CedarCreek Church’s Mission and Vision

CedarCreek Church has long been committed to creating a community where individuals can feel truly known and supported on their spiritual journeys. With a vision of fostering a vibrant, engaged congregation, CedarCreek serves as a safe space for both new and longtime attendees seeking deeper spiritual engagement and personal growth.

The Role of Apollos in Church Stewardship

In Fall 2023, CedarCreek partnered with the Apollos App to help steward its digital and in-person presence, expanding reach while fostering authentic connections among congregants. Apollos’ mission aligns with CedarCreek’s goals: to serve as a tool for cultivating long-lasting, meaningful relationships that go beyond a weekly connection. Apollos is committed to enabling “Seven Days, Not Just Sunday,” where church engagement is ongoing and grounded in strong principles of stewardship. By helping CedarCreek guide its congregation toward sustainable, daily practices, Apollos supports the church’s mission to build a truly impactful and personal faith experience.

Challenges Faced by CedarCreek Church

Engaging and Shepherding a Growing Community

As CedarCreek’s community expanded, the church faced the challenge of sustaining personal engagement with every congregant, even as its reach grew. They wanted to avoid the pitfall of losing the close-knit connections essential to fostering trust and growth within the congregation. The leadership needed tools that could facilitate this deeper engagement without compromising the intimacy of a traditional church setting.

Nurturing Spiritual Growth Beyond Sunday

Another challenge was maintaining spiritual momentum between Sunday services, a critical time when congregants might seek support or connection in their daily lives. CedarCreek recognized the importance of making congregants feel valued throughout the week, not just on Sundays. They needed a platform to actively nurture this consistent engagement, reinforcing the church’s role in congregants’ lives day by day.

Solution: Apollos as a Stewardship Tool for CedarCreek Church

Apollos: A Holistic Approach to Church Stewardship

CedarCreek selected Apollos as the ideal partner to foster both individual and communal engagement. With Apollos, the church found a tool that aligned perfectly with its commitment to growth and stewardship. Apollos provides an environment where meaningful, consistent engagement can flourish, empowering CedarCreek to nurture relationships and build community trust.

Leveraging Unique Resources to Foster Community and Growth

To provide CedarCreek with an ecosystem that effectively engaged both current members and newcomers, Apollos developed an integrated suite of tools: a website, TV app, and mobile app, each serving a specific purpose.

• Website: Designed to welcome potential new congregants, CedarCreek’s website serves as an information hub. With Apollos’ expertise, the website was optimized for SEO and customer profiling and tailored to resonate with the unique needs of CedarCreek’s community. Through research on local demographics, congregational needs, and CedarCreek’s broader mission, Apollos built a platform that speaks directly to visitors, helping them learn what sets CedarCreek apart. This approach has yielded a 71% increase in web engagement, as new visitors are increasingly drawn to explore and connect with the church online.

• TV App: Serving as a hub for all sermon content and other video resources, CedarCreek’s TV app is designed to keep valuable content accessible while housing it under the CedarCreek brand. This resource also provides the church with valuable engagement data, helping to shape future projects and refine both digital and in-person offerings.

• Mobile App: Apollos’ daily engagement platform, the mobile app, provides congregants with meaningful daily touchpoints. With tools for daily habits and guided experiences, the app enables church members to take tangible steps in their faith journey. In CedarCreek’s case, this involves daily prayer, gratitude practices, scripture reading, and community journaling. Since launching, congregants have engaged in 15,000 prayers per week—roughly three times the church’s weekly attendance—illustrating how Apollos has shifted CedarCreek from passive content consumption to active, faith-driven engagement.

The Tools That Transform

Apollos provided CedarCreek with a suite of features to support daily, impactful engagement with the congregation:

• Daily Habits: This feature has empowered congregants to engage in spiritual practices consistently, with 550 users participating in daily habits weekly, representing about 10% of weekly attendance. This dedication to daily spiritual practices has supported a 13% increase in physical attendance and a 9% increase in online attendance since launching, highlighting how Apollos has fostered active, sustained engagement.

• Customizable Engagement: The app’s design allows congregants to engage in ways that best fit their unique needs. Whether someone is looking for guided experiences, a quiet moment of prayer, or community insights, the app allows users to explore content that aligns with their current journey. Weekly app engagement even exceeds in-person attendance, with approximately 120% of weekly attendees engaging with the app weekly—a testament to how CedarCreek’s congregation is experiencing faith in dynamic and personalized ways.

• Communication Features: Apollos keeps congregants updated, engaged, and connected to the church and one another. With the ability to build custom interactions, CedarCreek strengthens connections with members, ensuring they feel cared for, informed, and appreciated.

• Content Library and Resources: Apollos provides ready access to a wealth of spiritual resources, enabling CedarCreek to support individual growth and build community through sermons, articles, and guided experiences.

More Than a Product: Apollos as a Strategic Growth Partner

CedarCreek’s partnership with Apollos has gone beyond simply implementing digital tools. Apollos has become a strategic partner, leveraging its deep expertise to provide CedarCreek with valuable insights and strategies for growth. Apollos is not only a digital product builder but also a consultant and advocate, working alongside CedarCreek to ensure every digital effort aligns with the church’s mission and values. Since implementing Apollos, CedarCreek has experienced measurable growth, including a 27% increase in baptisms, 12% growth in group sign-ups, and a 5% increase in giving.

Results and Impact

Sustainable Church Growth Through Stewardship

Since partnering with Apollos, CedarCreek has seen sustainable growth while maintaining its core mission. The 13% increase in physical attendance and 5% increase in giving reflect CedarCreek’s enhanced ability to reach and engage its congregation meaningfully.

Making Congregants Feel Known and Valued

Through Apollos, CedarCreek has successfully cultivated a community where congregants feel seen and supported. Members can engage with the app in ways that are unique to their needs, which has strengthened bonds within the church and fostered a stronger sense of belonging. Church leaders report that Apollos has given CedarCreek an invaluable tool to nurture individual relationships and build trust, creating a foundation for sustainable, long-term engagement.

Spiritual Growth Through Daily Habits: A Key Stewardship Tool

The Daily Habits feature has quickly become central to CedarCreek’s strategy, helping to turn congregants into active disciples. Members’ use of this tool has led to 15,000 prayers prayed per week, a testament to how Apollos has inspired consistent spiritual growth and daily faith practices. Through Apollos, CedarCreek’s congregants are not only growing personally but also contributing meaningfully to the community.

Conclusion

Apollos: A Faithful Steward for the Future

Apollos has proven to be a crucial ally in CedarCreek’s journey to sustainable growth and spiritual development. Apollos has helped the church foster digital discipleship, empowering CedarCreek to realize its vision to see an unstoppable movement of people living out their God-given purpose.

Stewardship Beyond CedarCreek: A Call to Action

For other churches considering how to strengthen connections and grow sustainably, Apollos offers more than just digital tools—it offers a partnership rooted in stewardship and strategy. Churches looking to steward their communities effectively and foster enduring engagement are encouraged to connect with Apollos for a consultation and explore the possibilities of impactful, people-centered discipleship.

Ready to see the impact Apollos could make for your church? Schedule a demo today to explore how Apollos can empower your ministry to engage congregants, nurture growth, and build a truly connected community—every day of the week.