January 20, 2003

BGCT personnel website gets traffic
___By John Hall
___Texas Baptist Communications
___DALLAS--Traffic has steadily increased to more than 400,000 visits monthly at the Baptist General Convention of Texas website for church personnel information.
___Church Personnel Information Services aims to connect ministers seeking new employment with churches that have vacant positions. The website is www.cpis.org.
___The website currently lists more than 1,650 resumes and 350 available positions, including 17 ministry positions.
___"CPIS proved to be an effective and efficient means of adding names to our resume pool," reported Stanley Smith of First Baptist Church in Decatur. "There was often enough information provided to immediately eliminate a candidate from consideration rather than taking several days or weeks for more information to be sent.
___"We were trying to use modern electronic means to collect information on our pool of candidates, and your service fit well with our plans. We were able to rapidly notify the candidates of our interest level and release them to concentrate on other positions or request that they send us more information via e-mail or other means."
___The database helps search committees find appropriate candidates for ministry positions, said Jerry Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church in Clifton. Resumes provide a means to determine whether a person would be a good fit for the church, he said.
___"Our weakness as a Baptist denomination is matching gifts and people with churches," Smith said. "We've been in the 'good-old-boy' system for years."
___Ministers also have praised CPIS for helping them find new positions. Many said they would reuse the site.
___Ministers are in control of who views their resumes, and no name is revealed to a church unless the minister releases his name. A minister can decide not to send a resume to a church after viewing a profile of the church and its vacant position. BGCT staff also will not reveal whether a staff member has posted a resume on the site.
___"The minister is in constant control of his profile," said Olivia Lerma, manager of Church Personnel Information Services.
___Churches must post a vacancy to access resumes, however. Church leaders use their BGCT identification number, found on the church giving form, and ministers have passwords that ensure that they are in control of their information. BGCT staff does not inquire about passwords.
___"It's about as safe as anything I've seen," Lerma said. "We haven't had any problems or discrepancies with confidentiality."

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