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Citizens of Heaven Church, a growing church plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was in search of a better way to reach their community and fund a big vision. 

“We started as a campus of a much larger, more established church in our area,” explains Worship & Communications Pastor Reid Work. “As we planted into this space there was a lot of growth. We have since continued to see God use and grow us in ways again that we sometimes don’t even expect.” 

Citizens Church started as a campus plant in 2020, but quickly launched as an independent church just two years later in 2023. At that time, about 500 people were in attendance, and the majority of them were college aged. Today, the church has nearly doubled to around 1,100 people in just a few short years, and many of them include young families. 

While the church staff were grateful for the immense growth in a short amount of time, they were also feeling the strain. Not only did they feel that their church website was lacking, but they relied upon volunteers for social media, website updates, and an online presence. 

The staff simply didn’t have time to keep up. Pressured by wearing too many ministry hats, Citizens Church was in need of real solutions to address the needs of busy staff, passionate volunteers, and a rapidly growing church. 

Navigating the growing pains of a thriving church

As their community shifted from college students to young families, their leased space quickly reached capacity. Citizens of Heaven Church decided to buy the lot next door and build an additional annex to their current building. 

As more people attended Citizens Church, church leadership began looking for support. Leadership began looking for a powerful platform built to support a growing church and manage the demands of a church capital campaign. 

From admin friction to ministry momentum with Subsplash

To fund the new annex, leadership launched a capital campaign to build a new annex building with a goal of raising $5.1 million. The funds would support not only the building itself but also the staff and space needed to shepherd the families and children attending Citizens Church for years to come. 

Before making the switch to Subsplash, Citizens Church relied on Planning Center for their day-to-day operations. Reid noted that while the tool handled basic tasks, the giving interface was challenging and complex to use, costing his team up to three hours every single week just answering questions on how to use the system. 

But once the switch from Planning Center to Subsplash One was made, the difference was immediate. Staff pressure dropped. Donor questions slowed to a trickle. And the capital campaign had the platform it needed to succeed.

Capital campaign management & success

Looking for a better way forward, Citizens Church decided to move their fundraising efforts over to Subsplash Giving. Their capital campaign team leader, who had absolutely no prior experience with the Subsplash Platform, mastered its Giving Campaign tool in less than thirty minutes. 

“It took a headache off of my plate to show staffers how they can do it really easy, and we had very few questions from our staff,” explains Pastor Reid. And once their capital campaign was launched, the response from their congregation was immediate. “People started signing up and there was no need to hold their hands or to explain what to do.”

Pledges came in fast. In just two months, Citizens Church raised $3 million. In that time, they met 60% of their goal with a 100% digital adoption rate for new pledges, moving them only a few thousand dollars away from their goal needed to break ground. 

Citizens Church placed their capital campaign front and center in their church app, website, and through tap-to-give discs, allowing members to access the giving page instantly. Donors used the intuitive interface to input their long-term pledges with zero manual hand-holding or instruction from church staff. 

The platform's simplicity extended to every type of contributor—including one donor who used the app to set up a landmark $1.5 million pledge on his own.

The bottom line is that eliminating tech hurdles makes it simple for their congregation to step forward when they felt called to give generosity.

Generosity as discipleship, not a fundraising drive

Citizens Church’s capital campaign became an opportunity for discipleship rather than an exhausting fundraising chore. By using Subsplash Giving, they found a partner dedicated to supporting the everyday workflow of local ministry. This reliable system helps leaders save time, reduce overhead costs, and reach their goals through user-friendly tools congregations love. 

“This is not just a goal to build a building—it’s for discipleship. It’s about our very lives and encouraging people to think about what generosity really means,” says Pastor Reid. 

When your giving tools handle the administrative heavy lifting, it leaves your team free to focus on what matters most: discipleship.

See what the right platform can do for your church

Every church deserves technology that supports their unique vision instead of adding to a crowded weekly to-do list. By moving away from fragmented tools, Citizens Church reclaimed valuable staff hours and opened a clear pathway for their community to step up in faith. 

We're honored to partner with leaders like Pastor Reid to remove technical barriers and fuel generosity. Ready to see how a unified platform can support your next big step? [.blog-contact-cta]Schedule a free demo today[.blog-contact-cta] to see how Subsplash can help you grow, engage, and connect your community!

Editor’s note:Subsplash would like to thank Reid Work and the leadership of Citizens Church for kindly volunteering to share their inspirational story.