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Since Catalyst Church began in 2013 in Woodland, California, their goal has been to help people find and follow Jesus. 

“Catalyst is such a special place,” shares Megan Hinesley, the Next Generation Director. “It really is a place where we hope that anybody with whatever faith background they have or what place they are in their faith journey at this point can walk in and feel like they have space to explore who Jesus is.” 

But when a church starts growing, the excitement of welcoming new faces can quickly turn into administrative overwhelm. Catalyst Church has a thriving community, and the leadership team loves seeing their community expand, but the staff were concerned there was a disconnect throughout all of the church platforms they were using, on the administrative side, as well as with disjointed follow-through. 

“We are right down on Main Street, right in the center of the city of Woodland,” explains Lead Pastor Matt Van Peursem. “So when we started as a church we developed this very rickety system of like six different platforms to help us get through what we needed to get through. We realized that all of our systems were not capable of clearly and effectively reaching people without a tremendous amount of time.” 

While Subsplash was just one of the many tools Catalyst was using, Megan began to realize that it could take the place of all of those other platforms:

As Megan dug deeper, she realized that Subsplash offers one platform that could replace all the other ones they had piecemealed together. “The more those experiences I had, the more that I realized, why are we not just all doing this with Subsplash? Now, it’s a really seamless tool that we can use to keep track of everybody that comes to Catalyst.”

Making sure nobody falls through the cracks

Next, it was time to intentionally tackle the administrative follow-through. Managing a growing congregation often requires church leaders to juggle multiple administrative tasks while trying to keep people connected.

Before Subsplash, keeping track of the back-end details was becoming a massive chore. Important information like prayer requests, visitor connection cards, and volunteer applications lived in completely separate tools. Staff members had to constantly text each other or manually update lists just to see who had received a phone call or an email. It took a heavy mental toll on the team, and leaders constantly worried that someone would get missed in the shuffle. 

The staff was struggling with scattered spreadsheets and disconnected systems that put new visitors at risk of falling through the cracks. To reach even more people walking through their doors and make sure families get plugged in at church, Megan and Pastor Matt knew they needed to make a change. They didn't need more software subscriptions—they just needed a clear way to manage their everyday processes without losing their personal touch.

One of the church staff’s biggest fears was related to workflows, as the platform they were using before Subsplash was not working. “So workflows for us are kind of everything,” says Pastor Matt. “If you walk in the door and are kind enough to give us your information, we have a responsibility to make sure that you can get connected in the way that you’d like to get connected.” 

Catalyst Church takes that responsibility seriously. So, when asked to beta test a new feature called Workflows, Megan jumped at the opportunity: “I think that email sat in my inbox for ten seconds before I replied to it because I knew this was going to fill a gap that we so desperately needed.” 

From scattered tools to one clear view

Moving their processes into Workflows completely changed how the Catalyst Church team operates. The tool uses a clear, visual kanban board with drag-and-drop cards that represent individuals or tasks moving through a process. Now, when a guest fills out a connection form, a digital card is automatically created on the board for the team to see.

The board provides complete visibility into every stage of connection—from initial visitor follow-up to volunteer onboarding. Each step includes specific checklists, due dates, and assigned staff members so that everyone knows their responsibilities. For example, when onboarding a new children’s ministry volunteer, the system guides the coordinator through background checks and safety training automatically.

“It’s just become this really wonderful tool that it has allowed the staff and key volunteers to take administrative weight off our shoulders so that we can be more focused on actually connecting with people,” says Megan. 

“I would encourage any church considering making the switch to Subsplash to jump in with both feet. I cannot stress how much having tools and structure and a company that’s walking alongside us, how much weight that takes off of our shoulders as a staff and as a volunteer team so that we can ultimately put more time, energy, and effort into pointing people to Jesus.”

By moving their follow-up pathways into the same platform they use for their app and giving, their team saved five hours every week and created a dependable way to care for every person. Workflows gave them a visual, easy-to-use solution built specifically to help pastors do what they do best: shepherd their people.

A Mission-minded partnership built to support local churches

Subsplash has partnered with Catalyst since they launched in 2013. Today, Subsplash serves as their complete platform, powering the church’s website, custom app, live streaming, and online giving. Bringing these essential tools together simplifies their weekly administration and keeps their digital engagement deeply connected to the community.

For Catalyst Church, God has built a diverse community of people who come from all different walks of life, many who’ve never been a part of church or who’ve come back after many years away.

“I think what excites me the most about the future of Catalyst is just the reality of seeing God continue to be faithful,” says Megan, “and He’s always doing something and He has been faithful here and I’m excited to see this community continue to grow, and I’m excited to see more people continue to find and follow Jesus.”

If you’re interested in learning more about how Workflows can help you care for every person, [.blog-contact-cta] book a free demo [.blog-contact-cta] with our team today!