FLORENCE, SC,— ACS Technologies announced this week that Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI) has chosen ACS Church Planter Management System to help run its new National Church Planting Office.

According to a news release, this new office has been established by the fellowship to oversee the efforts to develop and equip churches and church plants for the ministry of starting new churches throughout the world. The organization's goal is to enlist, train, equip and qualify 100 church plants during 2005.

Bill Monroe, president of BBFI and pastor of Florence Baptist Temple in Florence, SC, said his church has used ACS software for nearly 20 years and he was very interested to learn about the church planting software in order to help BBFI reach its goals.

"I am excited about using the company's new church planting software for my current work with BBFI," Monroe said.

The first BBFI church planter training meeting was held at Florence Baptist Temple at the end of January and included 31 church planters and instructors from around the country. The meeting included training on ACS CPMS software in order to prepare planters for their jobs.

Wayne Guinn, director of finance for the National Church Planting Office, said the features the software offers, including managing visitor and membership information, contributions, outreach ministry tracking and counseling notes, will all be used by church plants.

"The ACS CPMS package will provide us with exactly the tools we'll need," Guinn said.

The partnership with BBFI opened a new avenue for ACS, according to president and CEO Hal Campbell.

"This endeavor is a terrific example of the partnership we make with denominational offices or affiliated groups like BBFI," he said.