Founded in 1989, Spring Hills Baptist Church in Granville, Ohio, quickly found their calling when the church grew from 16 people to more than 1,000 in just 10 years. Now, SHBC stands as a beacon of light for the community with their focus on missions, community outreach, and developing connections with people as they strive to fulfill the mission to “Love, Live, and Lead like Jesus.”
SHBC has more than 44 ministry programs designed to serve all ages and backgrounds represented within the church. In addition to all of those programs, SHBC recently opened a second campus in Utica, Ohio, and has a school, a preschool and more than 1000 volunteers to manage.
With all of the things going on at SHBC, Communications Coordinator Kathy Howell says they need a tool that would help people connect and communicate with each other. “We were using The City, and it just wasn’t as user-friendly as we’d hoped. I feel like Realm is much more appealing because of all of its more up-to-date attributes. It’s what today’s people want: user-friendliness that is readily available.”
While it’s been a gradual process introducing Realm to such a large congregation, Howell says they are very excited about the tools and features Realm has to offer. “Pathways is probably the most exciting thing about Realm. That to me is such a specific church need for helping people understand and be committed. I think people like seeing where they are, and then we’re able to reach out to people and help them accomplish their goals. We will be able to use that where we just didn’t have a tool before. To have that in the Realm Connect app is just amazing.”
SHBC is continuing to grow members of the congregation by equipping them to become active church members who go out into the world and love people like Jesus. Reaching out to those who need the Gospel in places like Zimbabwe, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Granville, Ohio, is what SHBC is all about.
“It’s exciting,” Howell added. “We’re growing; we’re in a good place. But we’re excited for the place that the Lord is going to take us next.”