Confession, an iPhone app aimed at helping Catholics through confession and encouraging lapsed followers back to the faith, has ignited a maelstrom of controversy centered around whether the sacrament of penance can be replaced by a computer application.

Regardless of the theological conundrum swirling around this app, it helps highlight the degree to which technology is ushering in a new era of religion where churches are increasingly heightening relevancy by embracing the cultural shifts and trends associated with digital media.

Technology has played an integral part in the spread of religion throughout the ages. The printing press revolutionized the spread of the Bible; electricity, microphones, then radios and TVs, and of course the Internet – all of these technologies have been used in to spread the message.

All but taken for granted today, these advances at their conception were often revolutionary (and perhaps even met with some resistance). iPhone, iPads, Blackberries, laptops and the apps that populate these gadgets are tools that foster improved efficiency and interactivity as well as enhancing personal convenience. At its core, the use of technology in church isn’t about strategy and values.

Church not a solitary event
Church is more than a building or weekly event and has never been designed as a solitary activity. Most members of our congregation have smart phones linking them to family, business and social networks.

As a long-established and large church with a rich history, First Christian Church in Tulsa, OK, is bringing the benefits of mobility to our congregation of 950 people through a mobile app. The app, available at no cost to everyone, provides the latest real-time information about the church and its child care center, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses of staff, the church newsletter, calendar, service times, prayer requests, and weather cancellations.

It also provides weekly Bible verses from the common lectionary, a Bible program used by many preachers to systematically cover the entire Bible in three years.

The app is used to enhance direct communications with church members, not replace it, while fostering a greater connection between and among the church and its members. It also facilitates an opportunity to reach out to the greater community, keeping them informed of programs within the church.

These new mobile technologies present a way for us to stay in close touch with our congregation and cultivate a deeper connection while simultaneously streamlining our operations.

While the cost of building an app is directly proportional to the scale and the app platforms you are targeting, a 2009 Forrester report set the price of a no-frills app at a minimum of $20,000.

Same less expensively
While many large corporations have spent millions developing applications for proprietary handheld devices, smaller app developers are emerging that empower businesses and organizations of all sizes, including churches, to do the same at a lower cost.

It only took us four to six weeks to develop our app and get it approved for the iPhone at a cost under $2,000 (less costly than building a custom website). The app is based on MacroSolve’s ReFormXT platform, used by schools, including the University of Tulsa, country clubs, healthcare organizations, and businesses. The specific platform designed for church use is known as ChurchInsight.

Just as websites did years ago, mobile apps are popping up at congregations across the nation. A recent search through the iPhone App Store yielded several church applications. With the launch of the iPad, the use of mobile apps will not only solidify but skyrocket.

Rev. Jeremy Skaggs is associate pastor, Youth and Family Ministries at First Christian Church in Tulsa, OK.  www.fcctulsa.org

From its beginnings in the basement of a home on the west side of Colorado Springs, CO, Church For All Nations has always looked to grow and stay on the cutting edge. Today, with an average attendance of about 2,200 each weekend and spread across four locations (two in Colorado Springs; one in Littleton; and one in Liberal, KS), Church For All Nations is a burgeoning multisite congregation that continues to serve its members in a multitude of ways.

Though its growth has been a blessing, it has faced the same challenge shared by many growing multisite churches: the need to be efficient and streamlined without losing touch with individuals across multiple locations, while also branching out beyond the church community to reach new people for Christ. This is where technology has helped bring all four campuses closer together.

Problems to work though
Having four campuses spread out over three cities and two states offers a unique set of problems. For one, trying to track attendance of families at numerous services, Life Groups, and student ministry groups can be difficult. The need to organize all this information at one location also had to be examined and considered before the situation could be resolved.

“We started researching church software and saw that Church Community Builder (CCB) offered many solutions to issues we faced,” says the church’s Carrie Pendleton. “We were excited about the possibility of connecting with this system, with one of the overriding factors being the people oriented approach it provides.”

She adds, “Being able to communicate and connect with people more efficiently across all of our campuses from Colorado to Kansas was of utmost importance.”

As Church For All Nations has grown, the number of families that attend the church has also increased. With the growth in children came new challenges of keeping them safe while attending children’s ministry, youth ministry, or other young adult programs, as well as tracking who was attending which group. The children’s check-in process that CCB offered and its multisite abilities were met with enthusiasm.

Web-based was important
“Some of the key factors that were important to us were that our new system was web-based, it could accommodate multisite churches, and it could break-down check-in for different ministries such as children, youth, and Life Groups, across multiple church locations,” notes Pendleton.

“The use of barcode scanners has been great and keeps the process moving quickly,” she says. “Another great feature is group promotion. This allows us to mass move children to their new class, which is really beneficial each year when children move up a grade in school. We also use multi-site check-in. Through CCB, each campus runs check-in separately from other campuses yet remains within a single core database, which is very important. This has allowed us to track attendance at each of our locations and to have accurate numbers of who is attending each week and who we might need to check in on to make sure things are alright.”

Another area that is vital to church leaders is keeping up on new attendees and following up to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks.

“Our new system has some great reports for tracking families,” says Pendleton. “We can now easily see when parents or children have missed services so we can proactively connect with them to make sure all is well. We are also able to easily identify first-time visitors and quickly initiate a follow-up process to help them feel welcomed and cared for.”

Overall, Pendleton says their new technology has afforded the congregation the opportunity to interact with families on a regular basis and keep track of when its members attend services, as well as provided parents with a feeling of security. Additionally, they have all the necessary management tools and solutions necessary to effectively empower four church locations within a single system.

In recent years, multisite churches have become one of the fastest areas of church growth and continues to be one of the best ways for churches to expand and reach out within and beyond their communities. Church For All Nations has done a great job of leveraging technology to support a multi-site strategy for reaching more people with the Good News.

Lauren Hunter owns Lauren Hunter Public Relations, a communications firm in Roseland, CA, dedicated to the faith-based technology market.
[ www.ChurchTechToday.com ] [ www.lhpr.net ]

For all healthy, growing churches, the process of proactively connecting with first-time visitors is absolutely essential. The term assimilation, while sterile and impersonal, actually describes an important aspect of connecting people to your church and to the core ministry where life change occurs. The visitors you see each and every Sunday allow a church to continue to grow and an infusion of new, passionate members is vital to the mission of any church.

For a new church, effective assimilation is the only way to grow a church from the ground up. Finding and incorporating the correct tools to identify a visitor and then consistently following up with them could mean the difference between a growing, vibrant church or experiencing decreasing members when disciples fall through the cracks.

Tracking is essential
Tracking, contacting and following-up on your visitors, new attendees and even regular attendees can be difficult and time-intensive. Yet, it beats having to hear the stories of those who came once but stopped coming back. Many churches have begun to use technology to help stay on top of this time-consuming task. While these programs range in capabilities, sophistication and price, most churches have found that having some type of solution for tracking attendees and new visitors is now a necessity.

One of these churches is Albany Grove Church in Albany, OR. In October of 2009, Albany Grove sprouted as a fresh church plant with a desire to have a follow-up process in place that would allow them to build their church from the ground up, and prevent people from falling through the cracks.

One of the first things Associate Pastor Darrell Mishler did was to customize Albany Grove’s church management system to support their attendance tracking process. They added three custom date fields: 1) one field for first time guests, 2) another field for second time guests and 3) a third for third time guests.

As a visitor to a church, you want to feel welcomed and cared for. You want to know that you matter and belong. It is for this reason Albany Grove asks each visitor to fill out a card. The information received on these cards is entered into the church management system (in this case Church Community Builder), and the first of the boxes is used by putting the date of their first visit; this initiates a “first-timer process.”

First-timers
“We devised a (manually operated) process so that when a ‘first-timer’ was entered they received a ‘welcome email,’ then the senior pastor was automatically notified and then sent a hand-written note with a ‘coffee card,’” notes Mishler. “Finally, the visitor was added to a ‘30-day call back’ group. Their responses clearly show us how encouraged people are because of the process. The church developed a similar process for second and third-time attenders.”

Autumn Ridge Church in Rochester, MN also has used its web-based church management system to make sure new visitors are contacted quickly after their first visit.

“We are constantly hearing reports from new visitors about how quickly we recognize that they have visited the church and how we stay in contact with them,” says TJ Schultz, technology minister for Autumn Ridge.

A rule of thumb
Connecting people and impacting lives is reason enough to invest the necessary time and energy in developing an effective follow-up process, regardless of whether or not you empower it with technology. If you factor in the economic benefits, the potential ROI on good technology is significant. A rule of thumb (based on research in 2010) is that each member person will give an average of $1,000 per year to the church. While it takes a while for a first time visitor to mature into a giving Christian, it can happen much faster when people feel cared for as a result of good follow-up.

“Using the processes that we created within our church management system for first, second and third-time visitors, our church plant went from 100 who were our founding group, to more than 300 in regular attendance,” Mishler says.

Effective follow-up has helped drive a growth rate of more than 200 percent for their ministry.

Lauren Hunter is a freelance writer, church technology consultant and hosts the blog ChurchTechToday. www.churchcommunitybuilder.com www.laurenhunter.net

When four-year-old The Community Fellowship Church in Collinsville, VA, began looking to implement a church management system for its growing congregation, the leaders knew that it was important not only to find a system that worked for the internal needs of the church, but also for outreach to its community where the unemployment rate is more than 20 percent.

The community was heavy in textile and furniture industries, but lost 90 percent of what was once there.

One of the main features that Lead Pastor Michael Harrison promotes within his church is encouraging groups to connect with each other, as well as with other groups in the area.

“One of our biggest outreach projects we offer our community is our ‘back2school’ event,” notes Harrison. “We were able to create a process so that leaders can connect with other groups in the community to provide backpacks, school supplies and haircuts.

“We also wash the feet of every child and provide shoes through Samaritan’s Feet, giving us time to talk and get to know each and every child, find out what their circumstances are and how we can help. We use the process to check-in and register every child and keep track of all their information so that we can continue to help them throughout the year and see where they’re at,” Harrison says.

Another large project that’s on the verge of coming to fruition for the congregation is the Community Dream Center, a homeless shelter and discipleship/transition program for men. Harrison says there are 140 such centers worldwide, each unique to providing for the specific needs in the community.

“The goal with the Community Dream Center is to fill a hole in our community’s services. There are a number of programs for women and children, but nothing that touches and works with underserved men who need help,” notes Harrison.

All of this is being coordinated and facilitated through the ChMS system of Church Community Builder (CCB).  “Through CCB’s help, we are reaching and connecting with other such groups in the community to let them know that we will be offering a homeless shelter, life rehab, and coming in the future, a mobile food bank. We are able to connect and partner with groups that will be working with us, such as the Virginia Department of Economic Services as well as other churches and outreach groups in the area.”

“Our main goal was to find a tool that would allow us to serve, track and help our community,” says Harrison. “Church Community Builder (CCB) seemed to meld traditional desktop-based ChMS features with Web 2.0 online features such as online access, social community, collaboration and discussion forms — everything that was needed to meet our goal of helping those in need and also track how the attendees in our congregation were growing.”

Social outreach is another area where CCB is helping Harrison and the church. “We are able to keep up on what is happening in the lives of our congregation so that our leaders can stay connected,” he says. “It also allows our attendees to partner with us by allowing them to update their personal information and tell us what they are good at so we may place their skill sets in the proper need areas of our church.”

Harrison says that building community is what God has asked his church to commit to and technology is helping them accomplish this dream.

“This is the best way to communicate and minister effectively,” he adds. “Our church is now building community in new and exciting ways. We have a level of communication and accountability that we’ve never had before,” Harrison says.

Churches can use technology to create efficiencies and make it possible for ministry leaders and volunteers to stay focused on people in need, not administration.

Lauren Hunter is a freelance writer, church technology consultant and founder of the blog ChurchTechToday, Technology for Today’s Church. www.churchcommunity.com

By Marisa Vallbona

When The Rock Church in San Diego, CA, wanted to offer its members a more relevant giving experience, the leadership turned to Mogiv, a new mobile giving technology that enables givers to donate any amount from any device at any time. The church reasoned that if it made giving easier, its congregation would give more readily — and it’s working.

Mogiv enables organizations to empower their donors by providing multiple ways to give, including text to give, email to give, and online giving. Central to the Mogiv platform is the patent-pending GivUp functionality, which allows donors to “GivUp” a discretionary purchase and instantly redirect the resources to the organization of their choosing, thereby “Giving Up” those funds to a greater cause.

According to The Rock’s senior pastor, Miles McPherson, “This church has always leveraged technology in an effort to establish pervasive hope in San Diego and around the globe.  By launching our campaign, we wanted to bring our daily spending habits into alignment with the needs we’re meeting in the community and around the world.”

Communication tools
The Rock Church, a church of 12,500 in five Sunday services, wanted to leverage a technology that could not only scale with their growth, but also provided compelling communication tools.

According to James Lawrence, co-founder of Mogiv and chief information officer for The Rock Church, “Ever since the first mobile text donation was made, nonprofits have been enamored with the idea of mobile giving, yet frustrated with the fact that it was limited to small amounts of $5 and $10, and basically anonymous. Caring for donors is one of the most important aspects of any nonprofit. If you don’t know who gave, it’s difficult to show them your appreciation. Mogiv enables The Rock to raise funds and take good care of our donors.”

Nonprofits like The Rock Church are using Mogiv to leverage mobile giving, e-giving and social media without monthly fees, set-up or support fees. In fact, it costs them 44 cents, the price of a postage stamp, to receive donations from givers. Merchant processing fees are paid by the nonprofit and typically total less than 3 percent, including the Mogiv fee. Givers pay zero fees to make the donation.

The church easily tracks the flow of giving by weekly reviewing the Mogiv reports dashboard.  All transactions are in real-time and can be viewed as they happen by The Rock’s accounting team.

Invested in the community
“We’re pioneering a new and sustainable approach to mobile giving, and making an impact on people’s lives at the same time. Hundreds of items have been given up and those funds have been redirected towards The Rock’s ministry efforts. Recently a GivUp donation was made to the church by a donor who said they gave up spending $25 on a destructive habit and decided to give it to The Rock instead,” says Lawrence.

In fact, since the congregation started using Mogiv in October 2010, its fundraising has increased. During the first few weeks of their campaign, the church had more than 600 GivUp pledges and now plans to make the platform part of its annual stewardship strategy.

Marisa Vallbona is a public relations specialist in Southern California. www.Mogiv.com

A new generation of software makes collecting and using data so much easier.

Churches know that their websites and online presence are necessary and helpful to share and receive information from members and staff.  A church without a website today is almost unheard of, and many tools have been created to make website creation easy. Still frustrating though is making a church website a useful tool for collecting valuable data from site visitors and the congregation.

Appropriate data collection can greatly increase responsiveness from church and website visitors.  Churches around the world attempt to collect basic contact information, commitments  and attendance information on the weekends. For a number of reasons, people don’t get around to providing this information. Whether it is lack of a pen or just ambivalence, today’s technologies can help increase this data collection.

There are many churches seeking signups and data for event registrations for the latest mission trip or weekend gathering.  Simpler data collection can continue to break down barriers to getting this data. Finally, collecting money for these events, or even for regular and one-time giving, can be halted because the right intentions still didn’t lead to bringing the checkbook to church.

Using the data
Even the church that is expert at collecting data through paper forms is required to figure out how to use the data. A typical Monday morning has churches around the nation using volunteers to type data into a computer-based system so that it can be used. Even then the data can’t always easily make the leap into the systems that track giving, newsletter subscriptions or attendance management.

Like the tools that make it easier to create websites, a new generation of software makes collecting and using data so much easier. Often referred to as SaaS, or software as a service, these tools are located completely online, thus making them extremely accessible, allowing you to initially use the products for free, and typically integrate with your website with great ease.  Today’s online web apps also allow almost any user, even with little technical background, to implement the software.

Every year, Church at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, hosts many events including Bible studies, kid’s camps, Vacation Bible School, dinners, and much more. With so many events taking place in and around the church, an online application was needed to easily and quickly organize and collect information for each event. The existing process included using paper forms and having them mailed back in, along with a payment for each event. This process was time consuming, and getting the form in the hands of the right person was always a difficult task.

Looking for a solution
When the staff decided to do a website overhaul, Worship Pastor Chuck Jones knew it was the right time to begin looking for an online form solution.

Before the new website redesign took place, Jones did a Google search for online event registration forms and found a number of tools available to help. After reviewing all of the companies listed in the search, Jones selected Formstack, one of the form builders he thought to be the best value, considering the features and price.

Online form builders provide a great path for collecting data. Whether it is a one-time poll, survey, contact form, event registration, or even online giving, there is a form builder to simplify that process. Once the form is built, connecting it to your site can come in the form of a link or HTML and JavaScript embeds, creating the forms can keep the professional look and feel of the church website.

Good integration
Of the form-building options available today, the most effective integrate with complementary products. For instance, churches collect contact information for an eventual end goal. The best products will allow a visitor to enter their contact information online and then click submit. Once the data is received, behind the scenes the form can be built to automatically add the person to the email newsletter or to the church CRM.

Or, in another instance, a regular attendee might prefer to give online. Setting up debit/credit card giving can be very time-consuming and costly. Rather than going through that headache, find a form-builder that integrates with one of the basic payment providers like PayPal or even a more robust Authorize.Net or FirstData.

Church at Charlotte in the past 30 years has grown from a small rural church to a 2,200-member church. Once the new website went live, event registrations, feedback forms, and surveys all took place by using the online form builder. Not only does the application save the staff many hours, the use of features, such as conditional logic and smart routing, has also made it easier for the right person to receive the form once it has been submitted, reducing the task of finding out where the form needs to be.

Chris Byers is CEO of Formstack LLC, Indianapolis, IN. www.Formstack.com

By Lauren Hunter

For Jim Gum, executive pastor at Heartland Community Church in Olathe, KS, just connecting with people and getting phone numbers was a challenge when he first joined the church. “We didn’t have an updated directory, and our office administrator had gone home for the night. I couldn’t get the phone number for a member I wanted to help in my ministry,” Gum says.

Today, Heartland has a thriving Facebook presence and relies on its “MyHeartland” branded church management system to keep valuable data at everyone’s fingertips and allow people within the church to connect with one another and the pastoral staff.

“Trying to find tools – whether through social media or church management systems – that support the way you ‘do church’ is related to how you improve the way your church stewards and disciples people,” Gum says. “Spending time and money on quality organizational tools actually translates into greater ministry impact.”

Where does it fit?
Almost everyone is having the conversation about how social media fits into the church communication and management landscape. How can a church’s management software, Facebook page, Twitter feed, Google group, and other points of contact all contribute and work cohesively to effectively communicate and draw people into the church fold?

While it seems that Internet applications, websites, and management tools are making the process more complicated, some solutions clarify and streamline. While many Christian remakes of Facebook-like applications are born each day, some church management systems are already filling the need of social media management within their existing software.

“We don’t feel there is a need to recreate a ‘church’ version of Facebook; Facebook already exists and works well,” says Steve Caton, vice president for Church Community Builder. “What churches need is a place to drive the conversation deeper, where they feel a sense of security. Most people are not going to engage in a deep spiritual conversation on Facebook or any other online community unless it is private and secure.”

The firm’s web-based church management system (ChMS) provides social media tools within its software platform to help people have in-depth and more private conversations than its Facebook counterpart.

“It’s a both/and, not either/or. The two – a church’s ChMS and Facebook page – can coexist to share brief updates, open event invitations, pictures and videos you don’t mind going public. But the intimate stuff – detailed prayer requests, questions about discipleship and real needs – should be discussed in a safe place,” he notes.

Think through the process
Church communicators certainly have their work cut out for them. It’s becoming increasingly important to think through the process to ensure your church body is cared for with discretion.

Cynthia Ware, executive director, Center for Church Communication, says: “Handshakes between Facebook and ChMS make sense because churches need access to data such as, attendance and giving records, addresses, phone numbers, birthdays and the like, but they also hope for cyberspaces where safe conversations can go deeper, create instant prayer requests and develop and foster relationships that provide a sense of value to members.”

For churches that use a private online community, one of the best ways to blend a congregations’ use of Facebook and their church-only network is to post hyperlinks on Facebook that lead deeper discussions over to the church’s private church management system group. For instance, if your women’s ministry group posts a question about struggles or Christian growth, they can simply insert the link on Facebook, and when members click the link, they login the church’s management system and continue the discussion there. It’s a simple solution to start the conversation in a public forum and drive people to a private group where they can share and connect more in depth.

Lauren Hunter is a church technology public relations consultant in Roseville, CA.
[ www.laurenhunter.net; www.churchtechtoday.com ]

In scripture, the concept of making things easier, safer and generally better is often captured with the image of making straight paths for your feet, as when Solomon advises his son (Proverbs 11:5). As any pastor I’ve known would acknowledge, ministry itself has many ravines, mountains and crooked paths. Ministers must implement processes to minimize risks and provide tools that are readily available to staff and volunteers.

One of the tools you can use to overcome obstacles to effective ministry is church management software. Arena is a browser based, shared-source church ministry system from Shelby Systems, and it offers tremendous benefits to managing the volunteer-related aspects of a ministry. The program provides volunteers access to information and tools that can be accessed anywhere, anytime and on any Internet platform. The Arena Select suite, introduced in June 2010, has been optimized to meet the needs of medium to large-sized churches.

Valuable volunteers

Volunteer management can be a deep ravine in ministry, as it is often a time-consuming process. However, given that volunteers are literally the hands and feet of ministry, effectively managing volunteers is essential.

One of the most labor-intensive tasks in volunteer management is putting the right people in the right positions, especially if your church is blessed with a large membership and a correspondingly large children’s ministry.

Before any other consideration, many churches run background checks on volunteers who work with children. Software that integrates with a service, such as Arena Select does with Protect My Ministry, can greatly simplify that process. Of course, you also want to put the people with the right spiritual gifts into suitable positions.

Another crucial aspect of volunteer management is communication. As electronic communication has become more and more prevalent, and indeed for some it is now the preferred medium for information, computer-based tools for facilitating that communication are essential.

By keeping your volunteer data in one database software package, you provide a single point of reference for e-mail addresses, Web addresses, cell phone numbers, SMS, and all other contact information. This reduces the chance that someone’s change of address will fall through the cracks.

Getting data into the database is only half the story. The other half is getting the data out in a meaningful and timely manner. Your data management software should easily generate key indicator reports that keep your finger on the pulse of the ministry activity, such as attendance statistics, income and expense tracking, volunteer placement statuses and more.

One of the most enjoyable parts of my job is working with users to create customized reports that give them the information they need at the touch of a button. Of course, not all reports are elaborate enough to require the creation of custom reports. Even routine tasks such as printing contact lists and rosters are easier with management software.

Efficiency and accuracy

Of course “easier” is not the same as “effortless.” Nothing will make ministry effortless, but there are many ministry functions that software can help you do with significantly improved efficiency and accuracy.

As critical as volunteer management and money management are, where the “rubber meets the road” on Sunday morning is in classroom management. The three areas where church management software can boost the effectiveness of classroom management are speed, security and safety.

Check-in kiosks with barcode scanners or touch-screen monitors greatly increase the speed of the children’s check-in process, allowing parents to check in their own children as they arrive. Most churches that have implemented automated check-in stations see marked improvement of the speed of the process over manual methods. Of course, an attended station for visitors and for helping out when problems arise is still an important part of the check-in strategy.

Most churches have a check-in procedure for children, whether automated or not, because they want to provide security and verify the identity of the person dropping off and — even more important — picking up the children after services are over. Check-in and check-out is a way to keep the children safe from estranged parents and others with malicious intent. The automated systems generally make use of a security label or receipt printed at the time of checking in and presented in order to pick up the child.

Biometric scanning

One enhancement to the Arena software is support for biometric fingerprint scanning as a way to check children or families in and out. Because fingerprints are nearly impossible to fake (Hollywood not withstanding), and because no one would forget his own finger (unlike the ID cards many ministries use), fingerprint scanning is currently the fastest and most secure method of children’s check-in available.

Even after the children get to the classroom, it is critical to maintain a safe and edifying environment for the children. Information such as medical conditions, allergies and behavioral annotations, may be added to the children’s records in the software system. Often this information is printed on the check-in receipt, but it can be printed on class roll sheet as well.

Have you heard of BASF? It is a chemical company; their products are polysyllabic scientific terms that few people can pronounce let alone understand. Their work is entirely behind the scenes of consumer experience; no one will ever point proudly to a car or television or any other product and say, “BASF made that.” But a few years ago they had an ad campaign that summed up their role perfectly: “At BASF, we don’t make a lot of the products you buy; we make a lot of the products you buy better!”

Church management software is a lot like that. It is entirely behind the scenes of most ministry work. Management software doesn’t greet parents with a smile or encourage a hesitant child or make colorful illustrations of Bible stories. It does not pray for people, encourage the struggling, or deliver meals to the homebound, but it can increase the odds that all those things happen.

Geoff Johnson is the education team lead at Shelby Systems Inc., Cordova, TN.  www.shelbyinc.com

Working the IT role from megachurch to ‘mega-company’

Churches should be upgrading their Internet connection to further ministry, says the technology director of Shelby Systems.

By Ronald E. Keener

After 14 years in IT work with a megachurch, Mike Gold decided to put his practical, hands-on experience to work for a leading corporate firm where he can work with dozens of megachurches.

Mike Gold served in technology roles at Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, IL, since 1996, more recently as CIO where he led all aspects of computer and telecommunications technology. There he had a staff of 20 members and 70 volunteers, and the department was responsible for creating long-term strategy for technology innovation, technical support, infrastructure and software development.

Today Gold is with Shelby Systems as director of Technology Development. Fresh off the megachurch field, Church Executive asked Gold what he would advise congregations today.

“If I had one piece of advice I would give to churches it would be to upgrade their Internet connection. There are countless systems out there to help ministry efforts, many of them hosted solutions.

“The old 768k DSL line just isn’t enough,” Gold says. “It surprises me how many churches still have these old connections.”

What do you feel is the biggest improvement that membership systems need to take to get us to the next level?

First, the overall philosophy of systems needs to change.This is a much broader topic than membership systems. Thirty years ago technology was relegated to support corporate operational processes alone, 15 years ago promotional Web initiatives were added to computer technology ranks, and less than 10 years ago it started to become normal social/collaborative interactions to be facilitated by computer technology.

In short, today, technology supports and/or facilitates the  whole gambit of organizational and personal functionality along with many personal and organizational processes and interactions we work through on a day-to-day basis.

I see the best of these concepts coming together around personalized user experiences.  I would like to see the best risk management practices of IT, the  open innovation of social technology and the  creativity of  promotional marketing technology all come together for the sake of offering better overall solutions for users.

Secondly, platforms need to change. Organizations need the best of both worlds. They need the flexibility and in some cases the off-line security management of locally installed systems along the scalability and online accessibility of hosted, SaaS  systems. There is no-longer one platform that meets all needs. Organizations need systems that can talk to each other without writing complex batch and real-time interfaces.

Technology has become way too personalized, way too consumer focused to constrain technology to one or two platforms per organization. Standardization is still important. It is just that the focus of standardization must be across platforms.

Furthermore, while old concepts like security, functionality and content relevance are still important, how users access functionality and content are most critical, and platforms need to allow for radical changes to user experiences while requiring little to no changes to business functionality.

Finally, processes need to change. Too much time is spent on figuring out software features that are seldom used. While long-term road map, strategic planning and project management philosophies need to be in place for organizations to use technology effectively, I still believe that more creative processes need to be added to good solid software development life cycle rigors.

I believe if more organizations adopted methodologies like Agile SCRUM they would get more out of their technology solutions. Most organizations are simply changing too quickly to take on multi-year software development projects.

Willow has the Arena product that Shelby produces for large churches. How do you describe your depth of experience gained at Willow Creek?

At all levels Willow Creek places a strong value on innovation and change. This entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with a deep conviction Jesus really can make a difference in our world through his church, made for an amazing if not constant growth experience. It would be easy for me to say that through the size and scope of Willow Creek’s infrastructure, staff, volunteer base and overall community, that  I have had more than my share of experience working with countless technologies and systems in my time there.

Where do you see the future of church management software heading?

I envision open frameworks with individualized accessibility on the mobile level, where content delivery and interactivity are all personalized. I also see the value of face-to-face, human-to-human relational interaction rising to new levels, while the use of technology to facilitate connecting with people will also continue to rise.

When hiring for the IT position

First, I consider a church IT director/manager to be a pastor. He or she must follow the biblical guidelines for church leaders as outlined in 1 Timothy 3. A wise friend taught me that one should never be elevated to a level of responsibility that is beyond their level of character. I consider the responsibility of stewarding the information and technology of a church to require the utmost integrity and character.

Second, they must be a 360 degree leader. Today’s technology managers have to influence decisions in all directions — staff, volunteers, leadership, etc.

Third, they must be a skilled manager. Leaders don’t always make great managers. In this day and age the technology director/manager has to be both. I recommend Ken Blanchard situational leadership or some other formal and rigorous management training.

Fourth, and just as important, the technology manager must have sharp technical skills. They may not be an expert in all aspects of the technology they lead, but I believe that today’s technology leaders need to be at least versed in all they manage.

Fifth, today’s technology leaders have to be good communicators at all levels. They have to know when and when not to go into too many details and when and when not to communicate high level vision.

By Jennifer Michalek

Although you have probably heard the word Twitter many times, chances are that it remains an abstract concept in your mind. So let’s begin by first describing what it is and then we’ll look at how churches like yours are embracing this tool as a means to connecting with their followers.

Twitter is an online social networking and micro-blogging tool that allows people to send “tweets,” or text-based messages of up to 140 characters that are delivered to other users, known as followers. Tweets can be sent through different mediums such as cell phones and the Web. They appear on the owner’s Twitter profile page and broadcast out to the owner’s followers. If your church has a Facebook page, you can use Twitter to update your Facebook status, or, conversely, you can send your updates from Facebook out to Twitter.

The social networking component of Twitter is that it allows users to become followers of each other and to receive their messages.  It also allows followers to retweet messages, which spreads your message even further.

“Who has time?”

Many of us hear the word Twitter, and think, “Who has time for that?” Don’t assume that Twitter is a platform just for teens, narcissists or those with too much time on their hands.

However, churches are beginning to use Twitter to promote their events, to call for feedback, to provide commentary and to spread the Word. Twitter offers a direct way to communicate important information to those who want to receive it. It is a tool that allows churches to quickly, and succinctly, communicate with their followers. And better yet, it costs nothing.

“There is an investment of time, of course. When you are first learning, it requires more time. After that, I would say we spend about six hours per week on social media, including Twitter,” says Rob Cizek, executive pastor of Northshore Christian Church in Everett, WA.

Twitter and Your Church

Churches can use Twitter in a variety of ways to compliment traditional communication tools. Northshore Church, for example, tweets about food drives, Pastor Ken’s “A Beautiful Mind Series,” live online services, scripture and special events. “It’s a dynamic way for us to communicate with our congregation,” says Cizek.

12 Stone Church Lawrenceville, GA, with a congregation of 9,000, has about 740 Twitter followers and not all of them attend their services. “Connecting through social media gives the community a safe way to check us out. They are able to get a sense of our heart and mission before they ever walk through our doors,” says Donna Witten, 12 Stone’s director of communications.

“Through Twitter, we have been able to quickly respond to questions, connect volunteers, and by using the search feature on any mention of 12Stone, we are able to keep an eye on our brand. We can even see what first-time visitors thought of our service,” adds Whitten.

Twitter can be used by anyone. Therefore, pastors, guest speakers, attendees and even non-participants can tweet about your events and services. In fact, you may be surprised to find that members of your congregation have tweeted about your events even before you have.

Make use of Twitter in the following ways:

Scripture: By quoting scripture, many churches use Twitter to regularly lift the spirit of their followers and to spread the Word.

Events: Announce upcoming events such as opportunities for baptism.

Generate interest and define an agenda: Speakers can tweet to build enthusiasm for their talk or to find out what attendees hope to get out of it.

After-service follow-up: Remind your congregation of the resources mentioned  during services by posting links to more information.

Request help: Ask for volunteers, donations, or prayers.

Live coverage: Through live-coverage commentary about events, you can include people who were unable to participate. For those who chose not to participate,  live-coverage Tweets might entice them to join you next time.

Site traffic: As a viral tool, Twitter directs traffic to your Web site. By asking your followers to tweet about something your church is doing, your news will quickly be  sent far beyond your Twitter reach.

Job postings: If your church or someone in your congregation is hiring, or if  someone is looking for a job, you can use Twitter to announce it.

Branding: A benefit of Twitter is that it can establish your church as a personality that is connected, dynamic and approachable.

Feedback: Through Twitter’s search feature and services such as TweetDeck,  you can “listen” to what is being said about your church.

Develop a strategy

Like many social media tools, Twitter requires an ongoing investment. It needs to fit within your overall communications mix. In addition, you need to identify how you expect it to support your initiatives.

“Before you start using Twitter, you should have a strategy. You have to think about what you hope to accomplish by using Twitter. Otherwise, it’s just one more thing to do,” says Cizek. “I would encourage other churches that are just starting to tweet to focus on quality over quantity. Sure, you need to remain active, but don’t overwhelm your audience.”

Here are some specific components to include in your plan:

1. Identify your audience (current and potential). What kind of resources and information do they want from you?

2. Define your objectives. What do you hope to achieve by using Twitter? For example, do you want to engage your followers, grow your community, promote your events, or perhaps all of those?

3. Develop your overall message. What do you want to accomplish through your messages? For example, do you want to inform your followers, inspire them, call them to action, or simply connect with them?

4. Define the process. How will it be administered? How much time will be allocated? Will you develop a weekly or monthly editorial calendar for Tweets? What policies should be followed?

5. Identify how you will measure your results. Evaluate your results against your objectives. Did you increase attendance at an event through Twitter? Did you see an increase in video downloads?

Start building followers

Like other social media tools, your church’s Twitter following will build over time. Start by signing up at Twitter.com. Once you have a profile, conduct a search on the site using terms related to your church to see what content already exists. Seek examples of how similar churches are using Twitter.

Once you have started using Twitter, start educating your members about your Twitter presence. Remember, in a tight economy, leveraging free social media tools allows churches to maximize their reach without breaking their budgets.

Jennifer Michalek is a freelance writer and the chief communications officer of a national medical society in Chicago, IL.

• twitter.com/12Stone
• twitter.com/northshorecc
• twitter.com/willowcreekcc
• twitter.com/liquidchurch