If you are reading this post today, it is probably because you stumbled across it, you are a loyal reader (thank you), or you are looking for more information on our software. Today, we are covering Part 1 of a 2-part series on things you might be surprised to know about Shelby Systems.

Did you know that Shelby Systems was the first company to sell church software?

In the 1970’s, our founder, Ernie Hamilton, saw a need for a faster, more organized way to manage membership and financial data. After developing a strong background in fund accounting, Ernie established a data processing center at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, where he discovered his passion for coding. He took that passion and created Shelby Systems, in hopes of supplying churches and nonprofit organizations with faith-based software that could help them grow and thrive.

54 of the Top 100 Largest Churches in America use Shelby software

Outreach Magazine’s Top 100 Largest & Fastest Growing Churches in America issue from 2012 included 54 churches who all use Shelby’s software.

We sell five different software packages

We don’t just sell a standard membership management or a standard financial management software package, since there isn’t such a thing as a “standard church”. We know that churches all need similar things, but each one is also unique. This is why we offer a (1) financial software package, as well as web and browser-based membership software, called Arena, that is available in one of three packages: (2) Arena Premium, (3) Arena Select, and (4) Arena Hosted (which is our web-based software). We also offer (5) Shelby v.5 church management software that is built around a centralized database and is hosted at your church.

We were the first church management software company to hold the Gold Partner Certification from Microsoft

This designation is awarded to elite business partners that meet Microsoft’s top level of requirements in the areas of software stability, training, certification of technicians, and customer satisfaction.

Come back Friday for Part 2! And remember: You can always contact us with questions at (800) 877-0222 or sales@shelbyinc.com.