"I used to carry so much of this, and I didn't even realize how much I was carrying, wanting to make sure it was done well and ethically. I have a huge integrity bone, so I was carrying the weight of it and to know that she was able to enter right into the picture and literally carry this burden along with us has been spectacular."
— Bria Gilmore, Discipleship Pastor
The Challenge
Bria Gilmore, Discipleship Pastor at Bay Chapel, found herself stretched thin after her role shifted from church operations to pastoral ministry. Despite the transition, she continued bearing the full weight of the church's financial management — an increasingly unsustainable burden on top of her growing pastoral duties.
"A lot of my responsibilities were still pretty much in the weeds. Going into QuickBooks, categorizing expenses, keeping up with cardholders and what they were and weren't spending, loading up their cards — the day-to-day responsibilities of someone on the team who could be completely devoted to that."
As her new role expanded to include teaching and sermon preparation, Bria no longer had the bandwidth to give the church's finances the full attention they required. Payroll alone was being managed manually through Excel spreadsheets — a labor-intensive process that consumed valuable time and energy.
Bay Chapel is an ARC church, and while searching the ARC website for trusted resources, Bria discovered BELAY listed under financials and administration. She clicked the link and initiated a conversation that would transform both her leadership and her church's financial health.
The Solution
BELAY connected Bria with bookkeeper Carol Peterson, whose expertise and genuine care for Bay Chapel's mission made an immediate impression. From the very first call, the partnership felt like exactly what the church needed.
"On our first call, Carol and [our CSC] were on the call together, and I remember hanging up and I could have cried [from] the relief I felt. And every call since, that's the feeling I get when I hang up from Carol."
Carol stepped in to handle expense reports, categorize expenses, reconcile accounts, produce monthly reports for the church's leadership team, and manage payroll. The latter had been a particular pain point — Bria had previously processed payroll by hand using Excel spreadsheets for hourly employees.
"Until establishing a relationship with BELAY, I was doing [payroll] manually. It was labor intensive. With the timekeeping and payroll solutions that we were able to utilize through BELAY, I don't even have to think about it."
Beyond the technical tasks, Carol brought something more intangible: a shared investment in the ministry's success. Bria describes her not just as a vendor, but as a genuine partner in how Bay Chapel does ministry.
"The biggest win in my leadership, as I continue to grow and learn, is recognizing there are so many gifted people who can accomplish and do what we need to do. And [not only do I not] need to hold it all, but I'm not supposed to hold it all."
— Bria Gilmore, Discipleship PastorThe Impact
The results of partnering with BELAY reached far beyond time savings — they restored Bay Chapel's organizational integrity and gave Bria the freedom to fully embrace her calling as a pastor. With a dedicated bookkeeper handling the finances, the church now benefits from a proper separation of duties that leadership and trustees have noticed.
"Organizationally, the separation of duties from an integrity and accounting standpoint is always nice. A lot of the load was on one individual, and adding the additional layer is a huge win in the books. When our trustees review reports, we didn't miss a beat. Everything is consistent."
For Bria personally, the experience became a defining leadership lesson — one about trust, delegation, and recognizing the limits of what any one person should carry alone. Letting go of responsibilities she had quietly shouldered for years opened a new chapter in how she leads.
"The biggest win in my leadership, as I continue to grow and learn, is recognizing there are so many gifted people who can accomplish and do what we need to do. And [not only do I not] need to hold it all, but I'm not supposed to hold it all."