1. When did Texas SCS begin?

Texas Shared Church Services is a division of Shared Church Services, Memphis, Tennessee, which began as a ministry called SCS in the summer of 1991.

2. What was the main reason?

God shared with Bobby Hancock (now Executive Director) a vision to assist His churches through organized group purchasing. The primary reason was to help churches and Christian schools pay less as a group for the products and supplies they used daily so they could save valuable dollars to be invested in their individual ministries.

3. Where did the idea come from?

For 17 years Bobby Hancock worked in purchasing, materials management, and hospital administration, and for 5 years he was director for a hospital-purchasing consortium called Shared Hospital Services.

4. Where did it start?

SCS was started in Memphis, Tennessee in the fall of 1991 with the support of five Memphis churches. They were the "foundational cornerstone" for SCS and they remain committed today.

5. What were you first able to accomplish?

With the belief in the "heart of SCS", the business/church administrators and their food directors came together to develop request for proposals for food and related products. After many months of work, the SCS Food Committee unanimously recommended an agreement with Kraft Foods (Alliant Food Service today). After two years, another proposal was distributed (primarily to include multiple states) and SYSCO Food Corporation was selected. The initial average price savings was 23%. This was a strong indication that SCS’s vision was right and it remains so today.

6. How did SCS expand?

Because of the support from the Memphis church administrators, SCS expanded through "a networking of brothers". The ministry was shared with churches in Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and other cities in Tennessee. Also, contributing to the SCS growth was the initial commitment to integrity and credibility.

7. What are you now able to offer?

Texas SCS has made a commitment to developing and offering agreements for the "consumable products - things most frequently used on a daily basis" and to a limited degree long-term equipment such as copiers and duplicators. See our complete Vendor Listing.

9. Tell us about your staff?

SCS is proud to have staff that believes in the SCS mission.

10. Who holds SCS accountable financially and spiritually?

SCS, in the beginning, made a commitment to never sacrifice integrity or credibility. To assist in ensuring financial and spiritual accountability, SCS implemented a steering/administrative committee in each region. The committee is composed of area church leadership who look over SCS activity. SCS also shares "openly" with these committees, as well as all the membership, its financials. It is an awesome responsibility to work with churches and Christian schools. SCS believes that financial and spiritual integrity is an integral part of His work. SCS also developed food, facility, office and several other church staff committees to assist in the development of related agreements.