As one of the largest Methodist churches in the Queens/Long Island New York area, Mt. Moriah African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) feels that using the best technology available will help the church succeed at meeting its goals and fulfill its divine mission of spreading the gospel in the New York area. With a congregation of over 3,000 and over 50 different ministries, the church is in the process of executing an over $8 million building and church expansion plan (to be completed in January 2006), which included the purchase of ACS as its church management software.

Searching for Answers. “I did a thorough search for a software partner for over a year before I decided to choose ACS—many of the other products out there were not as stable and didn’t have as many robust features,” noted Debra Fairley, technology ministry coordinator for Mt. Moriah AME.

The church’s overall goal was to purchase the best technology solutions with the most features to allow for continued growth over a long period of time.

Technology Basis. “Our church management software is the basis of our entire community outreach program. Our pastor reaches out to members and the community through the ACS software database of members. Special mailings, notification of events, and newsletters all help us keep good communications with our members. It’s the perfect solution to manage our immense growth—ACS is a critical part of our entire growth project,” adds Fairley.

In addition, Mt. Moriah uses HeadMaster to manage its daycare at the church and anticipates opening a school in the next few years. “We will have the software in place for when we open a school—HeadMaster meets our needs.”

The church is just beginning to use Volunteer Manager and is planning on using this for their Vision Workers Ministry, a volunteer ministry. “We needed to better manage our volunteers and Volunteer Manager was the perfect solution. We’re able to contact new visitors to our church within seven days thanks to the communications tools in ACS.”

Keeping Up. In regards to ACS Technologies’ support and sales information, Fairley noted that she “found ACS online doing a search—the online marketing was very effective. Our sales person made promises and when we put the software to the test, it lived up extraordinarily.”

Fairley also felt that “ACS has excellent customer service. The head of accounting helped us iron out several issues and consolidate our billing. They’ve made the whole implementation very easy.”

Recently Mt. Moriah used ACS Special Mailings and Reservations Modules to manage their Technology in Ministry Conference. ACS Technologies helped to sponsor this Technology in Ministry Conference along with other churches in the New York Metro area. The event was a success and will further assist area churches in their successful use of technology to assist ministry efforts.

About Mt. Moriah AME Church
The Mount Moriah AME Church was organized in 1959 under the leadership of Rev. Melvin Brown.  The church has gone through a transformation from its humble beginnings house with a few members to its present facility with over two thousand members under the present pastor and visionary, Rev. Robert R. Lowe. The church’s mission is to build individual believers to build the body (Ephesians 4).  The church has created over 30 ministries that edify and meet the needs of its membership, local community and nationally via its television ministry (I-Gospel, Inspirational Television Networks).

ACS Technologies Product & Services Used
People Suite: People, Contributions, Attendance, Connection, Special Mailings, Reservations, Access ACS
Financial Suite: General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Fixed Assets
Growth Suite: Ministry Scheduler, Mail Modules, Church Growth Tools, Volunteer Manager, Report Designer
Service Suite: ACS Network/Multi-User, Support, LiveStor
Web Site: http://www.moriahcity.org