Applying Tomorrow`s Technology to Today`s Ministry

Transcription

Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Steve Hewitt - [email protected]
Managing Editor
Kevin Cross - [email protected]
Applying Tomorrow’s Technology to Today’s Ministry
Volume 25
October 2013
No. 10
4 cover story
Contributing Editors
Yvon Prehn
Nick Nicholaou
Kevin A. Purcell
Russ McGuire
Michael L White
CCMag’s 2013 ChMS Overview!
By Steve Hewitt
Copy Editors
Gina Hewitt
Magen Cross
3 Editorial
A New Tradition
Our November Issue Will Be Our Support Services Overview!
Corporate Home Office
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© Copyright 2013 by Christian Computing®, Inc.
Simple Yet Sage Advice
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Three Reasons to Use the Bible Study App by Olive Tree By: Susan Codone
Ministry Leadership
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Christian Computing® is a registered trademark
of Christian Computing, Inc. Written materials
submitted to Christian Computing® Magazine
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31 Church Windows Software
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the right to make any changes to materials submitted for publication that are deemed necessary
Accordance 10 for Windows and Mac
The Power And The Danger
3D Printers 39 Digital Evangelism
Kevin A. Purcell – [email protected]
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for editorial purposes. The content of this publi-
Higher Power With Kevin
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By: Russ McGuire - [email protected]
Digital Evangelism with E-Sword (Part 4)
42 Ministry Communication
The Latest in Evangelistic Trends: International Arms Trafficking!
Nick Nicholaou - [email protected]
Christian Computing® Magazine
form without the express permission of Christian
Computing®, Inc. Views expressed in the articles
and reviews printed within are not necessarily
the views of the editor, publisher, or employees
of Christian Computing® Magazine, or Christian
Computing, Inc.
By: Michael White
How Technology Helps or Hurts the Process of Recruiting Volunteers in Your Church Yvon Prehn - [email protected]
45 Nick At Church
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October 2013
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editorial
A New Tradition
Our November Issue Will Be Our
Support Services Overview!
This is our 25th year of publishing Christian Computing Magazine, and
frankly I don’t remember when we first
started designating our October issue as
our ChMS Overview, but I love to read
through and see what all of the ChMS
companies have added to their services,
and appreciate those that give us a look at
what is coming down the road. We are now
going to do something similar in our November issue each year!
Starting next month, we are going to
ask all of our other sponsors in CCMag to
provide us an update of what’s going on
with their company/services/programs!
This means next month companies like
OneCallNow, NCS Services, ThirtySeven4, American Church, Liturgical Publications, StreamingChurch, Solomon and
others, will get a chance to drop us a note
to update us on what they have been doing,
and what they are working on. I think it is
something we can all benefit from reading.
I know that most sponsors in our magazine merit a review, but with technology
today, things don’t stand still long. By providing a yearly overview, we will all have
a better chance of keeping up on what’s
happening, especially with the companies
that are seeking to provide software and
support for the church market!
In January 2014, we will have completed 25 years of publishing Christian Computing Magazine. In that issue, we will be
announcing something very special. It will
be an ongoing theme for the entire year!
Technology always changes, evolves and
adapts, and we seek to do the same here at
CCMag!
Together We Serve Him,
Steve Hewitt
[email protected]
October 2013
3
cover story
CCMag’s 2013
ChMS Overview!
By Steve Hewitt
I
t’s that time again! Each year we dedicate our October issue to allow ChMS
companies the opportunity to let our readers know what they have been doing,
as well as what they are working on for the future. I specifically ask them not
to simply include a list of features, since this is accomplished in our live ChMS
Feature Chart http://www.ccmag.com/cms/index.php?chartid=1.
What we did ask them to share was a little about what they have accomplished
this last year in adding new features, services, or support. We asked them to share
with you what makes them a bit unique from their competition, and we asked
them to share what they might have coming in the near future. I hope you will
learn more about what ChMS can do for your church by having this information
from so many ChMS companies, all in one article. Enjoy!
ACS Technologies
Jesus gave us a mission: “Go and make disciples.” But in a changing, fast-paced, always-on
world, how does the church fulfill this unchanging call to action? Traditionally, church management software (ChMS) helped staff manage the
“going” of the church.
But traditional ChMS is dying.
Today’s church understands that we don’t
just go to church, we must also go and be the
church, doing ministry all day, every day, and
everywhere. Like the mission Jesus gave us,
church is no longer restricted to Sundays…it’s
a 24/7 calling. Here at ACS Technologies, we
know that this requires new and better tools to
help you “go.”
Imagine a tool set that equips your whole
church to go and love God and others in real
time, all the time. Where people don’t just attend
church but are the church every day of the week.
A vibrant community where everyone is connected throughout the week. Where vital information
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about finances, members, groups,
and ministries can be accessed
on any device, and available at a
moment’s notice – always accurate, always updated, and always
in real time. Does this sound like
your church? It can be.
We’re building seamless,
shared data to make a complete
management and engagement tool
set that will empower your whole
church for ministry. These tools,
working together, will mobilize
your people with the power of a
unified, smart ministry management solution that both connects
and informs your whole church.
For over 35 years, ACS Technologies has led the way in ministry management solutions. With
over 50,000 clients, we understand
that each church is in a different
stage. Whatever that stage is, we
have a tool set that can help you.
ACS: Trusted by thousands
of churches nationwide, ACS is
the #1 church management software solution in the US helping
you keep all your church’s details
organized. With ACS OnDemand,
you get cloud benefits and you
can use your Mac or PC.
Access ACS: Building on the
foundation of ACS, Access ACS
opens your congregation to online tools to support ministry in
groups, volunteers, or events.
Online Giving: Encourage your
church members to be good stewards of their resources with ACS
online giving and contributions.
PDS: PDS (Parish Data System) is the top software choice for
Catholic parishes, dioceses, and
schools. With PDS OnDemand,
you can use PDS software anytime, anywhere with an internet
connection.
HeadMaster: Specifically
designed for private schools,
daycares, and childcare facilities,
Don’t miss
another visitor!
October 2013
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HeadMaster software manages all of your administrative details and communication needs in
one integrated database.
The City: The City is our ministry management tool to help churches connect members
and visitors in today’s world. The City is a
robust engagement solution now available for all
churches.
Realm: Realm is our next generation whole
church ministry management solution that informs and connects the church in today’s world,
built on the belief that everyone on your staff
and in your congregation should be empowered, any time, all the time, and anywhere with
the most up-to-date information. This uniquely
powerful combination gives you complete management and complete engagement for the whole
church in one web-based, totally mobile cloud
solution.
While different churches are in different stages, everyone has the same goal in mind: to go
and make disciples. You’re called to go. We’re
here to help. Learn how you can mobilize your
ministry today.
ACTIVE Faith
What’s New with ACTIVE Faith’s Fellowship
One ChMS?
In the past two years, the company that
brought Fellowship One to the foreground of
the ChMS industry has evolved in a number of
ways, always with the goal of better supporting
churches in the work they do for the kingdom.
2013 growth continues to push our 9+ year old
organization to new frontiers.
New Leadership
ACTIVE Faith recently announced that a new
General Manager has taken the helm. Kingsley
Allen, the former director of development, has
been with the company almost since its beginning. Kingsley has over 20 years of business and
technology experience in a wide mix of industries. He was instrumental in bringing modern
software development processes to Fellowship
One (Agile/Scrum) and recently became a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO). As a product
company, having a leader with a long history of
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building software can only enhance our ability to
serve the church market with superior technology.
New Features, New Dev Allocations
Fellowship One (F1), an enterprise level system, is a leader in the ChMS industry in part because it is 100% cloud-based, providing anytime,
anywhere access to data for exceptional member
care. F1 contains self-serve tools for attendees,
small group leaders and volunteers, online giving,
secure check-in, volunteer management, comprehensive reporting and much more. We also offer
four single-point best-in-class solutions through
the ServiceU product: Giving, Scheduling, Ticketing and Green.
Our new activities management feature is almost ready for release in Fellowship One. Rolling
out in phases, churches will see a much-improved
user experience with simplified navigation and
setup, rich user guidance, and a dashboard providing high-level view of congregational activity,
attendance trends, and more.
New Learning Opportunities
This year, we unveiled our new online Learning Center, a comprehensive, intuitive and customized learning path developed to help users
master F1 and discover practical ways to streamline processes and administration. Our Education
Team has created a guided ministry administration growth track to accelerate churches toward
the maximum benefit of F1.
New Conversations
A basic purpose of church management software is to make ministry a lot more manageable.
Unfortunately, the world of church management
software itself has gotten complicated. Visions
of the mythical perfect solution (a.k.a. the “silver bullet”) can complicate sorting through real
world software options. No one wants to make
the wrong choice and end up with unpleasant surprises that are worse than no solution at all.
We hear that story a lot. We hope churches
will purchase our software, but even more so, we
want Fellowship One and ServiceU to provide the
best solutions for their needs. We believe there
should be no surprises.
In the interest of changing the tone of church
management software conversations, we’re pulling back the curtain on practices, terminology,
and general software limitations with a new No
Surprises Series. It’s a set of topical checklists
related to church management software that help
you know what questions to ask every ChMS
vendor in order to break through the “applesto-oranges” comparison problem. That’s it. Just
questions. No slamming other vendors. No promoting ourselves.
Imagine a level playing field to make your
technology decisions easier. It’s a move ACTIVE
Faith hopes means one less headache for ministry
leaders. To get you started on the series, we’re
offering the No Surprises: Data Security checklist
here.
As ACTIVE Faith grows into its new environment, we believe Fellowship One is the ChMS to
watch.
For more information, visit our website at:
www.fellowshipone.com
BVCMS
BVCMS is a ministry-focused, web-based
church management system, born inside a megachurch and is now available to all churches as
an open-source software product. BVCMS is
church sponsored and directed. Using an agile
development process, we are able to quickly and
continually meet the changing and diverse needs
of ministry. We publish updates and new features
weekly. BVCMS not only empowers church staff,
but lay leaders as well, allowing them to manage
their own discipleship groups with powerful tools
to aid in the process of assimilating prospects into
church members and members into ministry.
Over the past year, we added integrations with
Twilio (for texting), Protect My Ministry, Quickbooks, and MinistrEspace. We completed a volunteer management system allowing volunteers
to schedule and request their own substitutes.
We are close to completing a 14 month project to
redesign the user interface of BVCMS, giving it
not only a fresh new look, but also adding more
user-friendly features. During this same year, our
BVCMS churches sent out over 3 million emails
and registered 150,000 event participants online.
With our automated check-in system, churches
recorded over 150,000 attendances and added
20,000 guests using the same check-in software.
Having such timely and complete information
means that churches are able to make ministry
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visits and record results in BVCMS the same day
a guest visits.
Next year, we plan to focus even more on
ministry with even better tools. This includes
rewriting our mobile apps, adding a small group
finder, mission trip fund-raising management and
even more prospect management tools.
We are a small company serving big and small
churches with big ideas for ministry. We want to
empower them with what God has already provided - our talents and resources and the fruits of
our past success. Without corporate shareholders
demanding profits, churches are our partners in
ministry. Our code is free because it is already
paid for by our church sponsors, consequently we
don’t charge license fees. Churches with skilled
developers can contribute to the open source project. Regardless of their size, all of our churches
access the entire system with no limitations; there
are no separate modules to pay for. Our fees are
only for hosting and support and are scaled according to the size of the church’s ministry so
that even the smallest church can afford our service. See www.bvcms.com for more information.
CDM+ (Suran)
Attendees at the 16th Annual CDM+ Users
Conference in Nashville, TN got a first look at the
next upgrade of CDM+ on September 24, 2013.
CDM+ 9.2 will be available in November 2013
and free via download to all users enrolled in the
annual CDM+ Premier Support program at the time
of download. In addition to changes to CDM+ itself, this upgrade will support some new and exciting developments for the CDM+ Mobile and Web
Ministry Tool solutions. These include a version of
CDM+ Mobile for Android™ devices and the addition of a Monthly Calendar View tool to the Basic
Web Ministry Toolkit to complement the Single
Event Listing tool. Both will be released soon after
CDM+ 9.2 is available.
One of the important elements of the 9.2 upgrade is our enhancements to and support of our
payroll software. We are pleased to announce a
partnership with Aatrix, a third party provider of
payroll forms and services. With CDM+ 9.2, users
will be able to print and e-file federal and state payroll forms. Version 9.2 will also auto-update any
federal or state tax table changes.
These changes to CDM+ Payroll
will ensure that payroll produced
Make the move…
in CDM+ is always calculated
from Church Management Software…
with the right tax liabilities and
filed with the correct forms.
to Church Ministry Software
Two other key features in
CDM+ 9.2 were showcased at the
Built by the Church, for the Church
annual users conference. Other Information sets can be categorized
▪ Open Source (the code is free)
and an enable lock set feature will
▪ Web-based
allow users to create forms of data
▪ Church Sponsored
“BTW, each day I am more
to be filled in for specific needs
thankful that we are using
▪ Ministry Focused
and ministries. Event Registration
BVCMS. The rate you are
Activities can now be grouped
adding features and improving
for easy access and CDM+ nothe database blows my mind and
tices will be fully implemented in
I really appreciate all you do.”
Event Registration reports, as they
- Jared Coe
are in Membership, Attendance,
Contributions, etc.
Other exciting features in
CDM+ 9.2 include the addition
of a third address line throughout,
World Class Hosting and Support ▪ 220+ Churches ▪ Active Development
a rich text editor on Contribution
Receipts, new Contribution analywww.bvcms.com for more information and pricing
sis reports, an updated Contribu-
October 2013
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tions search interface, expanded
Memorial Giving reports, support
for a check image scanner on Mac
OS®, Pastoral and Visitation tabs
on Membership Address and Individual records, flagging of cancelled Event Registration entries,
enhanced logging of software updates and faster more reliable updating. All CDM+ users will have
access to our PDF report generator
and notices which were previously
available in Pro-level programs
only. To see more information
about the 9.2 upgrade, please visit
www.cdmplus.com/9.2.
Suran Systems, Inc. celebrates
25 years of business in 2013. It
has been providing quality church
information systems over these
years and was the first company
to provide a Windows solution.
Its cross-platform technology has
positioned the company to be a
leader in this marketplace, keeping
pace with the ever changing demands of technology. Our mission
is to be a partner in ministry, helping our users take full advantage
of technology to further their work
for the Kingdom of God.
Church Community Builder
You are called to equip people
as they fulfill the mission of the
local church. Church Community
Builder is called to offer you a
better how — through practical
coaching, software, and ‘tribe’based learning — that supports
good process and empowers everyone in your church.
Technology alone is incapable
of supporting ministry objectives.
You must first have people and
processes working together in
harmony. You must then identify
technology which aligns with and
empowers those people and processes. Finally, you must constantChristian Computing® Magazine
October 2013
9
ly evaluate, adjust, and learn from others as you
adapt to change and new challenges along the way.
Church Community Builder is equipped to guide
churches through all three of these disciplines.
When we encounter needs which fall outside of
our core competency, we can point to a variety of
thought leaders who excel at providing the inspirational understanding of ‘what’ is possible and
the ‘why’ behind it. We then bring the ‘what’ and
‘why’ full circle by helping church leaders implement the ‘how’.
Our inspiration is “the pastors
and teachers. Their responsibility
is to equip God’s people to do His
work and build up the church, the
body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11b–12).
We believe church leadership
and structure is necessary and
a good thing, so we encourage
leadership-driven processes and
systems. We also believe that
community between church leaders and congregants is vital, so we
provide highly distributive church
management software to facilitate
connectedness, communication,
and insight. For more information,
visit churchcommunitybuilder.com
At Church Windows, we pride ourselves in
eliminating support call nightmares. The phrase
“User Friendly, Friendly Support” has meant
Church Windows to our customers for over 15
years, and we continue to live up to our motto in
2013. While our customers appreciate the flexibility, power, and ease-of-use Church Windows offers,
what we hear they appreciate most is our support.
Our Church Windows support team has an average
of 7 years of experience as a Church Windows support technicians. We are all here in North America,
The Church is
people!
Computer Helper
(Church Windows)
Church Windows - What Makes
for Good Software Support?
Perhaps one way to answer
this question is to list the frustrations customers experience when
it comes to support:
• Foreign country technicians with poor English
skills
• Novice techs who don’t
know the program
• Being shuffled from one
tech to another
• No direct access to my
computer to “log in” and
fix an issue
• Voice Mail mazes
You’ve been called
to minister to
the people of
your church.
Let Church Windows
manage the
information
so you can
minister
to your people.
CHURCH WINDOWS DESKTOP & WEB contain integrated:
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October 2013
10
we all enjoy hearing from our customers, and none
of us read off of scripts of any sort. We are here for
our customers, and offer individual attention as part
of our Church Windows family. We also have the
capability to log into the customer’s computer to
better see and help with an issue that is occurring.
And we do it with a smile!
An exciting new option we have available for
our customers this year is the creation of free user
group webinars! About three or four times a month,
we hold free hour-long webinars for our customers,
each on a specific topic within the program. Current topics include designing custom giving statements in Donations, preparing to open a new year
in Accounting, the many options available in the
Membership Find grid, and more. We are always
looking for suggestions for future user group webinars as well. These free webinars have been very
well-received, and attendee numbers increase with
each webinar. A favorite feature of these webinars
is the option to ask questions over the course of the
webinar as well. While we do offer weekly demo
webinars for those who are considering the purchase of Church Windows, we welcome anyone at
our user group webinars who might wish to attend.
You can see the schedules and register for these
free webinars on our website at www.churchwindows.com. These webinars provide that little boost
of knowledge that makes using Church Windows a
joy.
Within the past year, we have released upgrades
to Church Windows that include many customerrequested new features. Our Payroll program is
always up-to-date with the latest in tax tables and
IRS requirements that apply to our church customers. The Church Windows Accounting module
continues to provide the ease and flexibility you require in tracking income, expenses, and payments,
wrapped up in an ironclad audit
trail for your protection. The Donations module makes recording
weekly giving a snap, links with
many online giving companies
for quick entry of those EFT and
credit card gifts, and enables you
to create customized giving statements to print or email to donors.
Coming soon, Membership
reporting will be given a whole
new look, with much more flexibility in the options available!
Having a good piece of software to use is really
important for any church office to function efficiently. But knowing that a smiling, knowledgable,
helpful person is just a phone call or email away is
the icing on the cake. You can relax knowing that
you are not alone in your endeavors.
For more information visit: www.churchwindows.com/learnmore
Donarius
Church management software is a tool that
should make your life easier,helping you get tasks
done faster. Since you are reading this, you are
probably considering a new product that will do
more for your church. You also want a company
that will be there to help you. And, of course, you
want this at a reasonable cost. Donarius has all
these elements: functionality, support and pricing.
Donaris has the functionality best suited to a
small or medium sized church. It keeps track of
your members, contributions and pledges. Donarius
now has individual and family pictures of each
member and prints a photo directory. It will interface with a check scanner to speed up data entry.
Donarius can help develop connections between
members by sending personalized emails and text
messages, which usually leads to church growth.
You can even access your data from different locations using a service such as Dropbox.
When it comes to support, you are covered for
one year. Importing data from your existing software, is included at no extra cost. We will even
modify the software for you, if necessary.
Finally, Donarius is priced so you pay only
for the features you need. There is a base version
for member/contribution tracking and reporting.
Optional modules are available for additional tasks,
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11
such as tracking pledges, automatically entering ACH transactions or
for sending personalized emails and
text messages.
We are working on Mac, iPad
and Android versions for 2014.
Find out more at www.donarius.com
or call 1-888-479-4636.
Elexio
As we reflect on what’s changed
and what’s been accomplished over
the last year, it’s always astounding to actually grasp the extent of
the improvements and updates that
we’ve packed into a year.
Elexio is a ChMS provider, but
so much more. With the integration
of a proprietary check-in solution,
website CMS, and mobile apps, Elexio continues to differentiate itself
from the pack. This differentiation
comes in the form of native integration. Not the API-type or export/
import solutions, but real synergy
of data from one application to the
others.
This year’s biggest changes
come in the form of Event Management and texting, with many
other solutions on the cusp of being
rolled out. The impact of these
advancements on our current and
prospective church partners is game
changing.
The Event Management feature
alone allows churches to schedule
events, recruit volunteers, manage
facility resources, promote through
all relevant communication channels, and take online registration
and payments. This comprehensive
feature gives churches the ability
to stay within the same application
to initiate, promote, and manage
events. It eliminates the necessity of
third-party volunteer- and resourcemanagement platforms, while
bringing promotion alongside the
planning process. Volunteer manChristian Computing® Magazine
October 2013
12
agement combines your assessed knowledge of the
giftedness and availability of your folks—already
existing in the ChMS—with the communication
tools of the event manager to provide seamless
engagement and efficient recruitment.
Promotion and event registration carry significant impact when you consider the list building,
export/import, attendee tracking, payment collection, and day-of sign-in features. Elexio’s ChMS
and check-in services consolidate these activities
into a single platform with self-service check-in
capabilities. With fewer volunteers needed for
manual processes, you have more time to build relationships and meet your true ministry objectives.
Another major addition to the Elexio toolbox is
Texting. This is the communication platform of today, and we’ve brought this tool to our administrative, small group, event, and children’s ministries.
No longer are you relegated to snail mail, email, or
even purely social channels; this communication is
direct, targeted, and socially relevant with today’s
culture. And with access to parents’ and guardians’
mobile numbers, notification of children’s ministry
issues is a few keystrokes away.
Social Sign-in has become the norm for today’s
culture, as we use our Facebook and Google+
logins to access many shared accounts. Your online
portal for regular attenders and members should be
no different. Reducing the number of required user
names and passwords is directly proportional to the
amount of engagement that people will have with
your church software solutions.
As we look ahead, a few of the features that
are receiving attention are centered on our mobile
and people-engagement solutions. Mobile will get
several upgrades in the near future, affecting media
playback capabilities and check-in. Along with our
mobile enhancements, we’ll be launching integrated information and giving kiosks that will provide
opportunities for volunteers, ministry involvement,
prayer requests, directory information updates,
and card-swipe giving. This kiosk solution will be
tablet-based and housed in an attractive, affordable,
and portable solution from our partner, Armodilo.
Many other areas of Elexio software suite
received touch-ups and improved functionality to
a lesser degree than the major roll-outs mentioned
above. However, the Elexio ChMS is already
packed full of the necessary features to equip a
church of any size or configuration in a way that
connects their people. Here are just a few of the
ways that Elexio accomplishes these connections:
Automated follow-ups to first-time visitors; multicampus setup, ensuring each location has an identity while feeling part of the greater whole; easy
report builder and preformatted reports to make
the data usable; status tracking to ensure that your
people on a discipleship track, and so much more.
We’re thrilled to have served church partners for
several decades now, and we’ll continue to evolve
to assist them with our collective mission of expanding the Kingdom. Find out more here.
Faithful Steward
Faithful Steward is Easy and Affordable
For nineteen years Faithful Steward by Diakonia Software has been helping churches with
simple, easy to use record-keeping, saving its
customers hours of time each week. Providing both
desktop and web-based versions, Faithful Steward
manages membership, groups, attendance, donations, and pledges, with fund accounting being
added later this year.
100% Browser-based or Desktop
Unlike other “web” soluManaging Church
tions which
Membership & Donations
simply run
Starting at
desktop soft$20 monthly
ware remotely
using web
networking, in
2011 Faithful
Steward created a 100%
browser-based
web version
of its membership and donation software
(starting at
Easy teamwork with staff
$20 monthly).
at different locations
Accessible by
Windows and
FreeWeb or Desktop Trial
Macintosh
computers, as
FaithfulSteward.com
well as mobile
Simply handling
devices such
church information
as tablets and
800-325-6642
smartphones
October 2013
13
from any location, this version allows treasurers
at home, accountants in one office, and secretaries at a separate office work together easily and
securely using the online technology trusted by
banks. The software walks users step by step
through their tasks, increasing productivity and
the ease of training new staff. Current desktop users can easily migrate to the web version of Faithful Steward, bringing their data with them and
enjoying the many new features that have been
added to the web version.
For more information: www.faithfulsteward.com.
Introducing Fund Accounting
In the last quarter of 2013 Faithful Steward
is introducing a new web-based fund accounting
solution that’s simple for non-accountants to use
and integrates with their existing web-based membership and donation software.
Free Demo
Try out any Faithful Steward products at http://
www.church-software.com
Email [email protected] or call 314256-9073 with any questions.
Diakonia looks forward to
serving your church!
FreshVine
At Fresh Vine we help your
leaders understand how people
are involved in your community,
and foster participation in your
community. With a better understanding of what is happening
in your church or ministry you
can make better decisions on
focusing groups and events to
strengthen involvement. We help
you foster strong participation
with tools that make it easy for
you to find people with specific
characteristics and interests, to
identify and follow up with visitors, and to identify people who
may be falling out. Target your
message through email and social
media. Record giving in total or
by service with easy to use templates, and keep track of what is
occurring at each of your weekly
services. Use our check-in application to safely and securely
check your children in and out of
classes. And our intuitive design
makes it easy for staff and volunteers to use.
Volunteer group leaders use
the power of our small group
facility to foster participation in
your community. They use our
roster mapping to find members
and visitors that live nearby, and
October 2013
14
can search the church roster to find people with
similar backgrounds and interests. They announce
their events with email and social media and can
record attendance and identify group members
that may be falling out. They also keep notes online for future event planning. And because we are
online, they can do all of this from the comfort of
their home.
Every year we upgrade Fresh Vine with new
functions and features. This year we upgraded our
user experience with the latest technology to be
very responsive to display size, including smart
phones, tablets, etc. We are
about to release a member environment that will let people view
and update their own profiles
and will let the church publish a
customizable church directory.
We also plan to release a major
upgrade to our giving functionality before year end.
We also continue to grow our
partner program. We have multiple partners for online giving,
background search, facilities
management and label printing.
Our partners have committed to
working with us to create online
integration with their software
and Fresh Vine.
We also give back to the
church community. One example
is the MissioGui.de, a site developed with church planters
all over the world to help them
intentionally lead missional
communities into spiritual practices. Another example is the
Grapevine, our monthly electronic newsletter that highlights
creative ideas for church leadership, technology, communication, marketing and more. The
Grapevine gets great reviews
from pastors, administrators and
volunteer leaders. Click here to
get the Grapevine!
Our customers and prospects
all tell us that Fresh Vine is
remarkably intuitive and easy to
use. Check us out at freshvine.co.
Icon Systems
“Solid system, well integrated, excellent customer support/service, programmers that listen to
customer suggestions – what’s not to like?”
Chris,
Suber Road Baptist Church
Chris is one of thousands of clients who have
turned to IconCMO and found the power to effectively manage their ministries. IconCMO – our
completely cloud-based system – gives our clients
October 2013
15
the tools they need to manage their people, communicate, and track their finances, all with ease
and accuracy. The product is very affordable and
includes our outstanding customer support.
Are you tired of paying extra for each church
management module? With IconCMO, you get
member management, communication tools,
contribution tracking and statements, and full
fund accounting – all in one affordable and integrated package that puts you within a few clicks
of achieving all your administrative tasks. Mailing
(or emailing) contribution statements, sending updates to groups or the entire congregation, generating clear, IRS-compliant accounting reports, and
many other important and often difficult tasks are
made easy with the power IconCMO puts at your
fingertips.
Because IconCMO is cloud-based, church
staff have the freedom to do church management
and accounting anywhere, anytime; all they need
is an internet connection. No need for downloads
or upgrades.
Our passion is to find out what our clients
need and provide it for them. It’s part of our deep,
rich Icon tradition built from over 20 years of
serving churches here and abroad. Our sales and
support staff work closely with new clients to help
them learn how to best use the system to meet
each church’s needs. And our developers work
continually to add and improve features that give
clients more power, flexibility and ease of use.
We’ve listened closely to our clients and made
several major enhancements in the past several
months.
• We boosted the performance of our email
features by integrating a separate system of
servers to handle email blasts.
• In our accounting section, we’ve added
more flexibility for changing the account
assignments of transactions, and now there
are more format options for our accounting
reports.
• We’ve added a lot of power to our new
custom reports window, so that now users
can create their own reports with their own
parameters, see the results of their selections instantly, save the reports for later
recall, and generate them
in different formats.
• We’ve completely
overhauled IconCMO’s
security for a major future
enhancement to come, so
stay tuned!
ONE staff, many needs.
Powerful features, ease
of use, outstanding client
support, and accessibility from anywhere. It’s all
part of our commitment to
give you a great product so
that you can focus on what
really matters – people.
For more information
visit our website.
Logos ChMS
logoscms.com/tour
LOGOS continues to
power thousands of ministries across the country
with LOGOS II Church
Management Software
(ChMS) and the fully webOctober 2013
16
based ConnectNow Accounting for churches.
In 2013, Ministry Connection—a powerful
add-on for LOGOS II—received a huge addition
to its already robust platform with the introduction of Online Registration. Online Registration
was developed through an integration with Wufoo, an industry leader in online form building.
Now, with Online Registration, Ministry Connection allows users to register and pay for events
online. This is an addition that allows members,
attendees, and friends of the church the ability
to give online, and update their own family or
individual profiles. It also empowers pastors and
church staff with mobile capability for member
information. Online Registration minimizes the
lines at church to sign up for events and eliminates errors that can occur with cash handling.
Supporting the Local Church
As always, supporting the local church is what
powers the staff at LOGOS. To this end, we’ve
created more video tutorials and guides and added
them to the self-help library for church staff and
volunteers. Plus we’ve added Live Answer support! Up to 60% of support calls are being answered live and we expect that number to only
increase. Yet, our products have remained at current, competitve prices.
We’ve been talking to our users. Many conversations with churches have affirmed that
LOGOS is helping them complete their ministry objectives. “We’re going paperless!” says
Administrative and Family Pastor Chris Cate of
Ridgedale Baptist Church who uses the whole
suite of LOGOS products. Specifically, he attributes Ridgedale Baptist’s paperless system to
Ministry Connection and PeopleFlow, the LOGOS
software that manages volunteer and staff background checks, employee paperwork, and provides an electronic document storage system.
Anytime, Anywhere
LOGOS has responded to the steady increase
of churches wanting their software in the cloud
with its fully browser-based accounting software,
ConnectNow Church Accounting, designed to
meet the specific needs of churches. The ability to
“go hosted” with the LOGOS II software delivers
churches the convenience they are looking for in
accessing LOGOS II from a home office or café.
In the coming years, you can expect to see more
“anytime, anywhere” secure products show up in
the fully browser-based ConnectNow line as LOGOS continues to utilize thirty years of expertise
in church software to develop and bring you the
very best modern solutions.
For more information on LOGOS II, Ministry
Connection, PeopleFlow, or ConnectNow Accounting, go to http://logoscms.com.
Power Church
PowerChurch Plus is one of the top selling
church management software packages available today. It has been under continual development for nearly 30 years, adding features that are
important to our users. The program development
staff at PowerChurch Software have an open door
policy. User suggestions are the biggest source
of new features developed in PowerChurch Plus.
With over 35,000 churches and nonprofit organizations using the software, we understand the
importance of providing our users the tools necessary to be as productive as possible.
One of our users reported recently, “I have
reduced my hours from 40 to 30 because of all
the amazing upgrades and shortcuts that PowerChurch has. I am a CPA, so I have worked with
various accounting software programs. I am
extremely impressed with how easy and accurate
PowerChurch is.” We spend a lot of time in the
development process trying to make the most
functional and intuitive products that we can,
keeping in mind that users’ satisfaction is first
priority. In recent years, PowerChurch Plus has
received two highly regarded Campbell Awards
for User Satisfaction.
PowerChurch Plus is installed locally on your
computer or shared across your local network. For
those who prefer cloud computing, or don’t have
a centralized church office, PowerChurch Online
offers access to PowerChurch Plus from virtually
any computer with high speed internet. Traditional online access is available for Windows PC,
Mac, and Linux computers. There is also mobile
web access, giving users access to Membership
data from any web-enabled device, be it a smart
phone, tablet, or traditional notebook or desktop
computer.
PowerChurch Plus and PowerChurch Online
now interact with more compatible products and
services than ever before. Our users have now
October 2013
17
You want the
freedom to
… reach out
… minister to people
… create fellowship
… contribute to
your community
PowerChurch Plus was
created for just that!
Over sixteen hours of training
videos were added earlier this
year in a complete redesign
of our online training system.
There you will also find many
Knowledge Base articles, quarterly newsletters, a user support
forum, and how to videos available at no charge.
For more information and
free demos of PowerChurch
Plus and PowerChurch Online,
visit www.powerchurch.com or
give us a call at (800) 486-1800.
RDS Advantage
Thirty years ago RDS dedicated itself to Matthew 28:1920, The Great Commission. To
Membership
We provide you with the tools to
be faithful to this commitment
increase administrative efficiency
in our church management
and streamline accounting tasks,
Accounting
systems we work to incorporate
freeing you up to perform the work
tools that enable churches to be
that matters.
more effective in spreading the
Contributions
Good News of Christ. Emphasis is to place in the hands of
Install on your PC or network, or access online.
Events
churches applications that make
Choose
which
fi
ts
your
needs.
Calendar
it easy to conduct outreach
ministries, communicate, and
to track and follow-up with the
Check In
participation or lack of participation of individuals and families.
Completely
This year new tools have
We provide software tools,
Integrated
been implemented to use mobile
freeing you up to fulfill your mission.
devices on-the-go. Attendance
at activities and worship can be
www.PowerChurch.com • 800.486.1800
recorded using tablets. Leaders
been
sending e-mail via Constant Contact, accept- can enroll,
3&6&KXUFK([HFXWLYHB[LQGG
$0
record attendance and communicate
ing online giving and processing direct deposit
with those in their groups using mobile devices.
Payroll through Vanco Services, and requesting
Cloud-hosting of the RDS Connect system is
background checks through Protect My Minisgrowing as more churches take advantage of its
try for a number of years now. Integration with
benefits. Hosted on a Tier III Data Center with
OneBody, an online church directory and social
international redundancy and 256 bit SSL encrypnetworking site, gives your members a private and tion, give RDS an ‘SASS’ (software as a secure
secure place to interact and fellowship. We have
service) rating, one of the few in the industry with
also recently added state and federal e-filing of
this level of security and up-time.
W2 , 941, and 1099-MISC forms.
More than 200 new features and enhancements
Our web site at www.powerchurch.com conare completed each year.
tains many new training and support resources.
RDS continues its policy to include all feaChristian Computing® Magazine
October 2013
18
October 2013
19
tures and applications at no additional cost. There
is no charge for additional modules.
We function as a ministry team. We are servants to those who entrust their data processing to
us.
For more information visit: http://www.rdsadvantage.com
nologies available for churches. We have worked
hard to provide these new technologies as affordable, easy to use, stable, and secure solutions.
Servant Keeper has been a leader in church
management software for the last 20 years because it is easy to use and powerful. We continue
to move forward with exciting new features while
keeping these two things in mind.
Servant PC Resources
Optional cloud technology makes Servant
Keeper even more accessible. Church staff and
This is a big year for Servant Keeper. Our
volunteers can work from any location with inmission has always been to make emerging tech- ternet access. In addition we are rolling out web
and mobile apps, starting first
with an app designed to simplify
pastoral care while “on the go”.
Cloud solutions with Servant
Keeper are the most affordget your free demo
able on the market, and defies
www.servantpc.com/ccmag
the “cloud based = expensive”
trend. We are even making it
800-773-7570
possible for in-house developers to write apps for their own
church.
Manage your ministry with
Servant Keeper is now even
faster and allows for more
integration with other software
programs. All in all there are
Track donations, Email Statements,
over two hundred new features
Manage: Small Groups, Classes, Attendance,
have been added resulting in an
Visitor follow-up, Outreach and MORE!
improved user experience.
The new design introduces
various color themes along
with the ability to change font
sizes and types to suit the user’s
Keep children safe with
needs. Changes and deletions
are now tracked in a history
file and can be easily restored.
Easy check-in, secure check-out,
Increased privacy and sharing
Syncs with Servant Keeper,
abilities make data even more
Name badges w/ allergies, notes, alerts, class info.
secure and confidential while
Claim tickets for parents/guardians, run background checks
helping ministry team members
work together more effectively.
A new Reminder Tool will also
keep staff on the same page,
while making sure ministers
Plan worship effortlessly with
and volunteers don’t miss things
like appointments, birthdays, or
important events.
Keeps your song library at your fingertips,
Servant Keeper’s new built
Quickly plan and schedule services and teams
in
email
client frees people
Easily track song usage and do reports
from having to use expensive or
SOFTWARE FOR MINISTRY
ou:
y
e
r
A
Tracking Members/Donors?
Servant Keeper®!
ou:
y
e
r
A Caring for Children?
SK Check-In®!
ou:
y
e
r
A Leading Worship?
Worship Keeper®!
October 2013
20
clunky emailing programs. The
result is faster, easier emailing to
groups of people from anywhere.
The unique Groups Keeper®
has been made even more powerful. Information can easily be
merged with personalized letters
and emails. Individual groups
also sync with the SK Notify
mobile app for sending group
messages, alerts, texts, and voice
messages.
More “international friendly”
features have also been added
such as formatting that accepts
various types of addresses and
phone numbers and the ability to
use foreign language characters.
SK Online Giving integrates
seamlessly with Servant Keeper®
allowing financial secretaries the
ease of updating the donor database with one click. Donors can
give by text, kiosks, or the church
website and can even register and
pay for events.
Visit us at www.servantpc.com
to keep up to date with all the
great new changes and features as
we continue to serve churches and
help them accomplish their mission.
Shelby Systems
Shelby has had a very exciting 2013 so far! We have released
major updates to our current product lines, as well as launched a
brand our newest product, Shelby
Financials Online.
This web-hosted software
is the new alternative to Shelby
Systems’ existing v.5 Financials
software.
The Financials Online Base
Package includes: General Ledger, Accounts Payable, and Bank
Account Management. At this
time, Payroll is available as an additional application in Shelby FiChristian Computing® Magazine
October 2013
21
nancials Online and Accounts Receivable, Fixed
Assets, and Purchase Order are in development
and will be released in coming months.
Shelby Financials Online is integrated with
Shelby Systems’ membership software, Shelby
Arena, giving customers a single solution for
church management. The v.5 financials software
that is currently available by Shelby Systems is
not being replaced by Shelby Financials Online
and will continue to be available.
The new Shelby Financials Online is an additional product with more contemporary features
and will be hosted on Shelby’s secure servers
for access any time and from any location. With
Shelby’s private cloud, data is protected virtually
by powerful firewalls, intrusion detection, and
physical security devices.
Shelby Financials Online is modular, allowing customers a wide array of combinations. Data
migration from existing Shelby products will be
included in the upgrade process.
For more information on SFO and to view
free video demos of the product, visit our website
at www.shelbysystems.com/financialsonline.
October 2013
22
protected with purpose
Simple Yet
Sage Advice
By: Steven Sundermeier
S
ome sayings/proverbs are taught to us as youngsters, and can keep
us in check our whole lives. “If you can’t say something nice,
don’t say anything at all.” (I know 4 year olds that can benefit
from this as well as 64 year olds!) “Treat others as you would like to be
treated.” And how about (one of my personal favorites): “Don’t open an
email unless it’s from a trusted source.” And even then be careful of what
you’re opening or clicking on! This little saying is something I’ve been
preaching since the infamous Loveletter Internet worm took the world
by storm by infecting tens of millions of users back in 2010. It holds true
when we introduce computers and emailing to small children, and it needs
to be repeated to teens and adults.
So simple (the advice of not opening emails
unless you know the sender), and yet so difficult
(for many to follow this advice as it relates to
them and their personal inboxes).
We will revisit this simple yet sage advice
this month because it is so easily forgotten, or
dismissed, or not taken seriously. But emails
opened from illegitimate sources can have can
have embarrassing, negative, and painful (financial and emotional) effects.
About a month or so ago, Thirtyseven4
began intercepting a fake CNN Breaking News
email containing the subject line, “Obama
speech to urge ‘refocus’ on economy”. The unsolicited email contained a forged email address
appearing to be sent directly from CNN, and the
body of the email was html-based with a message containing embedded links that if clicked
upon would direct unknowing users to malicious
websites. Shortly after receiving a couple dozen
October 2013
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October 2013
24
samples, we easily determined that this email
run was circulating “in-the-wild”, meaning that
systems outside a virus lab were being actively
infected. As with many of these malicious
mass mailings, the first thought that crosses my
mind is “Why are people opening these emails?
Don’t they realize what they may be exposing
themselves to?”
So what exactly are people exposing themselves to, and how dangerous can an email be
from someone we don’t know?
Upon analysis of the embedded links within
this particular CNN/Obama email, our Thirtyseven4 labs determined that by
clicking the links, a user will
be directed to a website displaying a fake Adobe Flash update. Upon downloading and
installing the fake Adobe Flash
update, the user will have successfully infected their system
with malware associated with
the Trojan Zeus family. (Trojan-Who? I know it’s getting
techy, but stick with me because these decisions to open
“hot-topic” emails affect and
burn users everyday.)
The Zeus family of malware is well-known for its
ability to steal personal and
banking information. (You
read that correctly, and stolen
banking and personal information is a scary reality that none
of us want to get mixed up
with. I again reiterate: “Do not
open an email unless it’s from
a trusted source!”) This particular variation of Zeus will
conceal itself until the user
browses to their financial or
banking website in which case
it awakens to retrieve and relay
the account credentials to a
connected server controlled by
the attacker.
If this sounds bad, it pales
in comparison to CryptoLocker, a malware under the
ransomware category. CrypChristian Computing® Magazine
toLocker has been the talk of the month so far,
and it too has been infecting users, businesses
and schools in great number. It springs into
action after someone decides to view an unsolicited email and open its attachment. (Didn’t they
listen to our sage yet simple advice?)
So, what exactly does CryptoLocker do? Its’
functionality is very similar to the notorious FBI
MoneyPak virus. It is ransomware, and once
installed, it holds your files hostage (encrypted)
until the desired ransom is paid. Understanding
the technical’s behind CryptoLocker is complicated but hang with me because maybe (just
October 2013
25
maybe) this may wake-up a user or two to the
seriousness of emails, attachments, etc.
CryptoLocker uses the RSA algorithm with
a 2048 bit key. It communicates with servers at
random whose names are generated using the
Domain Name Generation (DGA) algorithm.
Once communication is successful, the server
generates a pair of public and private keys for
the machine of the targeted user. The private key
is kept on the server for the next 72 hours. The
public key is sent to the malware running on the
user’s machine using a secure communication,
stored under a registry key.
Next, the malware will begin looking for
files with high interest to the user. It chooses
its extensions with the intention of creating the
most disruption/havoc to the user, including Microsoft Office extensions, Adobe PDF files, and
graphic file extensions. Think about how upset
you would be if your pictures were “hijacked”.
How about if your banking information was
infiltrated? We would want those areas to be
restored immediately, and that is what cybercriminals are banking on, and they are taking us
to the bank with it. This embodies why these viruses are called “ransomware”: the authors will
put a ransom on the corrupted files/information,
and we cannot regain it until we pay in some
way. All of the located files with these selected
file extensions will be encrypted, and the list of
infected documents is also kept in the registry.
This is a procedure to prevent multiple encryptions of the same file.
Once the files have been encrypted, CryptoLocker provides three ways of making payment (via MoneyPak, Ukash and Bitcoin). The
amount required is equivalent to $300 USD, and
the amount can be paid in 15 different currencies. Unfortunately, for the user it is extremely
difficult to recover encrypted files once they
are encrypted with the RSA algorithm, as the
malware author holds the private key. Making
matters worse, I have observed that even if the
ransom is paid, the malware author will usually
only send the key to unlock certain files and not
all of them, and often will request additional
ransoms! A terrible situation to be sure.
The Internet produces a façade that makes us
feel safe, private, and alone in our writing/work/
postings. But the reality is that there are people
with ill-intent just waiting for us to “take the
bait” and open an email that often looks suspicious anyway.
You can gird yourself for battle with the basics of Internet safety as armor:
1. Utilize a trusted antivirus product for
your computer/network
2. Keep your operating system and all your
software up-to-date and patched with the
latest updates
3. Keep files “backed-up” online or to an
external hard drive so that they can be
quickly recovered
So many things in life today have become
very complicated. I encourage you to keep
emails simple, and follow the sage advice
“Don’t open an email unless it’s from a trusted
source.” I can guarantee you won’t miss much
(if it is a legit email), and you will be spared
much if it is a compromised email. Keep it
simple!
October 2013
26
the browser
Three Reasons to
Use the Bible Study
App by Olive Tree
By: Susan Codone
I
n a previous column, I described useful mobile apps to enhance
Bible study experience. Recently I downloaded the Olive Tree
Bible Study app on my iPhone and the desktop version on my
laptop. After using the app, I quickly identified three key reasons
why everyone should download it for personal Bible study.
First, the app is visually well-designed
and very easy on the eyes. The desktop
version (PC) divides the screen into three
columns, with the center containing the
main reference material while the left contains Bibles, Favorites, and Downloads. On
the right, useful links to tools and resources
are provided, and navigation between all
three panes is easy. The mobile app (iOS)
offers a split screen option for references
along with the ability to customize the fonts
and appearance, creating a pleasant reading
experience.
Second, the app offers wonderful free
resources. Right now, over 130 free books
are offered via the Download tab. These
free books include multiple versions of the
Bible, commentaries, devotionals, maps,
sermons, hymns, biographies, foreign language translations of the Bible, and even
October 2013
27
George Washington’s prayer journal. Such
great resources, all for free! In addition, the
Olive Tree store offers over 450 resources
for purchase to round out your study and
reference needs.
Third, the app offers superior note taking
functionality. The notes feature in the desktop version of the Bible Study app is impressive, offering a horizontal split-screen,
easy to read and type simultaneously experience, and a vertical split-screen note taking option in the iOS version.
Perhaps most important to
me, the app offers the ability to sync the notes I take
in the Bible Study app with
Evernote, my favorite notetaking application. Though
users can also use the app to
sync across devices, I appreciate the ability to sync
with Evernote as well. I use
Evernote to make lists, record thoughts, and take notes
for study and while listening.
For iOS users, Olive Tree
provides an option called
‘External Sync’ that allows
users to sync notes with
Evernote. Then, inside Evernote, users can then edit,
store, or email the notes created in the Bible Study app,
using all the great features of
Evernote and the resources
of the Bible Study app to
create useful documentation.
So, let me encourage you
to download the Bible Study
app from Olive Tree (http://
www.olivetree.com/). While
there are other apps offering
useful features for personal
or group Bible study, this
app offers rich functionality
for users both on the big and
small screens and combines
Scripture with great references to make your Bible
Study experience both effiChristian Computing® Magazine
cient and rewarding.
Happy browsing!
Susan is an associate professor at Mercer University. In Mercer’s Technical Communication undergraduate degree, students
can specialize in Ministry Media & Technology. Contact Susan anytime for more
information at [email protected].
October 2013
28
ministry leadership
The City
By: Linda McKeirnan
L
os Angles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas and
Washington D.C. are all recognizable cities, but, unless your church
is ministering in one of these towns, they have nothing to do with
The City. The City is a connection, communication, engagement and social
networking tool offered by ACS Technologies. It is designed to work
within the group model that most churches have–entire congregations,
separate campuses (if needed), neighborhoods, and smaller groups,
whether those are home groups, Sunday School, or interest groups. Each of
these groups is under the Church Umbrella of The City, but only members
of a group can see its posts.
In 2011, Mill Creek staff decided they needed
to begin doing some things differently. They were
a church of 550-600 in Sunday attendance and approximately 1000 people that they considered active in our ACS database. MCCC had a website, a
church Facebook, a Twitter account; several small
groups had their own closed Facebook groups,
a Worship bulletin, mass emails, and announcement slides on Sunday. They struggled with what
communication went where or if it belonged in all
of the communication streams. Of course every
person/group wanted their event in all of the communication streams. As they looked at what they
could do differently they wanted to accomplish the
following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Improve and Simplify Communication
Increase Lay Leadership Involvement
Increase Volunteerism
Increase Personal Discipleship
Increase Engagement of Membership
Not have another separate database to
maintain
In evaluating how to implement effective
change, they recognized that whether they
liked it or not, in recent years communication
had changed in our society. Email overload
impacted members and staff, text and social
networking had impacted communication, and
a written letter may never make it out of the
October 2013
29
envelope to be read. Most people had personal
cell phones and didn’t always answer or return
every phone call.
Mill Creek added The City to their software
in July 2011. It was launched to the entire
church in November at a church wide banquet
that was already on the calendar. Prior to the
main launch, there were several “soft” launches, first to staff, next to elders, then small
group leaders and the people in those groups.
Each of these soft launches involved group
and some one-on-one training.
One of the early blessings of The City happened as they transitioned prayer requests to
The City only. In the email days, an administrative assistant sent out prayer requests, and
if someone who received that request hit reply,
the church saw the response, not the person
requesting prayer. With The City, staff post
prayer requests in our church-wide group, but
suddenly members began to reply with personal comments, I am lifting you before the Lord,
I am praying for you, etc. Even though they
don’t all attend the same campus or service,
these were expressions of being one body and
a tangible way to express care for one another.
The City allows Mill Creek to efficiently
engage people for service opportunities. City
users can check their skills on a list which can
be searched. Communication can be sent to just
the people who have the skills to fill a need.
People feel free to respond if it’s something
they have the time and ability to participate in,
and no one feels they have to say “yes” to the
person calling. Additional communication can
generally be handled within that same thread,
so multiple back and forth communication is
avoided.
Shortly after I left employment at Mill
Creek, a funeral meal had to be planned. This
was one of my responsibilities that we forgot to transition. There is a service group for
meals that had been set up for members who
are not part of a small groups but need meals.
A post was made with specific lists of dishes
and the number of helpers needed. By the next
day, all the needs were filled. This was accomplished without hours of phone calls by the organizer—a busy mom of three young children.
This was a win/win for those serving and for
the first-time leader with this responsibility.
LifeGroups (Mill Creek’s small groups)
that use The City report how effective it is in
communicating with each other. Small Groups
can easily communicate and meet needs within
their membership without lots of phone calls.
Small groups use The City to communicate
with one another when there are unexpected
childcare needs, to share personal prayer and
praise requests, and encourage one another
during the week. The ability to quickly see
areas that people live in has resulted in four
new LifeGroups being formed based on people
living near one another.
Part of why Mill Creek chose The City was
that they knew member information in The
City and ACS would sync allowing Mill Creek
to transition their online giving to The City.
They expect the number of online donations
will increase because online donors are checking in on The City regularly.
Mill Creek believes sharing life together
face-to-face is the best way to make disciples
of Jesus Christ. In our busy world, The City
has given options to the busy family, the
homebound member, and even the business
person traveling abroad to stay connected with
the church and small groups throughout the
week. This all happens most times without any
staff involvement. The City has definitely become an effective ministry tool at Mill Creek
Community Church.
To learn more about how The City works
and how it can help grow the day-to-day ministry impact of your church, please register
for an upcoming Discover The City event. Or
download Building Disciples Through Engagement to learn to connect and inform staff, pastors, volunteers and members by giving them
real time access to vital information online
with safe and secure access to each other.
Linda McKeirnan was on Mill Creek Community Church staff for 17 years, 12 of them
as the church Business Administrator. In 2012,
she became a certified trainer for ACS Technologies.
October 2013
30
church windows software
CHURCH WINDOWS SOFTWARE
Some Reliable Online
Giving Companies
By: Craig Chadwell
W
ith fewer people every year picking up a pen to write a
check, it has become nearly imperative for churches to
hop aboard the proverbial “online giving train.” Let’s
face it, most of us don’t even carry as much cash as we used to.
Debit cards have reduced the inconvenience and risk of carrying
cash to where people carry less and less as time goes on. So when
council decides it’s OK to look into electronic giving and move
forward, who can you trust?
We can’t say that they are the only reliable electronic donation processing companies, but Church
Windows Software has partnered with six companies so far. As a result, after a period of giving, the
electronic giving company emails a file of donor
information and amounts. This data is then directly imported into Church Windows without the
need for manual rekeying. It’s a great, time-saving
convenience that also reduces the chance for errors
(not that any of us ever makes mistakes, right?)
In no particular order, we suggest that you consider investigating Vanco Services, Ardent Giving
Solutions, Clover Donations, EFTPlus, eGiving,
or Authorize.net. Here’s a little snippet and some
contact information for each:
• Vanco Services (www.vancoservices.com or
www.ElectronicDonations.com) provides
online giving, mobile giving and other
convenient services to more than 12,000
churches, schools and nonprofit organizations. Vanco is a PCI Level 1 Compliant
Service Provider offering the highest level
of data security across all services.
• Ardent Giving Solutions (www.ardentgivingsolutions.com) strives to provide lowcost, reliable online giving transactions.
This award-winning, Michigan-based
company has a simplified pricing structure
with many additional benefits.
• Clover Donations (www.cloverdonations.
com) is a West Coast company who boasts
a flat, no hidden fees 1% per transaction
fee that lends itself well to their “Pay a
little, get a lot” slogan.
• EFTPlus (www.eftplus.com) hails from the
Pacific Northwest and has been providOctober 2013
31
ing electronic transaction
programs since 1999.
They understand that
ministries are different
than business and strive
to customize options to
best suit your needs.
• eGiving (www.egiving.com) has a motto
of “Building effective
electronic stewardship”
and their founders have
been involved with EFT
transactions since the
mid-1980s. Like many of
the other providers, their
website contains many
tips for amplifying electronic giving within your
congregation.
• Authorize.net (www.authorize.net) is the largest
of the Church Windows
electronic processing
partners. With merchant
and nonprofit clients in
a number of different
arenas, they are definitely
well-capable of handling
both small and large
church electronic giving.
If you happen to be a church
who uses Church Windows
Software for your office management solution, and if you
use an e-services provider other
than those listed above, please
let us know. We can likely add
the company you use! As with
with our software, it may be
likely that the software you use
also allows a more generic text
or spreadsheet-type of import
process.
October 2013
32
higher power with kevin
Accordance 10 for
Windows and Mac
Kevin A. Purcell - [email protected]
A
ccordance Bible Software announced a while back that they’d
publish their great Bible software application, Accordance 10,
on the Windows platform. They published a beta and now the
final version hit their site and we’re quite impressed with the results.
Accordance did a better job moving from
Mac to Windows than other software companies
did when moving from Windows to Mac. Like
Olive Tree (www.olivetree.com), Accordance
chose to make a version that runs natively on
both platforms instead of creating a version that
runs in an emulator. Laridian will soon launch a
Mac version (http://blog.laridian.com/?p=1954)
after their Kickstarter campaign successfully got
funded. We look forward to seeing them do it the
right way as well.
October 2013
33
Mac and Windows with Same Interface
Accordance for Mac and Windows mirror one
another in all of the important ways. We get a
typical Windows style menu instead of the Mac
style, but that’s the main difference. See the Mac
version above and the Windows version below
running on Windows 7.
We’ve already published a review of Accordance for Christian Computing Magazine back in
September 2011, so we won’t regurgitate all of
that content.
Stability of First Windows Version
Accordance for Windows is a powerful, elegant and stable Bible study tool! Usually, when
a new application comes out we can expect a
lot of bugs and crashes. Accordance for Windows breaks that trend with a version that never
crashed and performed as expected. I’m sure a
few bugs will surface and the
program might crash on occasion. We can’t guarantee it
won’t, but in our experience
the last beta and preview release, which we tested for this
review, worked great. The final
gold release will work like the
Mac version, which means it
will be stable and mostly error
free. Users of both versions
will feel comfortable.
as big a library as WORDsearch or Logos, but
it offers a great library. We get access to some
world-class original language books and tools.
They offer incredible commentaries, including a
sale on NICOT and NICNT. Users can get one of
the best commentary series for a big discount on
the regular price. I only wish I would’ve bought
it at this price.
We really like the multimedia features like
maps in their Atlas and the timeline feature. They
recently added interlinear support (http://bit.ly/
H6gYI3). We get all the
tools one expects from
Bible software including :
• powerful and simple
search
• translation comparison
• book reader for many
kinds of resources
• custom layouts and
the ability to save those
layouts for future use
• custom modules
made by users
• the powerful Amplify
feature (see image below) that shows info
with a triple click that opens the default
dictionary/lexicon
• hover over words to show details about
a word that’s tagged with links to such
content
Features of Accordance for
Windows
Accordance doesn’t offer
October 2013
34
This is just a sample of what users get with
Accordance 10. All of it works as expected in the
Windows version.
Frustration of Multiple Bible Software Tools
Owning more than one Bible software tool
can frustrate Bible students because they find that
they own different books or features in different
programs. How do we remember them? Some
try to fix this by working with other software,
like Bibleworks’ connections to outside tools
like WORDsearch books. This helps, but doesn’t
solve the problem.
Because I own such a large library in a couple
of other Bible software tools, I don’t find myself
going to Accordance that often, even though I
love the program. This isn’t the fault of Accordance, but a result of the Bible software publishing industry in the post-STEP era.
Accordance offers one service that helps. Call
their customer service number and prove that you
own some resources and they will give buyers
a discount. Sadly, the customer still must repurchase the books, but at least they can get them at
a discount. We did this with a few books and may
do it again soon to gain access to
books we use in other programs.
Accordance might be worth the
cost for people who own lesser
programs.
If you own Logos, WORDsearch or Bibleworks, I don’t
think Accordance offers enough to
pay the price of switching, unless
you don’t own many books yet.
Owners of other Windows Bible
software apps may want to consider the new Windows version,
however. Take a look and see if it
meets your needs.
helps a lot. Here’s one about getting a “quick
start” using Accordance. http://www.accordancebible.com/resources/multimedia/details/?id=153561
For people interested in buying Accordance,
the best way to get started is to buy a collection
from their store (http://www.accordancebible.com/
Store).
Check out Accordance for Windows and see if
it meets your needs. We think it will help serious
Bible students enjoy learning more about God’s
word on Windows.
Nice Updates for Mac Too
The Mac got some love in Accordance 10.3,
with a new highlighting symbols feature. Many
of us are visual people and an image says a
thousand words quickly. So now we can add tiny
icons to the page in order to show topics or future
Bible study passages. A cross might highlight all
passages about sacrifice or a dove could symbolize subjects about the Holy Spirit.
Be sure to check your updates and get these
new features on both Mac and Windows.
Sources of Learning
I attended a free live training
session a couple of years ago and
learned a lot. Visit their support
page which includes links to the
training sessions page as well as
other support links like the user
forums where people can get help
from other users and staff. Also,
viewing their blog and videos
October 2013
35
the power and the danger
3D Printers
By Russ McGuire - [email protected]
3
D printers are moving into the mainstream. Over the past few
months, Office Depot and Staples have started stocking the devices.
While the products sold by these retailers are priced at over $1000,
others are selling 3D printers for as little as $300. This all sounds cool,
but how should we think about 3D printing from a Christian perspective?
What is 3D Printing?
While the most common 3D printers use a
mechanism very similar to ink jet printers, 3D printers aren’t really printers at all. Like a printer, a 3D
printer takes a digital file on the computer and creates
output that you can hold and take with you, away
from the computer. Unlike a printer, a 3D printer
isn’t very good at reproducing words and precise images. Its output isn’t a sheet of paper. Instead, what
it produces is a physical object – a reproduction of
something real or imagined.
Today, consumer grade 3D printers cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars up to a couple
thousand dollars. These printers produce plastic objects. Industrial grade 3D printers can cost up to half
a million dollars and can produce objects made of
metal, ceramic, or even glass. Knowing the budgets
of most ministries (and those in ministry), I’m only
going to focus on the consumer grade products in this
article.
In very basic terms, a 3D printer works by laying
down layer upon layer of melted plastic. There are
two elements of the printer actively involved in this
process – the extruder (like the traditional print head)
and the platform. This isn’t so different from “2D”
printers, where the “platform” was a piece of paper.
In the 2D printers that we’re used to, the “platform” (paper) may move in the y-axis direction (top
to bottom of the page), while the print head moves in
the x-axis direction (left to right across the page) layOctober 2013
36
standard across printers there’s a
competitive market keeping prices
down. A few models, including
those sold at Office Depot and
Staples, require proprietary plastic
cartridges (like printers) which are
more expensive for the same plastic
volume than spools. Most consumer
3D printers only support a single
spool with a single color of plastic,
so the objects you produce will be in
one color (similar to black and white
printers). More expensive printers
can have multiple colors of plastic
that are being laid down by the extruder to create a multi-color object.
If you haven’t seen it, the process
of producing a 3D object is fascinating. There are many clips on YouTube that you can watch. However,
it is not a fast process. 2D printers
today are rated in pages per minute,
while it can take hours to produce
even relatively simple 3D objects.
Once you have a printer, the real
question is – what are you going to
print? The printer requires a set of instructions that
it can follow to lay down layer upon layer of melted
plastic. Printers generally come with the software for
your computer to produce those instructions. There
are generally two steps in the process. The first is
the creation of a 3D representation of the object to be
created (this is an STL file). The second is the slicing
up of that creation into the layers and producing the
instructions for the printer. Since different printers
have different resolutions, the slicing will be unique
to your printer model.
I quickly skipped over the step of creating a 3D
representation of an object. Obviously, this is a major
undertaking requiring something like 3D CAD software, lots of skill, perhaps some creativity, and often
significant experience before pleasing results can be
produced. Thankfully, there’s a growing collection of
available 3D designs available for free or a reasonable
price from sites like 3DLT.com and thingiverse.com.
These designs can be downloaded to your computer in
STL file format, ready for slicing.
Is Facebook safe
for your family?
http://cxfriends.com
ing down ink where appropriate to create the desired
output. In a 3D printer, between the two of them the
platform and the extruder will move in three dimensions (x, y, and z – up and down in height). Different
printer models work differently in terms of which
directions the platform and extruder move. As they
move, the extruder is laying down melted plastic
where appropriate to create the desired output.
Different printers have different “resolutions” –
the thickness of each layer of plastic. Just as in 2D
printing, higher resolution (thinner layers) creates a
more realistic end product and printers with higher
resolution generally cost more.
Consumer 3D printers generally use either ABS or
PLA plastic. ABS melts at a higher temperature (464
degrees F) than PLA (365 degrees F), so ABS is more
appropriate for creating objects that will be used in
high temperature environments, but ABS printing requires very good ventilation and the end product will
smell more like melted plastic. In general, any given
3D printer model will either work with PLA or ABS,
not both, so you’ll need to consider your applications
before buying the printer.
In most cases, the plastic comes as a spool of a
long thin strand of plastic. Since these spools are
How can ministries use 3D printing?
My greatest reservation with writing this article
was that, at least at this point, the applicability of 3D
October 2013
37
CSG.173.mEs Digital Ad CCMag_Layout 1 8/1/12 9:25 AM Page 2
printing to ministry is likely limited – or perhaps it’s
my vision that is limited! When I mentioned this
concern to my wife, who teaches children’s Sunday
school, she immediately started thinking of all the
cool props she could create to help teach her lessons.
I’m sure as 3D printing becomes mainstream, we will
find many more uses, just as we have managed to create reams of printed pages to support our ministries.
What is dangerous about 3D printing?
The physical characteristics of 3D printing can
produce some dangers – very hot components, noxious odors, noise in the printing process – but all of
these are manageable. There has also been a fair
amount of press about 3D printing used to produce
dangerous items (e.g. “printed” functioning guns).
We must also guard ourselves against sinning in the
use of 3D printers – such as reproducing items with
patent, trademark, or copyright protection without
the intellectual property owner’s permission. But in
general, 3D printing is simply a new extension on our
computing capabilities. Perhaps the greatest risk right
now is in being good stewards of our funds and time.
These devices aren’t cheap and will require constantly
buying plastic. However, the material costs are
less expensive than I expected for moderately sized
objects (often less than a dollar), so the hours spent
producing 3D printed items may be your greatest
ongoing cost.
Remember Paul’s warning: “Look carefully then
how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the
best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of
the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17)
It is my hope and prayer that these articles on
the power and danger of technology will encourage
you in your daily walk with Christ. Whether it is the
printing press, radio, television, personal computers,
the Internet, the Cloud, smartphones, or 3D printers,
new technologies continue to advance our ability to
know God and to serve Him, wherever we go.












Russ McGuire is an executive for a Fortune 100
company and the founder/co-founder of three technology start-ups. His latest entrepreneurial venture is
CXfriends (https://cxfriends.com), a social network
for Christian families which is being built and run by
four homeschooled students under Russ’ direction.
October 2013
38
digital evangelism
Digital Evangelism
with e-Sword (Part 4)
Michael L White - [email protected]
I
n the August issue of CCMAG, I discussed the value of using
e-Sword’s Dictionaries and Commentaries components for expanding
your weekly Sunday School or Bible Study lessons. If you missed it,
you can read the archived issue at community.ccmag.com in the “Digital
Evangelism Community” at your leisure, although you’ll need to be a
subscriber to the community, of course. Don’t worry; it’s free!
In this final installment, I’ll discuss the value
of using e-Sword’s Reference Library component
for sermons, Sunday School lessons, Bible Studies, and practically any other kind of Bible instruction preparation, not to mention just plain old
personal spiritual development. You can download
any of these from the Download menu in e-Sword.
I recommend you get them all so that you’ll have
them for handy reference when you need them.
If you’re astute enough, you can even write your
own Reference Books and share them with others!
Hang on, though; I’m saving that one for last!
The first thing you’ll need to do (assuming
you have already installed e-Sword) is download
and install each of the reference books you desire by choosing “Reference Books…” from the
Download menu and then (once the “e-Sword
Module Downloader” dialog appears) clicking on
the title(s) you wish to download. When you click
on the title, the module downloader automatically
places it in the cue for downloading and displays it
in the bottom status pane. After you have selected
all of the reference book titles you wish to download, choose “Start” from the Download menu on
October 2013
39
the module downloader dialog and wait for the
downloading to complete. Once each download
completes, the title will disappear from the status pane’s list and change the status in the upper
pane from “Download” to “Installed.” After you
have downloaded all the titles you wish, close the
module downloader dialog and return to e-Sword’s
main window. As the module downloader closes,
you will be prompted to restart e-Sword so that the
newly-installed titles will appear in the Reference
Library.
After you have restarted e-Sword, choose
“Reference Library…” from the Tools menu and
the “e-Sword Reference Library” window will
open apart from e-Sword’s main window. Use the
drop-down menu bar near the top of the screen to
see the complete list of installed reference book
titles in e-Sword. Select the one you wish to read
and it will display the contents list in the pane at
the left of the screen. Once you have selected a
chapter or section title from the left pane, click
your mouse pointer anywhere in the right pane
and you can then use the Page Up, Page Down,
and directional arrow keys to navigate through the
textual content. When you have finished reading a
chapter or section, click on the next chapter or section in the Contents pane to read it.
Among some of the classical reference books
in e-Sword are the works of Josephus, Fox’s Book
of Martyrs, and The Ante-Nicene Fathers, though
I must hasten to add that I have not personally
read all of these works in their entirety. Rather, I
have skimmed only small parts for reference and
research purposes, and I must truly emphasize the
phrase, “only small parts,” lest you think me more
studious than I am!
Of course, there are several other academic
works which likely will prove helpful to you
in your Biblical and historical research as well,
such as History of the Christian Church by Philip
Schaff, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
by Alfred Edersheim, and The Temple – Its Ministry and Service, also by Alfred Edersheim. Additionally, you can obtain other more contemporary
works made freely available to e-Sword users,
such as The Christian Faith by Dallas M. Roark
and Tortured for Christ by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, founder of The Voice of the Martyrs organization. Again, by way of full disclosure, I must
add the disclaimer that, of all these works, I have
read only Tortured for Christ thus far. In fact, you
can contact The Voice of the Martyrs organization
directly to request a free print edition of Tortured
for Christ, which I did a few years ago when I
first read it. This book is a very powerful story of
persecution of Christians, including Pastor Richard
Wurmbrand, and it is one I highly recommend. I
also recommend you subscribe to their email list to
receive periodic updates to the VOM ministry and
opportunities to pray for our brothers and sisters
around the world who suffer daily for their faith
in Christ. Just go to http://www.persecution.com to
sign up and/or make a donation.
Besides downloading and installing all of these
terrific resources, you can even create your own
reference books for e-Sword from your personal
studies, such as your lifetime collection of sermons or Bible Studies or Sunday School Lessons.
I told you I would save that discussion for last, so
here goes.
In order to convert ordinary textual content
contained in Microsoft Word documents, HTML
Web pages, rich text and plain text files into eSword reference books, all you have to do is
switch to the Editors workspace in e-Sword by
using the Ctrl+F5 keyboard combo and then hold
down the Control key and click your right mouse
button to display a pop-up menu. From this menu,
you can choose one of the following options:
1. Create a New Journal, Study, or Topic
Notes file
2. Open an existing Journal, Study or Topic
Notes file
3. Import content from one of the aforementioned file formats above (e.g., Word, Rich
Text, etc.)
4. Export current content in a Journal, Study,
or Topic Notes file into one of the abovementioned file formats, as well as PDF, or
5. Convert current content in a Journal, Study,
or Topic Notes file into either a reference
book file for e-Sword or a reference book
file for iOS.
Once you decide which of the above methods
you wish to use in generating your reference book
file, e-Sword does the rest. For instance, once
you’ve imported your content from a Word document or other file format into a Journal, Study, or
Topic Notes file, you can Ctrl+Right-click your
mouse again within the editors workspace and
October 2013
40
choose “Convert to Reference Book…” from the
pop-up menu. After naming the file on the “Save”
dialog, click the “Save” button and wait for eSword to complete the conversion process. Before
you click the “Save” button, however, it is crucial
for you to insure that the reference book file will
be saved to your e-Sword installation directory,
which is found at C:\Program Files (x86)\e-Sword\
on your computer’s primary hard drive, unless
you changed it during the installation process. If
you changed the installation folder, you will need
to select the folder where you installed e-Sword
before your newly-created reference book file will
be viewable by e-Sword.
After you save the reference book file to your
e-Sword directory, you will be prompted to restart
e-Sword in order to view your newly created reference book file. Next, just follow the steps outlined
earlier by choosing “Reference Library…” from
the Tools menu in order to choose your new reference book from the drop-down menu.
That’s all there is to it! Now, not only can you
read classic and contemporary works from within
e-Sword’s Reference Library, but you can create your own reference books to install there, too.
You can collect all of your sermon manuscripts or
outlines (as I have begun to do on my Web site at
www.parsonplace.com/mysermons.html)or you can
collect all of your lesson files from Sunday School
and/or Bible Study classes you’ve taught over the
years or you can even write your own books and
share them with friends and colleagues in ministry.
The possibilities are numerous.
Of course, there are lots of other features in
e-Sword that I won’t take time to delineate now,
but I am sure you will be able to figure them out
with regular use. If you run into any difficulty with
finding or using any aspect of e-Sword, just use
the Help menu to choose from several methods of
instruction for making the most of e-Sword and its
many features. There you’ll find the “Contents”
to the Help File listed first (which you can also
access quickly by pressing the F1 function key).
Additionally, there is an option for using “Training Demos,” a link to online “Technical Support,”
and a link to the e-Sword “User Group…” at www.
biblesupport.com, among others. You will really
want to investigate the “User Group…” option,
since there are loads of other downloads plus a
community forum for asking questions, discussing
e-Sword’s capabilities, and offering help to others.
I have thoroughly enjoyed writing these review
articles about e-Sword for these past few months,
and I hope you have benefited from reading them,
too. If you didn’t know about e-Sword before, I
hope you have taken advantage of its free availability and begun to use it extensively now in your
own study of God’s Word. I especially want to
thank Rick Meyers, both for making this amazing software freely available to the world and for
helping me by fact-checking behind me in the last
three articles in this series. His input definitely
made these articles more accurate and informative.
Now, let’s start doing digital evangelism with eSword, “the Sword of the Lord with an electronic
edge”!
Michael L. White is the founder and Managing Editor of Parson Place Press, an independent
Christian publishing house in Mobile, Alabama.
His book Digital Evangelism: You Can Do It, Too!
(Parson Place Press, 2011) is available wherever
books are sold. Visit his Website at books.parsonplace.com for a list of his other books and articles.
Easy
CHURCH WEBSITES
FROM
Now your church can have a beautiful and welcoming
website that is simple to maintain with our Websites
for Ministry.
▶ Engage current members
▶ Educate everyone about the faith
▶ Attract visitors to your parish
▶ Welcome newcomers and returning members
Call for a free demo: 800-446-3035
October 2013
41
ministry communication
How Technology Helps
or Hurts the Process of
Recruiting Volunteers
in Your Church
Yvon Prehn - [email protected]
N
ot only does your church need to recruit volunteers to get all the work
done that needs to be done in the church, but it’s the Biblical model where
the leaders “equip the saints to do the work of the ministry” (Eph. 4:1113). Leaders are to equip and encourage. Congregations are to practice their spiritual gifts; they become the volunteers who get ministry work done. The work is
shared, no one burns out and everyone grows in spiritual maturity as they practice
servanthood and their spiritual gifts. In this process, technology can help, but it
can also hurt. Read more to find out how.
How technology helps
After the list of the information you need, will be a
caution on how technology can hurt your volunteer program if you aren’t careful.
Later in this article is a list of the information you need
to gather from the various ministries in your church. Technology is helpful here in that one of the best ways to get
Information needed for every volunteer job in the
this kind of information is to email people and have them
fill it out online. In the past the work to interview volunteer church
• Job title, e.g. Sunday School Teacher, Youth
leaders, record and transcribe what they said kept many
Volunteer, etc. - Don’t use church jargon titles
churches from complete volunteer programs.
that potential volunteers might not understand.
Then once you get all the information needed (detailed
For example, write something like “Grade School
below) and get it organized, you can put this information on
Age Sunday School Teacher”, not “Promiseland
a Volunteer Central location on your website. You can then
servant/helper.”
use your social media to point to the material and various
•
Description of EXACTLY what the job involves.
groups can use it to create their own recruitment materials.
October 2013
42
•
•
•
•
Again, in teaching Sunday school in some
churches all the curriculum and craft information is
provided, in others volunteers are expected to create their own. What are your expectations?
Clearly explaining what a job involves is
vitally important, especially in churches that are
growing and have many members who become
believers as adults. People who did not grow up
in church have no idea what churches do in tasks
that seem obvious to those who did grow up in the
church. Remember that what is obvious to you is
not obvious to many of your new members and
potential volunteers.
What are the requirements to be a volunteer?
Many churches are very strict on who can
work with children and who cannot, as they should
be. In some communities, children’s workers must
be fingerprinted and backgrounds check done. Let
people know up front if those things are required.
In some churches you must be a member to volunteer in certain jobs. Let people know. There is nothing worse than an excited new believer wanting to
do a certain job and to then be told, “Oh, I’m sorry,
that position is only for church members… or only
men can fill this position….or whatever.” Any standards that are important to your particular church
are OK, but let people know what they are before
you ask them to volunteer.
How long is the commitment for?
One month? Every other month? A summer?
Or is it a life sentence? Many churches are finding
that more people volunteer if they know they are
volunteering for a brief, clearly stated time. If the
volunteer job is a good fit, they can sign up again.
Who will train them and what does the training
consist of?
Is it a position they can simply show up for
and do, or do they need to work with someone for
an extended time to learn a job? Do they need to
take a class, watch a video, read a book?
Who is in charge of their volunteer area?
Each position needs to have a contact person
who is available to answer questions, both overall
and when they are serving. Who, if anyone do they
report to? If they can’t come, who do they contact?
Do they need to find a replacement? If they have a
problem with a fellow volunteer, who do they talk
to?
It is difficult to emphasize the importance
of each of these areas of information. There will
always be questions, but with this key information
October 2013
43
recorded in a central place on
your website, you have something to refer to.
How technology can hurt your volunteer program at church
A question that is often forgotten
when recruiting volunteers is: What, if
any, are the technology requirements of
the job?
Will they need to know how to use
video equipment? Or any other multimedia tool? Does the person doing the
job have to know how to use computers? What programs? Can someone
teach them if they don’t know?
An even more important area is
a more recent one: If you are using a
computer/web-based system to organize and schedule your volunteers,
do they have to use it to volunteer?
Do they need a smart phone to access
notifications and schedules? What if
someone isn’t comfortable doing that?
This is not a small issue and
though these programs can be a wonderful tool for the church office, they
may keep many people from volunteering. Again, this is an area where the
staff cannot take anything for granted.
What is a great time-saver for you on
organizing, getting out notifications,
and keeping a calendar filled might be
what keeps a retired person with lots of
time and skills from volunteering.
Be sure that you take time to
personally ask people about this—so
that your technology will be the servant
that makes your volunteer programs at
church more inclusive and not a barrier
to willing and able volunteers.
For more information on church
communications, go to http://www.
effectivechurchcom.com
October 2013
44
nick at church
The Latest in Evangelistic
Trends: International Arms
Trafficking!
Nick Nicholaou - [email protected]
S
ome time ago an article caught my eye about folks going to jail
because they took computers outside of the U.S. The problem was
that, because of computer processor capabilities and the built-in
cryptographic capabilities of common off-the-shelf software, doing so
violated Export Administration Regulations. The article went on to describe the maximum fines and penalties associated with the export of
these items: $1,000,000 plus 10 years in jail for each criminal violation,
or $500,000 plus a 3-year export ban for each civil violation.
A few days later a colleague who works for an international ministry told me he had just sent software
updates to their overseas field offices. Click— the
light went on. I told him about the article I had just
read which applied to the software technology he just
sent overseas. We were both shocked as we discussed
the impact these regulations could have on similar
international ministries and computer donations.
Historical Context
The original regulations, called International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), about such exports
were issued decades ago to keep advanced intelligence technology built in the U.S. from those who
could use it to harm us and/or our interests. Since that
time, the oversight of computer technology exports
has been transferred to the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
Yet these laws are broken every day by those who
are unaware of their application to today’s computers
and software. While some argue that they’re outdated, there are many who have been fined and many
who are sitting in jail today for their willful― even
though unintentional― violation.
Export Limits
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has
that most countries cannot receive certain computers
based on their technology. The list includes Afghanistan, Canada, France, Russia, and many others that
October 2013
45
one wouldn’t expect to see on the list.
(Visit http://beta-www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/
policy-guidance/lists-of-parties-of-concern/entity-list
to see the list.)
It’s All About Encryption & Communication
The concern centers around hardware processing
and software encryption/decryption capabilities and
communication capabilities.
This sounds like it could keep many from helping missionaries and ministries from doing their work
around the world. Don’t give up! There’s an easy way
to know if what you want to do is legal. Keep reading.
Contact Your Missionaries
Many churches and ministries have given computers to overseas missionaries and pastors unaware that
doing so may have violated U.S. Export Administration Regulations!
Ask those missionaries and pastors whom you
have blessed with computers and software to send
you a list of exactly what hardware and software
they have. Do the same for any overseas offices your
ministry has. Have them include the version/model
numbers and serial numbers.
There May Be An Easy Fix!
According to officials at the Bureau of Industry
and Security, answers may be just a phone call away.
All you need to do is call 202-482-4811 between
9am and 5pm EST to determine if the software and/
or hardware is a concern. They may be able to give
you the good news that what you’re wanting to do
requires no license!
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? It is.
In The Future...
Call the Bureau of Industry and Security to obtain
the necessary license to export before sending that
encryption-capable software and/or hardware overseas. According to BIS officials, they would rather see
compliance sought, than to have to investigate and
enforce it after the fact.
This law may seem bothersome. Perhaps it is, but
it is the law, and in light of 9/11, it may make a major
difference in our safety. As Christians we should model righteousness to this dark world around us. Whether
there are potential fines or not, if the law doesn’t violate a scriptural principal, we should obey it.
Why put your servers in our private cloud?
• Eliminate the distraction & hassle
of hosting your own servers
• Reduce IT staff costs
• Gain 100% up-time
• We’re in the most advanced datacenter
on the planet – located in the USA
• Low monthly fees based
on charity licensing
• Excellent domestic support
We can save you money because we only
host Christian churches & ministries!
With Cloud technology,
your servers can be located
off-site. MBS has extensive
church and ministry IT
expertise – let us host your
servers in our datacenter!
Serving you and your team
would be an honor! Call or
email us today to learn more!
714.840.5900
[email protected]
Nick Nicholaou,
President
“. . . freeing those in ministry from business distractions.”
Phone: 714.840.5900 • www.mbsinc.com • [email protected]
October 2013
46

Applying Tomorrow`s Technology to Today`s Ministry

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