Churches need to be well managed. Many Churches these days have a Church Administrator, a staff member dedicated to management tasks. This used to be the prerogative of the Senior Pastor; but larger Churches have discovered that they really want the Senior Pastor to be a visionary, not an administrator. And having an administrator means they can enjoy longer service, and consequently really know the ins and outs of the job.

Large Churches also need an information system, a Church Management System if you will. This is used by the Church Administrator to manage the day to day business of the Church. It needs to have at least the following functions:

• Membership Records
• Donor Database Management
• Web Site Management
• Administrative Reporting

The Church is blessed by many good software packages designed for this task. Here are just a few to check out:

This list represents a variety of features and prices, with something for every Church from a small to megachurch congregation.

The Power of the Web is no where more felt than on social networking websites. These sites allow you to express yourself, sharing photos, videos, opinions and ideas. At their best, they are a wonderful way to build communities. At their worst, they are openings for those who prey on others. How can the Church harness this web power?

The Church is the original community. Originally formed from that small band of Disciples turned Apostles who fled persecution and took the Gospel everywhere, home Churches flourished despite intense persecution. These home communities met to worship, learn about Jesus, and fellowship together. Governments tried to stamp the Church out, but failed. The Church grew because it met the needs of the people. In most places around the world, persecution has waned, but the needs are just as important now. People need to feel like they belong, they need a solid foundation built upon the rock of faith. The Church excels at that. The key is interaction, which can happen in the Church building or around the corner. It can even happen across the Web. Group discussions can focus on specific Bible passages – a sort of perpetual Bible study online. People can share their burdens through online Prayer requests. Families in need can be identified, with people then able to respond in tangible ways. Visits to the sick can be coordinated among the entire Church, not just a few staff members. The possibilities are endless.

Images have power. They can convey the equivalent of a thousand words. They can convey emotion, as in a picture of a young child looking lost. Then can convey love, as in the mother who has just found that lost child. They have this power because they evoke a response within us. That is perhaps why a great movie can bring us to tears. It can leave us with a powerful image of just about anything, if well crafted. How do we use this power of the image? In the Greek Orthodox tradition, images have 3 dimensions. They aren’t just paintings, but sculptures. They look like real life, and they thus have power. We may be limited to two dimensions – i.e. for the present – but we can still leverage the power of images to convey the Gospel in new ways. That means seeking out new images to show. It means trying different approaches. Some will be effective; others will not. But the Gospel message has always been known for breaking out. Remember the words of Jesus, “even the stones will cry out.”

Ours is a world filled with Technological Power. We see it everywhere, use it in our daily lives, and applaud the latest developments of Tech. However, we need to remember that the source of that power lies not within ourselves; all knowledge comes from God. So we don’t need to worship technology; we worship the living God who has given us all good things – including technology.

When we recognize that technology is another gift that God has given us, we put it in the right perspective. The technology presents us with new challenges, not an absence of God. The Church has encountered those challenges, sometimes with obstinance, sometimes with wisdom. At our best, we should be making use of the technology to spread the Gospel further, to reach more people, and to enhance the message so that more people listen. When we do that, we are using Technological Power to enhance ministry. And that is perhaps the best way to use it after all.

Sometimes you get just a little bit of audio feedback in a large sanctuary with a complex audio system. What do you do when this happens during a worship service? You can’t stop the service and fix the problem; you have to do something on the fly. The best recourse is to make adjustments that will control the feedback without sacrificing performance quality. For example, you might tweak the “send to monitor” pots down a bit. Sometimes, this shotgun approach resolves the feedback without affecting the quality of the sound that the congregation hears. However, you’ll want to go back later and track down the problem more completely. The instrumentalists that depend on that monitor will appreciate it.

How reliable are your technical systems in the Church? Before you laugh, consider the embarrassment your senior pastor would feel if everything went off during the middle of a sermon. (I’ve seen this happen, and at the early service, too!) Perhaps we need to think a bit about reliability after all.

In the commercial realm, reliability is measured by the number of Nines. That is, there will be a contract, say with a web hosting firm, that specifies the Service Level Availability in terms of percentage of guaranteed uptime. Here’s a table to help you better appreciate this:

So, if I am guaranteed that my system is up 99% of the time, that means it will be down at most 4 days over the course of a year. If I am guaranteed 99.999% of the time (5 Nines), that means that it will be down at most 5 minutes in a year. If I managed to get to 7 Nines – i.e. 99.99999% of the time – I am guaranteed that the system will at most be down 3 seconds in a year! Believe it or not, the technology is capable of that, but it gets very expensive!

Fortunately, the Church doesn’t need 7 Nines reliability, but your preacher probably expects 6 Nines, and your congregation will start getting anxious at anything less. So what do you do? Start by making an assessment of which systems are required for worship to proceed. For example, if the electricity totally fails, do you go on with no systems working, or jump to the closing prayer. If you had a UPS on everything in the tech closet, then you could continue without main power. Now think through scenarios where each of those systems goes down. What would you do? Is there an alternative that you could quickly deploy? How would you expect the staff to respond? Thinking ahead can go a long ways towards avoiding panic and dealing with the event effectively. And that ultimately will allow worship to go on. You may be wishing that the “rocks will sing out” in the closing song. Maybe they will!

Copyright is always an issue when a Church reuses media not created in house. The Copyright laws exist to protect the legal and financial rights of the creators of the work. Fair Use is often cited as a reason, but it was originally intended so that schools could do research. The best practice is to get permission from the copyright owner, but that can be difficult and time consuming. Here are some web sites that can help:

Christian Copyright Licensing Inc. www.ccli.com

Christian Video Licensing Inc. www.cvli.org

BMI www.bmi.com/licensing/webcaster

ASCAP www.ascap.com/weblicense

How many screens do you use in your worship space? Can you have too many? Remember the reason for the screens or IMAG is to enable people to worship more effectively. For the person on the last row of the balcony, this may be the only way that they can get a clear view of the preacher. For the congregation, this may be the best way to present lyrics for the praise songs. One idea is to reflect the seating layout. You want everyone, no matter where they are sitting, to be able to see clearly. If this is not the case, then you need to add a screen so that it is. Some sanctuaries have a single big screen. Others have 3 or more screens placed strategically around the sanctuary worship space. Take a brief walk around the sanctuary. Can you see from every seat? You might be surprised at what you find! Your comments are welcome.

Remember that the tomb where they laid Jesus’ body was a borrowed one. Specifically, it was the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, who had obviously come to believe in Jesus. He provided his own tomb, which was available. Have you ever wondered about this tomb? What was the technology involved; we might call it primitive. First, the tomb was cut out of solid rock. And a large stone was rolled into place against the tomb – no doubt to keep the animals out. It thus took a lot of wealth to prepare a tomb like this. Evidently, Joseph was a wealthy man.

To make the tomb even more secure, Pilate in Mat 27:65 orders that the tomb be sealed with his seal, and a squad of soldiers went along to stand watch. This seal would indicate that the tomb was not to be tampered with, under penalty of Roman law.

To my thinking, this makes the Resurrection all the more spectacular. The disciples, fragmented and afraid for their lives, could never attack a Roman guard. And the women knew that they could never roll the stone away to get to the body of Jesus. Only God’s power could freeze the guard, roll away the stone, and resurrect the physical body of Jesus! That is the miracle of Easter. And I marvel at how God must have accomplished that!

Some might ask, “Why do we need IT in the Church?” Isn’t the Church about people, not information technology? Yes, the focus of the Church is on the salvation of people’s souls. But in order to believe, they have to first hear the Gospel message (ROM 10:14). In the Apostle Paul’s day, the Pax Romana sped the Gospel message around the world. In the 21st Century, it is the Internet that is speeding the Gospel message around the world. The Church needs to take advantage of every resource that it has available, especially technology, in communicating the Gospel.

Some might respond that IT is all well and good, but it is just too expensive. You can quickly spend a lot on IT equipment – money that could be better spent feeding the poor. By the same reasoning, you could argue that instead of a building program, the Church should spend the capitol campaign funds on helping the homeless. Jesus noted that “the poor you will always have with you” MAT 26:11. It is the Church building that enables ministry in a community. So it is with the technology; it enables the Church to communicate the Gospel message clearly in a world of lost souls. And the challenge has never been greater. The Church has to find ways to communicate that rise above the background noise of the culture, so that the Gospel is heard and disseminated. And just as a large Church needs a budget for taking care of its buildings, so it needs a budget for spending money on IT. As John Brandon of Christianity Today put it:

For most churches, Information Technology (IT) is a critical part of ministry. Computers that function correctly, a website that looks professional, and a backup process for sermon notes all help the staff do ministry more effectively, communicate with the congregation, and focus on building relationships.

Giving Tech Its Due posted 3/3/2010.

So the leaders of the Church need to provide funds for IT development, just as they would for keeping the lights on. There needs to be clearly established goals for this, and an appropriate level of priority. In so doing the wise Church will run its ministry to the fullest measure in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. And in the end, that will save money while getting the message out to more people.

Most of the larger Churches have come to recognize that they need IT (i.e. Information Technology.) Indeed, I would assert that there is a correlation between the size of a Church and this need. Megachurches are thus the most needy, but they also reach thousands of people. But is there a higher purpose for IT? Let’s consider it.

The Church originated information sharing – i.e. sharing the Gospel message. In the first century, this was often done in private homes by people witnessing to one another. (After Nero, it was difficult to speak publicly about The Way.) A hundred years ago, street preachers would stand on a corner and just preach the Word. Fifty years ago in the US, the Church was holding great revivals in tents and outdoor stadiums. Now the Church can reach out to a million people with the Word. The difference is the technology involved. From a whisper to the street corner to the stadium to the Internet, the Gospel has been proclaimed.

So the use of the technology within the Church has a Higher Purpose – i.e. communicating the Gospel. Whether by weekly emails from the pastor, or Blog postings on the Church web page, the purpose is the same. The methods and tools have changed with the times, but the Gospel message remains the same. And the more effective we are at using the technology, the better that message is proclaimed. May God use our IT skills to this great cause – that the Gospel will be proclaimed to the ends of the earth!

Christians are blessed with knowledge about the Bible. In a sense, we have never known more about the Bible. We live in an unprecedented era of access to great Biblical research. Millions of books have been written about the Bible – which was the first major book printed on the Gutenberg press in 1455. There is more information available about the Bible than any other ancient book. In a sense, Biblical research has peeled back the darkness of the Middle Ages to take us to the earliest sources. We are blessed by this knowledge.

Also, we have remarkable Bible study tools available. Gone are the days when you had to depend on Crudens Concordance for study – useful though it was! Now you can have the Bible on your smart phone – i.e. in your favorite translation. (It works great for a sword drill!) And you can search the Biblical text for any word combination in any set of books that you can think of. It really makes the Bible a “lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105 NIV).

With all of this great Biblical research available to us, you would think that our knowledge of the Bible as individual Christians would be awesome. Yet there are studies that suggest that Biblical literacy is on the decline. Stephen Prothero even has a test for it, and finds most Americans sorely lacking in this day and age. I suspect that this reflects the shift away from talking about religion in the public arena. The Church needs to do a better job of teaching the Bible. How is your Church increasing Bible literacy in your community? Are you using all of the tools, both in print and software? Or are you just sticking with an emphasis on good preaching?

Which is better for the video projection of lyrics, a moving background or a beautiful color? There is a technical challenge with producing an image of the lyrics that has movement on the screen. While many video switchers have the capability to key an image over a specific color – e.g. dark blue – it can be difficult to put a moving image up. Some presentation software (see our review entitled “Presentation Software Review”) makes this a bit easier to generate. However, does movement add to the worship experience, or detract from it?

Some people find movement distracting – especially if the words blend into a background of the same color. Others find it easier to pay attention to the slides if there is movement behind the words. Feel free to share your comments on this question. It seems likely that larger Churches have an easier time generating moving images, and perhaps they also have more of a demand for this feature.

Want to know how you can improve your Church’s web site? Obviously, you can start surveying members and visitors alike to identify ways to improve. And you should always be listening to what people in the congregation are saying about the site. Do they find it helpful in finding a particular event? Can they identify the staff person responsible for that event? And do they get lost in the menus? These are all good questions to address, but what if you want to look harder? There is a web site the supports a formal review process. You run the review page and it generates a report that helps you focus on areas that need improvement. The link is:

www.internetevangelismday.com/church-site-design.php

And while you’re there, check out the web evangelism event, held the last Sunday in April of every year. It is a time to focus on evangelism through your Church’s web presence.

When you make a New Year’s Resolution, you should ask yourself whether you really are resolved to change. It is all too easy to intend to change, but not really commit to the process of change. And change is a process that takes hard work.

Can technology help us change? Yes, if we’re serious about it. But it takes a willingness to be held accountable for the hard work of changing, whether it be a bad habit or a new discipline. One idea would be to set up a page where people could enter their new year resolves and an eMail. The web site would then track those for 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months. At the end of that time, it could send out an email reminder to help reinforce the change. That way, people could hold themselves accountable to really change.

How do you celebrate the Advent season? It is always a special time in the life of any Church. Advent reminds us to prepare for the coming of the Christ child. And every Church has a rich tradition of Christmas programs and events. But how do you truly prepare for the Christ? The technology can offer some new ways to tell the “Good News” that Christ is born this day! Whether it be a special video, or a full blown Christmas Cantata, the emphasis needs to be on Jesus – the reason for the season. May your Christmas events draw people to the manger in a fresh, new way. Feel free to comment on your innovations in this area.

Does your Church have a policy for outside groups to come in and use the facilities? If so, then does it include clear guidelines for the use of all technical equipment, or do you require them to bring their own? It seems logical to expect that a group that rents a room at the Church would expect to have access to the technology in that room. The question then becomes how do you know that they will take good care of it?

If the room only contains a TV and a DVD player, then there is not much concern. Most people know how to run a DVD player, or they can figure it out. But what about the sanctuary, with audio and video systems? For a wedding, lighting might also enter into the picture. No doubt some Churches require that one of their staff be on site for the event given by the outside group, just to make sure that the technology is not abused.

Those outside the Roman Catholic denomination probably have little appreciation for November 1st – i.e. All Saints Day. Yet it is a Church tradition dating back to the writing of Hebrews 11. It has been celebrated on November 1st since the time of Charlemagne. At it’s best, it recognizes the Christians that have gone before us. They form the great cloud of witnesses spoken of in scripture. At it’s worst, it can become another form of idolatry, with patron saints taking the place of God in our lives.

How should we celebrate this day? Should we have videos and sermons on the subject, or just a few songs that mention it? Can we celebrate it as protestants without subscribing to the corpus of catholic saints? Is there a patron saint for all things technical in ministry? Good questions to ask as this day rolls around again.

Having someone on staff in charge of the assimilation of new members is not enough. Although they may work hard to develop an effective process, and they may bring together the resources needed for that process, some people will only go so far with it. The new member may have ideas of their own as to how much they want to get involved with the new Church. We tend to presume that they want to go 100%, but in reality they have a certain “comfort zone” in mind. How do you discover this degree of assimilation that represents their comfort zone? Well, why not ask them? You can use an online survey for new members to gauge how far they have gone down the path of assimilation. On that basis, you could offer them an opportunity to get involved with a specific ministry in a different way, one that was not listed on the annual ministry opportunities brochure. This opens the door for them to move to the other side of their comfort zone, which is probably the most that can be expected. After all, people have work commitments, family commitments, and commitments to friends and social groups. You want them to be effective in their own style of ministry, be that meals on wheels or an ad hoc outreach to one person who needs them as a friend. Be flexible, and look for ways to involve people the most in things they’ll enjoy doing. The Church as a volunteer community will then really take off!

There are multiple Bible translations in use, and that’s just in english. Which one do you display on your worship screens? All of them are valid translations. The preacher should get to choose, and he can choose different translations for the same sermon. Often times there is a subtle emphasis in one translation versus another. How many Bible translations can you support? Probably not all of them, but with advanced notice, you should be able to support most of them.

As worship spaces have grown, so has the need for powerful video projectors. Various technologies exist, depending on whether you want to use front projection or rear projection. You can use LCD, DLP, or LCoS technology to provide video quality images using a front projector in the worship space. For more information, see the “Projector Basics” article at Church Production Magazine.

http://www.churchproduction.com/go.php/article/4591

The people who come to serve the ministry through technology are a diverse group. Some have great technical skills, but they lack spiritual depth. Others are spiritually mature Christians, but they aren’t always knowledgeable about the technology we use. Seems like there ought to be a happy medium case, where these servants are great at both. But how do you get there?

Christians are called to be mature – i.e. Eph 4:12-13. Those who already are mature should help those who are not, that the “body of Christ may be built up.” Technology has been well developed in the secular world, so that anyone can gain maturity in their technology skills by reading, or going through tutorials, or getting training in specific class settings. We should mentor each other until we are all mature in both our faith and in our technology in the Church!

Some possibilities for this include having a tech team Bible study, training nights to focus on the technology, outside training events in new technology that we are considering implementing, …. The possibilities and the challenges are enormous. And it doesn’t require a huge IT training budget to accomplish this. What it does require is time spent outside the Sunday worship experience, when you can focus on learning. Practice makes perfect, but training is the best kind of practice, for it allows you to make mistakes when nobody is looking! How do you find time to practice? That’s something to comment on.

Where are the lyrics to your congregational music? It used to be that the music director simply announced the page number, and everyone turned in their hymnals to the matching hymn. Everyone read the lyrics at their own reading pace, looking down at their hymn book. Today, in most worship in large Churches, the lyrics are projected onto one or more screens. Everyone looks up to read the words and sing. But how do you decide on the timing of those screens?

A number of presentation programs are geared to congregational singing. Some allow you to set the pacing by recording the sequence. Some will even match the transitions up to a “click track” or metronome beat. Most require that an operator press the “go forward” key at just the right time as the congregation is singing. How do you know the right time to change screens? That is often a matter of style.

IMHO, you should change to the next screen at the point where people are singing the last word on the last line in a slow song, or the first word of the last line in a fast song. The objective should be to give people enough time to read the next line before they have to sing it. When I have been running the lyrics, I have always sought to meet that objective precisely. It just makes it easier for people to follow along and sing.

Of course, some would argue that the congregation probably knows the lyrics anyway, so what difference does it make when you put them up? There will always be someone in the congregation that either doesn’t know the song, or is a little intimidated by singing. For those people, the lyrics are the best way to help them sing out. So the timing of the transitions does matter. For example, it would be ludicrous to switch to the next screen of words after everyone has sung them. And you want to match what the lead singer is singing, so that it reinforces their leadership.

You often have volunteers running the presentation software, so it may be difficult to be consistent. But you should strive to all be following the same rule for timing transitions. That way, people know when to expect the words to change. It will help the whole congregation sing out loud and strong!

Sometimes a cup of water makes all the difference. In many African villages, children walk several miles to bring home water for domestic uses. The
water often comes from a polluted river, erosion ditch, gully, or muddy stream, and brings illness. This impacts the general health of the people in
the village, and is a prime reason why the average life expectancy is only 47.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.”

Christians are making a difference. Through organizations like Christian
Relief Networks, they are bringing clean, disease free water to villages. They honor Christ and bring sanitary conditions to these villages.

Most commercial software is geared around individuals. We need software that is FamilyWare – i.e. specifically designed to support families. This means handling multiple last names, multiple addresses, and multiple phone numbers. It means having a host of email addresses. And all of that information, in whatever structure it takes, must be treated as a whole. How do you do this? It takes a different approach to the development process.