Case Study: The Western Conference of the United Methodist Church achieves a 50% increase in efficiency with Shelby Systems (ShelbyHQ)

How the Western NC Conference of the UMC Switched to ShelbyHQ and Increased Efficiency by 50%

The Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church — one of two conferences serving more than 1,100 churches — needed a more stable, less IT-dependent financial system. Mark King, Conference Treasurer and Director of Administrative Services, faced an overly complicated, heavily coded Microsoft Dynamics setup and was tasked with finding a single, reliable solution that would simplify operations and ensure long-term stability.

They moved to ShelbyHQ (cloud-based) at the end of 2017, reconfigured account structures, implemented features like remittance, pension, purchasing management and insurance billing, and integrated ShelbyNext Giving so churches could pay electronically. The switch delivered a cleaner audit (no adjustments or deficiencies), 50% increased efficiency, 75% savings on IT support, a 50% improvement in investment posting, improved server capacity, and 24/7 access without a VPN.

The Western Conference of the United Methodist Church

Mark King

Conference Treasurer and Director of Administrative Services