We are excited for our ministry partners, First Church Sterling Heights, and how they are reaching their goals of building community. Sterling Heights is a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.
First Church was founded in 1962 by Carl and Mary Hill, retired seniors who had a burdened heart to minister to children. As fate would have it, attendance at their very first service was nine, five of those adults and the other four children. The Hills were thrilled to have the children as they believed children were the future of the church. Children were the initial focus for building a community of believers. In line with that groundbreaking mission, this church has been and continues to be a place where children can grow to know God. First Church truly desires to be a church that promotes family, community, and love for one another. Their vision is to “Love the Lord, Learn the Word and Live the Life.” By basing ministry on this foundational vision, they hope to grow disciples who serve each other and their community.
One way they are getting their body of believers connected is through Realm. It’s helping them accomplish their mission of making disciples by providing a safe and protected place for members to connect and by making sure no one falls through the cracks. This year, their focus is on building stronger community by getting members and guests more connected and engaged. With Realm, they are able to do just that, plus more.
They love using Realm to track attendance and are able to provide useful reports to leaders who can follow-up where needed. They also use Realm Pathways to guarantee every guest moves through predefined connections, from attending a VIP Breakfast to discovering their ministry gifts and being placed in a ministry so the cycle of making disciples can go full circle. Pathways provides a fool-proof way to manage all the details and responsibilities.
They are starting life groups later this year and hope to use Realm to manage that as well. They feel God led them to make the change to Realm and it couldn’t have been more perfect timing. Valerie, one of the administrative staff, said, “We couldn’t do what we do without Realm. We rely on Realm and I love using it.”