MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- ViServ, a nationwide application service provider for churches and other non-profit organizations, has appointed Arnold Berntsen of Integrity Church Marketing as a national distributor for its relationship management products.

"Mr. Berntsen brings a great deal of experience and knowledge in marketing to churches, denominations and associations," ViServ CEO William Smith said in a company news release. "He has a good understanding of the products and solutions that are critical for these types of organizations to be equipped to minister effectively."

Berntsen is president of Integrity Church Marketing, which specializes in marketing church products to and through denominational organizations. Berntsen spent 31 years at Cook Communications Ministries, representing the company to church denominations for 20 of those years. He will continue to represent Cook part-time, according to the release.

ViServ offers a spectrum of Internet-based administration services ranging from membership management to donation tracking. ViServ's suite of products enables users to manage their membership database and donations, create and track tasks, share group calendars, send e-mail or printed correspondence and run reports or member lists based on multiple classifications. Rather than installing a software program in a PC or network system, users pay a monthly fee to access the information through the Internet. (See story: Churches find Web-based software programs an easy way to track members)

Berntsen expects the denominational market to benefit immediately from ViServ's modules, according to the release.

"The ViServ architecture makes possible the delivery of real-time data from local churches to the denominational leadership, which is crucial in this information age, to say nothing of the cost savings," Berntsen said. "ViServ's ‘anywhere accessible' access to information will be a strategic advantage to the local church."

ViServ signed a contract in July with CBAmerica to provide a Web-based database for its network of 1,200 conservative Baptist churches. (See story: CBAmerica selects ViServ for national database)