The aisles that guide your congregation to a higher power could lead to slips, trips and falls if you’re not careful. Falls are one of the leading causes of unintentional injuries in the U.S., according to the National Safety Council. Those injuries accounted for about 8.8 million visits to the emergency room in 2013 — a nearly 500,000 drop from about 9.3 million visits to the emergency room in 2011.
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While churches might have to be run like businesses, there are specific needs and flexibility which non-CMS financial management applications just cannot provide. For some, the leading secular accounting software might be the answer — but we suggest otherwise. Here’s why.
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Mark Kitts served as a founding pastor before establishing People Driven Software, which merged with Elexio Church Software. Today, Kitts is Elexio’s Lead Software Architect. Here, he talks about how church management software helps churches with financial management.
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As Part 2 of this “Designing Worship Areas” series begins, let’s reiterate a primary concept from
Part 1: Every church is different. Having restated that precept, let’s now look at the traditional worship space and the elements through which it contributes to a person’s worship experience.
Church members not only look for spiritual leadership from their pastoral staff, but they also have expectations that donations made will be widely used. Often, they expect leadership to provide financial reports produced from a reliable accounting package, verifying their trust.
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What defines good sound? While some might argue that the concept is subjective, there are certain aspects of a good sound system that we can all agree on. Spoken word should be intelligible. Musical performance should be clear and full-range. And sound should be consistent, everywhere in the house.
Of course, addressing these goals will vary widely from one church to another. Are you welcoming your flock in a 1,000-seat sanctuary? Clearly, your needs will differ from a congregation meeting in a 300-seat chapel, an auditorium, or a converted warehouse space.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), arson is the leading cause of fires in the United States, resulting in more than $1 billion in property loss each year. USFA recently reported that approximately 30,500 intentional structural fires occurred over the last year. By nature, places of worship are often easy targets for arsonists. Here’s how to protect your church.
Read More >For nearly 75 years, drivers between the Somerset and Bedford exits on the Pennsylvania Turnpike could park their cars on the berm and walk up the steps to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. But the days when the “Church of the Turnpike,” as it’s known, served as a beacon to road-weary travelers, could be numbered. East of New Baltimore (population 180), heavy equipment signals the start of a highway widening project that will permanently remove the legendary steps.
Read More >How can preachers make adjustments that better prepare them for the transition from one to multiple services? I’ve been a part of such a transition numerous times, and made the transition from two to three, and three to four. I’ve also had to make adjustments for seasons that included preaching live in multiple venues and multiple locations on Sundays. Each season required me to make adjustments — physically, personally and vocationally. While my experience is that the jump from two to three services requires the most adjusting — the jump from one to two services also requires substantial adjustments.
Here are some things I’ve found.
Beginning a seven-part series on worship space design can be a bit intimidating. There are so many avenues to consider, so many topics to discuss, and so many variables which can create completely different outcomes.The most important concept to communicate throughout this series is this: Every church is different. Each church has a DNA which must be honored. This DNA is made up of several factors, or lenses.
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