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Leaders of the Adventist Church in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division recently gathered for a leadership summit in Bangkok, Thailand, from March 8 to 12. The summit brought together leaders from various organizations and institutions in the Adventist Church in the region to discuss a range of important issues facing the church today pertaining to mission and witnessing.

The Adventist Church Management System (ACMS) tool is one of the main items in the Leadership Summit plenary. This revolutionary software solution is intended to enhance the church's mission by organizing membership record-keeping and managing global data. The ACMS tool has been in development for some time and has been rolled out across the Adventist Church in recent years. The program has been commended for its capacity to increase the quality of membership data and expedite administrative operations.

According to Sherri Ingram-Hudgins, information technology project manager and director of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Office of Adventist Membership Software, ACMS is a powerful tool and the foundational layer of membership. She recommended those who are “currently utilizing ACMS to concentrate their efforts on this fundamental layer,” since it is the first step in registering new baptisms, processing transfers, documenting when someone has died, and updating members' email addresses and phone numbers. She underlined the importance of this information in keeping correct membership data in the Adventist Church Management System (ACMS).

"The ACMS tool is an essential part of our work in the Adventist Church. By using this tool, we can ensure that our membership data is accurate and up-to-date, which is essential for our mission to spread the Word of God,” Sherri Ingram-Hudgins said.

The speaker noted that while ACMS supports the mission of the church, it is not the mission itself. Just like how people use Excel, Microsoft Word, and PowerPoint to convey information and support their work, ACMS is another technology tool that supports the church's mission.

The foundational layer of ACMS is the membership information, which includes data about new baptisms, transfers, member updates, and more. This layer is provided at no charge by the general conference and is essential for supporting the rest of the building blocks that make up the ACMS tool.

New programs normally come with challenges. As for the Southern Asia-Pacific region, where most countries belong to the third world, digitalization is a struggle for most churches located in remote areas. "The transition from analog reporting to full data digitalization is a difficult feat for some churches located in remote areas where digital connectivity is scarce," said Pastor Wendell Mandolang, Executive Secretary of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division. "In these instances when digitalization is innevitable, we must urge our pastors and even members to find methods and equip themselves to identify answers to properly use this beneficial instrument," Mandolang concluded.

The long-term objective of ACMS is to provide the world church with accurate and dependable data about the church body as a whole, allowing for better decision-making on retaining members, allocating resources, and assisting administrators in their decision-making.

The ACMS software can be built upon additional packages such as ACMS Plus, the Treasury package, and the Seven ME member app, which is designed to be used by members. Building blocks can also be added to the system, such as statistics, background checks, demographics, departmental reporting, electronic transfers, donations, and more.

Hudgins emphasized that ACMS is not here to tell church leaders what their mission is but to support the mission as defined by the church. The ACMS tool provides a range of features and capabilities that can assist church leaders in their work and mission.

Edward Rodriguez, SSD Communication Department