How do you keep track of all of the technical gear that the Church uses? There is a tendency for technology to “sprout wings and walk away.” By that, I don’t mean outright theft. More likely, Fred borrowed it and just forgot to bring it back to the Church 6 months ago. All Fred really needs is a gentle reminder. But therein lies the problem. How do you ensure that the reminder gets made?

Technical gear that gets used every Sunday should always remain in place in the Church. If it is borrowed, say, for an outside event, it should be returned at the end of that event. You’ll want to be sure everyone on the Technical Ministry team understands that policy. And it should not just be dropped off at the door. It should be reinstalled in the Technical room and verified to be ready to work on Sunday morning. I can not emphasize that point enough. All technical gear should be returned in working order and reinstalled in the technical rack and verified to work. Otherwise, you are just setting a land mine for the Technical Ministry team on Sunday. No one likes to come in and find things in disarray or not working – least of all volunteers. They may be glad to fix it, but the problem is time. Right before the service is not the time to reinstall that video gear. (It should be reinstalled when it is returned to the Church.) By making sure the people who borrowed it know that they are responsible for reinstalling and verifying it when they bring it back, you can avoid headaches on Sunday morning. If you have a concern about whether someone will do this, arrange to meet them at the Church when they bring the gear back and work together to get it back in working order. It may mean a late night on Saturday, but it will pay off with less hassle and embarassment on Sunday morning.

The Church doesn’t need a formal inventory control system. It does need an informal list of technical gear for insurance purposes. And the accountant should know about every purchase or gift of technology, in case it has to be replaced. Usually, the Technical Team knows the gear that they use. (I have given more than one item to my Church to enable some new technical capability.) And the Technical Team or IT Support should take care of maintenance of computers and the like. That way, all of the technical gear stays up to date and gets used effectively in the ministry of the Church.

A lot of Church staff struggle with technology. They are working in the Church because they are “people” oriented, not “information” oriented. That is what makes them personable, and helps them be effective with the people who are hurting. So how do you support these non-technical users?

The goal of any technology is to enable people to use it. The best technology in the world will sit idle if the users don’t know how to use it. So first of all, you want to provide hands on training, preferable one on one, to new users. It doesn’t have to be very formal. I’ve done one-on-one training with senior pastors. It just takes a little patience and understanding. Don’t try to do too much in one sitting. Focus on useful technical skills that they can make use of immediately. Teach them how to do it, then let them step through it themselves. There is no substitute for hands on learning when it comes to technology. And do it several times, at their pace. If they make a mistake – which is likely – gently correct the mistake and go on. Then go back through the process to ensure that they get it right at least once. By being gracious and patient, you can help them master a little skill that will enable them to be more effective.

Way back when, senior pastors had secretaries who did all of the typing. (I once had an executive secretary who was excellent, and knew everyone, and where to find everything. It made starting out a whole lot easier in that Church.) But those days are long gone. Everyone on the staff should do their own keyboarding. They should be trained on using the web site to update their area of ministry pages. And they should contribute ideas, pictures, logos, videos, sound tracks to the process of planning worship. That way, the Church is able to communicate more effectively. The technology really does make all of this easy, so take advantage of it!

How long is the walk from the parking lot to your main entrance? Most Churches have an impressive front, to honor God and identify them as a Church. But that can mean that there is a long walk from the parking slot to that impressive entrance. For most people, this is a minor incovenience; but for those who are sick or frail, this can mean that they stop going to Church.

Of course, we have handicapped parking for these people, you say. But not everyone has a handicapped parking tag. Be sure to put your Visitor Parking area up close to the Church, so people that are elderly can take advantage of this to come as visitors. You might also ensure that people can find out about this on your website. There is a whole list of things that you can do to make your website fully accessible and easy to navigate.

The Apostle Paul described the Christian life as a race (2 Tim 4:7). He reminds us to keep our eyes on the finish line, so that we might win the race. It is easy to get distracted by the world, things in it, and the agendas of others. However, when we remember the finish line, it brings our attention back to what really matters.

Finish line road sign

How can we use the technology involved in ministry to keep our eyes on the finish line? Perhaps using a banner for that sermon series. The banner would then be displayed before each sermon, on the Church website, and even in printed format. This keeps the focus of everyone on the ultimate prize, and reinforces the theme for the sermons. They aren’t just disjointed messages about current events, but rather follow a theme. It’s like a road sign reminding us of where we’re going.

What sorts of graphics do you use to keep your congregation’s eyes on the finish line?

What’s the first impression that people in the community have of your Church? Perhaps you have a Digital Sign out front that identifies the building and provides some basic information about the Church. No doubt it lists the service times, so people will know when to come for worship.

During Advent, we announce the coming of the Babe in the Manger in new ways each year. That message appears in the Advent sermons. It shows up in the bulletins and newsletters. And it should show up on your web site. It should also be prominent for your Digital Sign out front. But how do you write that message in a format that fits the signage? Here are some examples that might work:

• Happy Birthday, Jesus!
• Celebrate Christmas Here
• Joy To The World
• Put Christ back in Christmas
• Santa never died for anyone
• Jesus came to die for you

What if we could connect a Social Media account up to the Digital Sign and let the congregation post messages. Of course, they would have to be vetted by someone, so you couldn’t do this real time. But it would be a cool way for members of the congregation to express what Christmas means to them in the community.

How much time and effort do you spend assimilating new members? Some people need a lot of help getting involved with the Church, for they have little history. Others are ready on day 1 to teach a Church School class. How do you tell the difference?

First, you need staff that are committed to helping new members find their place to worship and serve. This can be a part time responsibility for a staff person. In lots of Churches, one of the pastors serves this role – because they have direct contact through the membership process. If you are blessed with a full time staff person, then they are probably overwhelmed. People join the Church at various times throughout the year. There probably isn’t a pattern (though it never hurts to search for one.) The point is that your full time staff person will need resources and possibly others to help this process go smoothly.

Second, you need to identify what new members need. Do they just need information about areas to serve? Everyone finds out about worship through regular channels (e.g. your website.) But most Churches don’t have a ready list for areas to serve. Someone just knows about it and needs the help. The staff person needs to be a broker to help connect the new member who wants to serve with the lay volunteer looking for help. And some new members need encouragement to take the first step in this process.

Third, you need to find a way to identify new members that didn’t get involved – i.e. grew stale. From them, you want to at least identify why they didn’t get more involved; but don’t call them up and challenge them! Perhaps they never found the right opportunity. Or perhaps they are just shy. Or perhaps they got turned off from their first attempt at service. If you can gather some information in this area, then it will help you do a better job with the next new member that comes along.

Assimilation is vital to growing congregations. When everyone has found their place to worship and serve, then they feel more satisfied with their Church. They may not volunteer for everything, but they can be involved somewhere. Stick with it, and offer them the resources that they need.

In every retail store, you’ll find people eager to help you. They are usually available to answer questions, demonstrate how to use items, and help you make a purchase. More upscale stores will have people who work on salary, rather than commission, so you know that they truly just want to help you. But do we need that kind of customer service in the Church?

Some would argue “Yes” we should be setting the example! Others would say the Church is too Spiritual for such worldly matters. The Scripture advises us to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (MAT 10:16 NIV). So perhaps we should have an interest in how well people are treated when they walk through the doors. We all want to be a welcoming congregation, where visitors feel welcome and want to come back. And we need new members so that we can grow. Churches that aren’t growing, some have said, are Churches that are dying off slowly.

So consider how you greet visitors. Who is available to answer their questions every Sunday morning? And how do they sign up for information, be it email or paper newsletters. How hard is it for new comers (i.e. new customers) to get assimilated into your Church?

Many of the records we keep in the Church have significance in the future. Baptisms are proof of citizenship in some places. Weddings are typically recorded at a court house, but that record may be corroborated by the Church wedding service. And of course we keep copies of bulletins that have been published.

The question soon comes up, “how long should we keep these old records around?” You could conclude that we should keep them until Jesus returns. That makes sense, but God is omniscient, so He doesn’t really need our records in the future. Or you could determine that you need to keep them for as long as they are our “legal” responsibility. I have been in court houses that had records dating back over a century. But most courts today require records going back to cover the statute of limitations. So perhaps a wise answer would be to keep records for 7 seven years, and then archive and destroy them.

Fortunately, we have the means to keep archival copies of records around in electronic form. Whether we have a 100 records, or a 1,000,000, they don’t occupy any more space. We just have to organize them, so they can be retrieved easily in the future. So perhaps a better question is, how can we organize our records and make them more accessible to the congregation?

Where is technology going? And how can our Church keep up? Those are relevant questions when it comes to ministry technology. It is not enough to just add the technology to the Church. You have to plan for it to grow and develop. Many small businesses have learned the painful lesson of getting a web site, only to watch it go stale and uninviting. The Church web site can end of the same, unless you have a team involved in both the creation and the maintenance. Think of the Church web site as another communication channel for delivering information to the congregation. What’s the news this week? What is coming up soon? These are the sorts of questions that should be answered on a weekly basis, as you plan ministry in the congregation, community and around the world.

Lots of Churches take “Welcome Packets” to new members after they join. Some will event take pictures and put them up on the Church bulletin board. What about having an “easter egg” for new members on the Church web site. This would be a special one time link that you would email to the new member. They could execute the link and get a brief page of links that matched their interest and talents, as documented on their new member card. If they had an interest in children, then you could include the link to the Children’s Ministry page and the email address of the Children’s minister. If they had an interest in the Church Library, then you could include a link to the Online Catalog and the email address of the head of the Library committee. All of this would be information that they could find online – if they knew where to look on the web site. The Easter Egg just puts in in one place so they can find it quicker. The special link could then expire in 2 weeks after they had gotten used to things and made contacts in their phone. It is a way to help assimilate them faster into the life of the Church.

Last Sunday, there was a medical emergency in the balcony. It happened right during the praise time, interrupting the service. Fortunately, the man turned out to be alright. And it was amazing that there were doctors and nurses in the congregation at the time, who promptly rendered assistance. I rejoice that after the paramedics arrived, the man was able to walk to the ambulance – a good sign that he was going to be alright.

On reflection, I wonder what the best way to handle a medical emergency is. Certainly, you want to ask for medical professionals to render first aid. CPR might well save a life. Or if you have an Automatic Emergency Defibrillator (AED) handy, then get it promptly. But what should you do then? Ask everyone to be in prayer? Lead a prayer for the sick person? Play quiet music while the EMTs stabilize the patient for transport to the ER? Or just go on with the service? Seems like Churches need a response to these types of situations. What does your Church do?

What does your Church offer for children on Sunday mornings? Children’s Church? A children’s sermon or message during adult worship? A separate Children’s center with lots of hands on activities? Or just nursery and/or children’s sunday school classes? Any of these is appropriate, since they free up the parents to participate in worship. The goal of the Church is for everyone to worship and praise God. And there are many ways to do that. The Church should offer as many different ways to grow and worship as there are groups in the membership.

How does technology enter into the picture where children are concerned? If the families separate when they come in the door, then they need to be reunited when they leave. Many Churches use a checkin/checkout system to reconnect parents and children after worship. A small Church can do this on sight, since everyone knows everyone. But what about visitors? Perhaps you could provide a visitor with a brochure on Children’s Ministry and just write the child’s name on it. That way, you know that they “belong” to the parent and you get an opportunity to tell them about other activities and events.

What is the first impression that visitors get when they go to your Church website? Are they finding a fountain of useful information, or more internet clutter? You want to avoid the clutter, since it will quickly turn them away. Here are some items to watch out for:

Hit Counters – back in the early days, these were impressive; not now
Autoplaying music – the organ is great, but let users choose to hear it
Dollar signs – let users choose to explore giving; there is more to ministry than that

Be sure to get some strangers to look at your site. They will be able to give you first impressions. And listen to them when they identify pages that are confusing or overloaded.

You want to be a Church that welcomes newcomers. They are your life blood as a Church. (There is always attrition, as people retire or die. So if you’re aren’t growing, then you’re dying.) However, you don’t see any newcomers coming.

Here are some ideas of things you can do to Welcome the Stranger:

• Take time to welcome any visitors during the worship service.
• Reserve parking spots for Visitors
• Make the nursery clean, safe, sanitary and well-equipped
• Limit announcements to just the highlights

Some Churches follow the Liturgical Calendar – a 3 year cycle that takes you through the scriptures systematically. Other Churches depend on their ministry team to select scriptures appropriate to the season and current events. The Liturgical Calendar recognizes that there are patterns in worship (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost.) It also offers some balance in that it may cover each Gospel in turn.

For Churches that use a Liturgical Calendar, how do you include that in your web site? Here is one example, taken from one Episcopal Church. It uses the appropriate colors for each Sunday.

Woodlands Church

Perhaps you have another.

Hanging the Greens and decorating the sanctuary are always fun. Christmas Lights can be a source of joy all Advent long. It adds something special to a Christmas Eve service to turn down the lights and sing “Silent Night” with just candles. It is always special to sing the Christmas Carols as hymns during worship at Christmas Tide.

However, running all of those Christmas lights can be a challenge. What if they are high in the Sanctuary, perhaps hanging off columns? Or they may require special dimming modules to control them during videos, so they don’t outshine the screens. In a Megachurch environment, you may have a lighting desk already installed. If so, then you just need to add a few more channels and do some programming. But in a Small to Large Church environment, how do you control the lights? Of course, you can delegate the task to the ushers, to make sure they turn on all of the Christmas Lights before each service. But wouldn’t it be easier to use a master switch in the sound booth? However, to do that, you need to wire the circuits in during construction. I have seen cases where there was a separate circuit with a 110VAC outlet at every window, so you could plug in lights for the windows. With a little planning, you can make this a reality in your next Church Sanctuary.

Churches sometimes build new buildings. This is actually an opportunity to foresee the future technical needs of the Church’s ministry. Why not run some extra cables, so that future IT needs can be easily addressed? The cost of doing that at construction time is much, much less than a retrofit later on. However, it does require some foresight on the part of the building architect and trustees. How can you make the case for CAT 6 wiring at the time of construction?

Having Wi-Fi in the Church is a blessing. However, it can also be a resource to hackers. Should the Church provide Wi-Fi service at no charge to any and all who happen by? Some would say “Yes.” Others would be concerned about the security implications: What if the Church got hacked?

There are ways to secure the network in the Church behind a strong firewall. There should be a private network that only the staff uses that is rock solid and secure. If the staff needs access from home, then they should use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access the office. This technology is well proven in the business world. The Church can make use of it, also.

Mobile phones can be allowed access to the local Wi-Fi hotspot in the Church building. But they should be only allowed to access the Internet outside the Church building. The private, staff network would be kept private. This does present a challenge for the Church’s bandwidth. (What if half the people in worship pull out their smart phones and go get the same scripture off BibleGateway.com during the sermon?) Perhaps that should be tested to see if it would work. Perhaps it is a good idea. However, most people have the Scriptures on their phone already in their favorite translation.

If your Church branches out over the Internet, then you can say that you have an Internet Campus. The worship services in the primary sanctuary may be shared live with the Internet Campus branches. But is that really a Church? Some would say it is missing something; it isn’t real worship. Others would say that it is the best of both worlds. The small congregation at the branch gets to hear the great sermon and fantastic music at the primary sanctuary.

I have attended worship services at a wide range of Churches, including Internet branches. The technology provides a way to share the event live across many miles. It could even be used for distant lands. And the praise part of the service can be just as dynamic and glory filled. And a great sermon is just that – a great sermon – no matter where it is preached.

Which is better, a conventional lock or a keyless entry door lock on the Media Room in the Church?

Keyless Entry Lock

Volunteers need access to the Media Room. Providing that access is a challenge. (Churches may have greeters, but rarely doormen.) One approach would be to set a unique key for the door lock and assign keys to the volunteers. Only the volunteers would have access. And the keys could be tracked to make sure the Church always knows who has a key and who hasn’t.

Unfortunately, this does not always work well. Volunteers also come and go with the seasons. How do you make sure you get the key back from them? They may have a sudden move due to changes in work or living arrangements. They may simply forget to turn in the key – finding it years later and wondering, “Where did that fit again?” If you decided that you should change the lock everytime a key went missing, then you might as well hire a locksmith on staff. 🙂

A Keyless Lock would seem to be an ideal solution. There is no physical key, so there is nothing to get lost. And you just have to remember a 4 digit code to get in the door. Of course, the code becomes a well-known secret among the technical ministries team; but that may not be a bad thing.

What kind of lock, if any, does your Church have on the Media Room?

Printers are ubiquitous. They can be found everywhere. Yet, five minutes before the service starts is a bad time to try to print something. The printer is out of paper; it jams; it just takes too long. Maybe we need to avoid printing at such times. A better approach would be put the information in an email and send it to those that need to see it. Call it a quick update before the service. Get smart phone email addresses and make a mailing list called “preservice.” In the long run, that will work better.

ubiquitous

In the SW industry, projects are managed to completion. They have well thought out goals and objectives. There is a defined budget providing resources. People, equipment, and services are thus available to make the project succeed. And the project gets managed on a day to day basis.

In the Church, there might be a long term technical project – such as upgrading our Video Equipment to High Resolution. Some of the same principles can and should be applied. The differences are in terms of time scales and resource allocation. Instead of buying everything at one time, equipment may need to purchased piecemeal. Instead of hiring someone to come in and set it up, you may need to motivate your volunteers to learn how to set it up themselves. In the end, the project can succeed, but it may never be a top priority of the Administration of the Church.

The question about priorities is often confused with the issue of what comes first, technology or ministry. It is ministry that is the most important to the Church staff. The technology is there to facilitate that, not to supplant it. But that doesn’t mean that there need to be no technical priorities. The Tech Team can come up with a wish list, or a set of enhancements that they would like to see. Often times these are practical changes involving better equipment, consolidation of effort, or making it easier to do the work. There is a place for this; but where is it in the Church budget?

Some people think of mobile devices (i.e. cell phones) as an annoyance in Church. I prefer to think of them as an opportunity to extend the Word! Yes, they do tend to go off during the sermon. (Have you posted any signs or notices in the bulletin like Please mute your cell phone during worship?) But many people have the Bible on their smart phones. Why not ask them to follow along in their Bible on their smartphone or on paper? You might be surprised by how many people are already doing that!

Rather than seeing all of the technology as a hindrance to worship, look for ways to leverage it into worship. That way, people will download apps that are Biblically oriented. And that means they will be more likely to include Bible Study in their typical day. After all, who goes anywhere these days without their smart phone? One Church even makes the sermon notes available during worship for people to download, read, and take notes on their mobile device. Actually, that would mean that the preacher doesn’t have to publish their notes a week in advance; they could do it that morning, 15 minutes before the service!

Many Megachurches already have security personnel. These may be off-duty police officers who volunteer their time. Or the Church may pay them for their services. Either way, Churches have learned that they need security. I can remember a time when the Church doors were left open round the clock – just so people could go in and pray. Everyone in the community had a healthy fear of God that kept problems from occurring in the Church. Today, Church leaders have to worry about a host of security issues:

• Acts of violence directed towards the pastor or congregation
• Child abduction from Children’s Ministry by estranged parents
• Criminal trespass or vandalism

Is your Church secure? What does it take each day to keep it that way? Is there someone on duty during worship who is armed and linked to local law enforcement? Or are there simply off duty police men and women in the congregation that ensure your security?