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.

What does a great Church look like? You often think of the great cathedrals. Or perhaps the little brown Church in the woods. Either way, the variety of Church Designs is amazing. However, the Church exists to serve the people, so the design should have some utilitarian aspects. It may be impressive, and that will draw people to it, with a lofty spire and elegant stone cuttings, but it also has to serve the purpose of ministry.

Your staff will no doubt be using printers in the office. (Although there are some who have gone paperless, most Church offices still rely on some paper.) Should these printers be available on Sundays for volunteers to use? Suppose a Small Group Leader needs a few pages printed for handouts to the group. Should the Church make that available? There is a cost associated with each page that is printed. It includes:

• Cost of the printer divided by the number of pages it will print over it’s lifetime
• Cost of the ink or toner used
• Cost of the paper that is printed upon.
• Electricity cost

Since the Church Staff is charged with being good stewards of the office equipment they use, perhaps some limits should be set. For example, anyone can print up to 10 pages on Sundays; but no more. That way, the paper does last until the end of the year. And the staff aren’t surprised on Monday mornings when they find the printer out of paper.

There is a difference between Open Source software and Freeware. Open Source tends to be more thoroughly tested, and thus more reliable. Freeware is often limited, being used as a come-on to buy the commercial product. If your Church is using software to enhance its ministries, then how do you decide? I would suggest the following rules of thumb:

• If it absolutely has to work every Sunday, then perhaps you need a proprietary product. That way, you have support.
• If you are using it in a ministry setting occasionally, the Open Source is less expensive and readily available.
• If you want to turn around and give it away, then Freeware carries no strings.

There are many software products out there these days that are designed for Churches. Some are proprietary. Others are Open Source. The Church needs to make wise choices about these products. Be sure you have several staff and/or volunteers who know the software that you are proposing to get. That way, there will always be someone around who can teach it to others.

TIP: For several software needs, you will find reviews herein – e.g. Presentation Software.

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.

Can the Gospel be communicated over Instant Messaging? Certainly! The method of the communication is not what’s important; the message is! If the instant message contains the words “Jesus is the Christ,” then it would seem to be the Gospel. However, Instant Messaging tends to be short, so it would be best used for quick followups.

 

How about following up with every new believer by sending them a daily text message of encouragement? That would no doubt be a tremendous help in those difficult days following a decision for Christ. Temptations ramp up. Old lifestyle choices tend to come back in full force. Consequences are encountered for past actions. An immature Christian is often times choked by the weeds in the Parable of the Sower. Perhaps some Instant Messages would come to the rescue of a brother or sister in peril. It could be as simple as an agreement to pray for them. It could be as complex as a Bible passage and interpretation. The possibilities are limitless.

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?

 

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?

Generally, the bulletin is printed during the week and distributed on Sunday. But why couldn’t we prepublish the bulletin to the web site? It would give the members a heads up on the plans for worship this weekend. For some, this would help them prepare by prereading the scriptures for the sermon. For others, this would be an opportunity to see what is going on so they can plan accordingly, rather than be surprised on Sunday morning.

Given the fact that most Churches today use computers to publish the bulletin, it wouldn’t be hard to include a step that published it to the web site of the Church. It would go up when the bulletin was finalized – i.e. printing on paper. At that point, there are no more changes to be made. (However, the web site copy can always be updated.) Many Churches no doubt already send parts of the bulletin out already – e.g. announcements of various events coming up via email. This would just expand upon that process.

Advent is right around the corner. Will it be just another Christmas? Or can you make it something special? Consider enhancing your media for this Advent season. Live video instead of static shots will catch people’s eye. If you have an outdoor nativity scene, why not set up a web cam and put it on your web site? That way, people who can’t come to Church on Christmas Eve can still see what’s going on.

As the end of the year rolls around, it is time for some planning for the new year. How do you plan out a strategy for the Church for a whole year? You gather ideas from the key leadership in the Church. Then you share those ideas with others in the congregation to refine and publicize them. Then you set strategic goals for the year ahead. If people have a chance to express their opinions about something, then they will be more likely to buy in and become a part of it.

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.

Most of the time when you think of Research and Development (R&D), you think of think tanks with too much money on their hands. So is there a role for R&D in the Church? Perhaps it has to be at the general Church level, where it can result in improvements Church wide. Or perhaps it should be in the services that provide technology for the Church to use – e.g. software that specializes in Church Administration. Either way, the R&D needs to address the unique needs 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!

As you plan for the future you need a strategic planning mindset. Don’t get bogged down in today’s issues. Look at the future needs of the Church. What will it look like in 10 years, 20 years? Then begin the process of visioning for that future. How do we meet the the needs of our community in 10 years? If you start now with good planning, you will accomplish it!

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?

As more and more people use their cell phones for financial transactions, it seems possible to also make a contribution that way. We already have giving kiosks; why not cell phone giving? The technology is there, but how do we take advantage of it?

Suppose a majority of the congregation wanted to give via their cell phones. Why couldn’t we announce the giving period as the offering time. Then, at the end of the offering, we could display a dynamic count of the total. This would do two things:

• People would see their gift tallied in real time, so they would know that it got there.
• The congregation could celebrate the achievement of a giving goal – e.g. for a new Habitat house.

I know some of you think this is far-fetched, but the technology is right around the corner. This is just one way to take advantage of it for the benefit of the mission of the Church. What other ways can you think of?

There are plenty of automated tools out there that can filter content. If you allow visitors to your web site to add comments, then you will need to filter them. This insures that people use wholesome language. But how do you keep the SPAM solicitations out? Well, there are tools available for that also. They will check each link to see if it matches up to a known SPAM site. If it does, or the language is inappropriate, then the tools will flag the comment as needing review. Or you can optionally just delete it. Either way, let the tools take care of the headache of trying to keep comments appropriate.

Everyone wants to be an Administrator for the Web Site. They know that the Administrator has more clout than regular users. And maybe they have a need to do something that steps just over the boundaries you have carefully set out for all users. That doesn’t mean that they are trying to cheat anyone; just that they have a need to do something irregular.

One way to handle this is to establish a role of Local Administrator. This allows individuals to act as administrators, but they don’t have the keys to every door in the system. Just give them access to handle the irregular stuff that comes up, and they’ll be happy.

Most people have good computer skills. But not everyone knows the difference between a Gigabyte and a Megabit (hint: it is not 1000). So you may find yourself supporting users that don’t have great computer skills. How can you do this with grace and love?

It takes patience to support any user. They come asking questions – a lot of questions that may seem less than intelligent. Just remember that they’re not IT Professionals who have been in the classroom learning this stuff. They don’t speak geek! Slow them down and spend some time explaining the technology. This will help them understand and rephrase their questions in more technical terms. And go the extra mile in getting them through the issue. They will bless you for it.

As the year comes to an end, it is time to consider your training needs in the year ahead. Don’t forget to plan on how you will train volunteers. Staff training is a budget item, and a focus among professionals in the Church. But the volunteers also need training to be more effective. Many are willing to serve, but they don’t know how. This applies especially to the technical ministry of the Church. Here are some ideas to consider:

• Build a library of Powerpoint presentations about the technology
• Ask the most active volunteers for links to good training materials – they already have favorites
• Identify areas where you lack training materials – and go create something new
• Survey the volunteers for topics they’d like to know more about

The volunteers who are also IT professionals already know where to find good training materials. Tap into that knowledge, and share it with the amateurs who are eager to learn. If you don’t have a topic covered, start a Powerpoint presentation on it and invite the Tech team to add to it. You’ll get lots of ideas for what should go into it. Then filter that down into a manageable chunk. Find out the topics that the volunteers need to know more about – e.g. how the video switcher is configured. You’ll be surprised what that knowledge will do to enable them to perform better.