekly attendance back up to 250 and their middle school ministry seeing as many as 70 kids per week!
To learn more about Simpsonwood United Method Church, click here.
To learn more about Realm, click here.
Jenna Wallace
Jenna joined the ACST team in February 2020 as a Ministry Consultant for small to mid-size churches with a focus on empowering these ministries with the tools they need to accomplish their goals. She believes regardless of the size of the ministry, each church can utilize technology to fulfill the calling God has given them. Prior to joining ACST, she spent several years as a Sales Consultant across multiple industries, all focusing on relationship building, which she feels has allowed her to provide trusted advice to those in need. Jenna is passionate about helping others which fuels her eagerness to serve.