The Church of Pentecost-UK serves communities, prepares for growth with Microsoft 365

With headquarters in Ghana and global churches in more than 150 countries, the Church of Pentecost is an international denomination with global presence. In the United Kingdom, the Church of Pentecost-UK serves more than 22,000 members with ministry and support. “Our vision is to be a culturally relevant organization able to reach our diverse communities,” says Rev. Benedict Odoom, district minister and IT manager with the Church of Pentecost-UK.

The organization understandably focused resources on serving its members and the wider community, which led to a patchy IT infrastructure. Odoom realized that to serve congregants and grow their ministries, it would need to upgrade its technology. They needed a streamlined, connected set of tools to enable—not hinder—their work.  

The Church of Pentecost-UK turned to Microsoft partner SoftwareOne to transition to Microsoft 365 and Azure. “By embracing digital transformation, the organization is fostering innovation, staying ahead of industry trends, and positioning itself for long-term success and growth,” says Kaine Cohen, modern workplace consultant with SoftwareOne.

Administration and operations director Rev. Charles Adupong is quick to point out that the Church of Pentecost-UK is still undergoing its digital transformation. Still, he says, they are already seeing the benefits of transitioning to the Microsoft platform. “Using the data and tools available to us, our church is able to serve its congregation, parish members, and wider communities in more effective and efficient ways.”

Serving members through better data

Two pillars of data enable the Church of Pentecost-UK to function: membership and funding. Without that information, the church lacks visibility into whom it serves, and how. “Data is how we exist,” Odoom says. 

This data is collected locally, then funneled up to regional and national levels. Unfortunately, the method of collecting, storing, and sharing the information could vary drastically among the more than 165 individual churches. Methods range from free survey websites to online spreadsheets, to paper and pencil. As a result, staff and volunteers struggled to combine data into a single source of truth. 

Now every level of Church of Pentecost-UK collects membership data in Lists, the Microsoft 365 information tracking app. The app standardizes types of information collected (such as age, address, and languages spoken), allowing staff to gain an organization-wide understanding of church demographics. They use that information to plan programs, run reporting, and prioritize resources. 

“We are now building more quality data, and our members are well represented,” says Adupong. “This will enhance our pastoral care, especially, in the areas of squad formation, church demarcation, rezoning, follow-up, and visitation.”

Strengthening security for members' privacy

“We gather personal data, so we must make sure it is kept correctly and kept secure. That was one of the major contributing factors of why we embarked on the digital transformation project,” Odoom explains. 

Bringing the entire organization onto Microsoft 365 enables a top-to-bottom reworking of security practices and policies. Restrictions within the platform prevent copying and pasting information to third party tools like WhatsApp, and permissions tied to each person’s role restrict access and sharing capabilities. In addition, Church of Pentecost-UK is implementing multi-factor authentication.

“Our security is locked down,” Odoom says.

Windows Autopilot has also brought a whole new level of device oversight and security. Now devices simply connect to a Windows Autopilot tenant so that the right software, tools, and permissions are automatically set up when a new team member comes onboard. This empowers the IT team to routinely and remotely manage risks, including blocking sensitive uploads and downloads, deploying updates and patches, and limiting software use to approved tools. 

Odoom says, “I now know that the devices used by our ministers, staff, and volunteers are up to standard. It gives me peace of mind that security-wise, we’re safe.”

Supporting organization-wide productivity

Previously, staff and volunteers communicated via personal email accounts and WhatsApp chats. Even tracking down someone’s email address could involve a time-consuming search. Staff downloaded and emailed versions of working documents, which were saved in any number of formats. This IT setup wasn’t facilitating the kind of online collaboration crucial for a multi-tiered, geographically dispersed organization.

Consolidating into one platform has done wonders for communication and teamwork, Odoom says. “It has been quite transformational,” he continues. “Communications between ourselves—whether laterally, upward, or downward—is seamless now. There aren’t any bottlenecks.”

All communication, information sharing, and collaboration happen in one place: within Microsoft 365 tools. Merging calendars in Outlook enables workers to schedule time together. Meetings, calls, and conversations go through Teams. A central SharePoint hub disseminates information securely. 

Centralizing to Microsoft 365 has already cut costs significantly. By eliminating licenses for at least five other platforms, “we’re saving a huge amount”—and the savings will continue, Odoom says.

“By capping down costs, we can redirect those funds to things that pertain more to our vision and objectives,” he adds. “This helps make funds more readily available for things like community engagement and social impact issues we want to tackle, as well as finding space for a youth ministry or church.”

Preparing for growth

The church’s previous IT structure led to a lot of extra work. Staff had to reenter data, hunt down documents and contact information, collaborate across different platforms, and struggle to make sense of incomplete information. “It came to a breaking point: If we’re using our old systems, could we actually expand?” Odoom remembers. 

Now he is confident that the organization is poised for growth. 

Standardized systems, tools, and operating procedures lay the foundation for doing even more through technology. The IT team is currently working in Azure DevOps to build software for data management. It will pull in the information currently collected in Lists to create a more versatile tool to help the church serve—and grow—its congregations. 

The Church of Pentecost-UK is also piloting Volunteer Management, built on Power Apps by Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit. Initial tests show that the app will replace the old method of blasting out requests for help on WhatsApp. Soon, ministers will be able to outline and assign tasks within the app, depending on volunteers’ availability, interests, and skills.

“We now have systems in place to seamlessly work as an organization. We don’t have to think of if we can implement projects, but rather, let’s put a plan in place,” Odoom says. “Our organization is better equipped to serve."