How do you keep track of equipment that has been loaned out? It can be a challenge to remember who has what and for how long. Technical Ministry requires lots of Audio, Video, and Computer equipment. And various groups in the Church will from time to time need to borrow that equipment. Ideally, it all finds its way back home. But sometimes a piece of equipment gets misplaced before it gets back to the storage area. That can be a problem when some event comes up that requires that piece of equipment. How many times have you heard, “I know it’s here somewhere?”

Informal arrangements can be effective, as long as everyone follows the rules. There are also Asset Management Systems that can be applied. The idea is that a particular piece of equipment would be checked out to the person that has a need. When they are done, the equipment is checked back in. If something gets misplaced, or a critical need comes up, then the Asset Management System identifies where the equipment is and who has it. Instead of frantically searching everywhere, you go straight to the person that has it.

To make these systems work, you will need to conduct an inventory. Every item has to be counted and labeled. A bar code should be assigned that is unique and fully identifies who the equipment belongs to. That way, if it is lost, then it can be found and returned. A bar code reader is required at the check out station to enable the process. Yes, it takes time to check out and in, but a lot less time is spent searching everywhere for something that has gotten misplaced. What kind of Asset Management System does your Church use? Is it formal or informal? And is it effective? Your comments are welcome.

How do you measure attendance? Can you do it automatically? Some Churches have a check in/out procedure for the children’s ministry. It works great for getting the kids in and out, with automated kiosks to streamline the process. A by product is that the children’s attendance is automatically recorded. Computer databases are great at keeping track of such details. From the data recorded, reports can easily be generated.

Adult and Youth worship are a different matter. Traditional Churches used “pew attendance pads” to record attendance. This generates a stack of paperwork for the attendance secretary. But the data can be entered into the database and reports generated. (The forms were also designed to spot visitors so that their information can be passed on to other staff for followup.) All of this is voluntary, but most folks do fill them out.

What if we gave everyone in the Church a witness card? This card would have an RFID chip embedded which would register their attendance when they walked in any door of the sanctuary. All they would have to do is wave the card at a recording station. Would this go over? It would certainly provide automatic attendance recordkeeping – with the computers doing all of the work. However, people might resent the cards. And the youth might lose them frequently.

What do you think would work?