Ministry
First Presbyterian Church of Ramsey (Ramsey, NJ)
Challenge
A new website solution that also integrated with their church management software (CMS).
Details
First Presbyterian Church of Ramsey (FPC, Ramsey) wanted a new website, updating both the platform and the look. They also wanted to retain their CMS because they liked the robust capabilities it offered.
They had been using the website platform offered by the company that created and managed their CMS because the two could be fully integrated. This allowed members to access and edit their profiles, online giving, RSVP and pay for special events, and sign up for volunteer opportunities, all from the church website.
FPC, Ramsey, asked Worship Times to look into:
- A Worship Times website solution that would a) be more user friendly for the website administrators, and b) update the overall look and feel of the website theme and aesthetics.
- A Worship Times website solution that would integrate with their CMS.
- If a full integration with a Worship Times site and their CMS was not possible, to work with FPC, Ramsey, to come up with an alternative plan.
Worship Times Solution
Worship Times recommended a new Worship Times website, Breeze as a new CMS platform and developed a Breeze plug-in to integrate desired features into the website.
How We Got There
FPC, Ramsey, chose the Joyful theme because it had an intuitive and connective flow that would be friendly for their majority older congregation.
As Worship Times and FPC, Ramsey, were looking at their previous CMS to assess whether it would integrate with the new Worship Times site, the CMS made some big changes. They discontinued their SMS (Short Message Service/texting), which eliminated an communication tool important to FPC, Ramsey. Because of the elimination of this key feature and the difficulty of integration, FPC, Ramsey, chose to look at other CMS solutions, and Worship Times recommended Breeze, which is a great fit for the needs of many Worship Times members.
Worship Times then developed a WordPress plug-in for Breeze to meet the integration needs of FPC, Ramsey. This plug-in is available to all Worship Times members, included in their websites.
Next steps
There are more integration features that Worship Times is working to add to our Breeze plug-in, including booking and paying for special event tickets and online volunteer sign-ups directly through Worship Times and other WordPress sites using the plug-in. Stay tuned!
