NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–South Side Baptist Church of Russellville, Ala., made history Sept. 9 by placing the first dated literature order on the Baptist Sunday School Board’s World Wide Web site.
Robbie Richardson, church treasurer and Sunday school director for the church which averages “just under 100 persons in Sunday school,” placed the order using an electronic form located at http://www.bssb.com. Richardson obtained a personal identification number (PIN) to ensure security for his church’s account and did not have to provide billing information on-line.
“I just stumbled across the board’s web page one day,” Richardson recalled, “and on Monday (Sept. 8) I learned that beginning the next day the web page would be available for on-line ordering. The board is a big operation, so this is a real added convenience to be able to get online and place your order.” He added, “if you have forgotten something, it’s going to be really easy to just key in that additional order.”
For now, on-line ordering is available only to churches and only for dated materials, according to Gus Reyes, director of the church growth group’s sales and customer service department. Undated resource ordering will be added in the future.
Detailed instructions are provided on the BSSB web site by clicking on the “Dated Resources Online Order Form” graphic. The electronic form follows the same sequence as the printed form mailed to churches. For churches that wish to reorder the same items and quantities received for the previous quarter, an option is available to complete the form automatically with the previous quarter’s information.
Within 24 hours of submitting the order, Reyes said, the church will get a confirmation of the order by electronic mail (e-mail), including a list of the items ordered. Orders placed on the web site are sent directly to the order-filling warehouse and are not keyed in by anyone other than the person placing the order for the church. Also, orders placed through the web site before the due date found on the “Summary of Orders” page qualify for an early-order discount.
Churches may request a PIN on-line or by calling 1-800-575-7004 or (615) 251-2064.
