Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, has always had a mission-driven heart, focused on reaching people with the Gospel and equipping them for discipleship. As one of the largest churches in the country, Bellevue Baptist recognized early on that effective ministry requires powerful, adaptable tools—ones that not only streamline church operations but also enhance engagement, volunteer management, and ministry impact.
What began as an internal need at Bellevue led to the development and release in 2007 of Bellevue Church Management System (BVCMS), a people-centric platform designed for discipleship and ministry tracking. Over the years, this system evolved into what is now known as TouchPoint Software, a robust church management platform that continues to serve Bellevue Baptist and hundreds of other large churches nationwide.
Bellevue’s relationship with TouchPoint is more than just a software solution—it is a ministry partnership that has grown and evolved to meet the church’s changing needs. Through different seasons of leadership, innovation, and improvement, TouchPoint remains at the heart of Bellevue’s operations, ensuring that no person, volunteer, or ministry opportunity falls through the cracks.
The Birth Of TouchPoint: A System Built By The Church, For The Church
In the early 2000s, Bellevue Baptist was growing rapidly, with thousands of members actively engaged in ministries, events, and discipleship programs. However, their existing church management system was outdated, cumbersome, and lacked the flexibility and unity needed to support a dynamic, large-scale ministry.
After evaluating various out-of-the-box solutions, Bellevue’s leaders realized that no existing platform fully met their needs. Instead of settling for a system that required expensive recurring costs and workarounds, they took matters into their own hands.
With the help of David Carroll, a Bellevue Baptist member with software development expertise, the church built its own database—one that would be intuitive, accessible from anywhere, and adaptable to new technologies.
This system, originally called BVCMS, quickly transformed Bellevue’s internal processes. Ministry departments took ownership of their own data, reducing the need for a department of staff dedicated to data entry. Lay leaders were empowered with limited access to member data, allowing them to take more direct responsibility in shepherding their groups.
“It’s a different way of doing church management,” said Karen Worrell, Bellevue’s Systems Administrator at the time. “TouchPoint allows staff and lay leaders to do ministry on the go. Your minister can take his phone, go to the hospital, find somebody on the app, look at their picture, see their family members, and be prepared to walk into that hospital room.”
BVCMS became an indispensable ministry tool, so much so that other churches began asking to use it. In 2015, the system renamed as—TouchPoint Software—and has partnered with some of the largest churches nationwide since.
A Season Of Development: Expanding TouchPoint’s Capabilities
With a new name, TouchPoint entered a season of accelerated development, adding new features that strengthened its role as a ministry-driven platform.
Bellevue played a crucial role in shaping the system’s evolution. Their feedback and requests directly influenced new tools, allowing TouchPoint to remain responsive to real-world church needs.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes in TouchPoint that have been for the better, especially in the last couple of years,” said Nathan Barley, Bellevue’s Minister of Church Data. “Every month, new features come out, and I keep saying, ‘That’s cool. That’s going to be good.’ It’s very impressive and exciting to see the direction the development team is taking.”
During this season, Bellevue leveraged TouchPoint for major church functions, including:
- Volunteer Management: Tracking volunteer engagement, ensuring background checks were up to date, and automating onboarding.
- Event Management: TouchPoint developed an in-database ticketing system, reducing significant costs for Bellevue’s large-scale events like their annual Singing Christmas Tree production. This also allows them to keep their data in-house and available for future use.
- Targeted Communication: With features like mass-texting and segmentation, Bellevue moved away from generic, one-size-fits-all email blasts, instead reaching the right people with the right message at the right time.
Additionally, TouchPoint’s development team has been highly responsive to feedback, rolling out updates that directly impact Bellevue’s day-to-day operations.
This period of growth cemented TouchPoint as a system that wasn’t just about administration—it was about ministry enablement.
A Season Of Improvement: Streamlining Ministry
While TouchPoint has always been an evolving platform, the current leadership has ushered in a new phase focused on efficiency, user experience, and partner-driven improvements.
Nathan Barley has seen firsthand how the small, yet powerful refinements TouchPoint is making are transforming Bellevue’s workflow:
“TouchPoint’s focus on reducing clicks and fixing functionality is really encouraging,” he shared. “Everything is just becoming more streamlined, and that makes a huge difference when you’re managing a church this size.”
One of the biggest areas of improvement has been automation. TouchPoint has enhanced features like Process Builder, allowing Bellevue to automate steps in volunteer onboarding, membership tracking, and discipleship pathways.
“The status flag system is one of the best tools for quick visibility on volunteer eligibility,” Nathan explained. “The rings on profile pictures—blue for background checks, magenta for MinistrySafe training—are a simple and clear way to assess a person’s readiness to serve.”
TouchPoint’s ability to adapt to ministry needs in real-time ensures that Bellevue—and all its partner churches—are always equipped with the best tools for engaging, discipling, and mobilizing their congregations.
A Partnership Rooted In Shared Mission
What makes the relationship between Bellevue and TouchPoint so unique is that it’s not just a vendor-client relationship—it’s a true partnership.
Bellevue’s influence on the software continues to shape its future, ensuring that TouchPoint remains a system built by the church, for the church. The partnership is a testament to how church technology, when created with ministry in mind, can empower churches to serve, disciple, and engage their communities more effectively.
Senior Pastor Dr. Steve Gaines summarized it best:
As Bellevue continues to serve Memphis and beyond, TouchPoint Software will be there—powering ministry, strengthening connections, and growing alongside the church in its mission to make disciples.
Looking Ahead
The future of Bellevue Baptist and TouchPoint remains intertwined, with both organizations committed to innovation, improvement, and ministry effectiveness.
As churches grow and evolve, TouchPoint will continue to do what it has always done—listen, adapt, and provide churches with the best tools to fulfill their mission.
Bellevue’s journey is proof that when church technology and ministry align, the results are transformational.
