MICROSOFT 365 IN CHURCHES

DEPARTMENT NEWS

Written by Eric Ollila | Communication/IT/Media Director, Alberta Conference

Microsoft Office 365 is a powerful resource just waiting to be used to its full potential within the Alberta Conference. MS Office 365 is the standard cloud-based software solution provided to all office and pastoral staff in the Alberta Conference. In addition to staff, churches within the Conference can request additional access to a MS 365 subscription for their local leaders. (1)

What possibilities exist in the local church with Microsoft Office 365? What benefits could it provide? Here are just a few:

1. Communicate, collaborate, and improve productivity (2)

2. Manage meetings (3)

3. Collaborate on files with Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and others (4)

4. Record meetings to capture audio, video, and screen sharing activity.

5. Keep shared files in a single, secure location that everyone can access

6. Stay connected from any location with chats, meetings, and calls.

Here are two examples of how Churches have used MS Office 365:

Example 1: Storing Files for Church Board

Pastor John Doe of XYZ Church has MS Office 365 set up for each of the Board Members. Pastor Doe established a Microsoft Team, called "Church Board." Pastor Doe and the Clerk/Board Secretary use the MS Team site and its corresponding Sharepoint location to store and access essential board documents including meeting minutes, agendas, quotes, proposals, departmental and treasury reports, and other data relevant to monthly Board discussions. The Church Board members appreciate the MS Team because they can reference related Board documents for their monthly meetings, from the cloud. Pastor Doe and the Clerk love this setup because they know the Board Members can reference materials from anywhere they have an Internet connection. Pastor Doe and the Board rests assured that the documents and data are stored securely.

Additionally, with SharePoint, the Clerk can digitize and store current and historical church records. With powerful search tools included, any documents the Clerk needs to reference may be located with a few clicks on the keypad.

Example 2: Easy Worship Announcement Loop

Sample Church1 set up all its departmental leaders with a free Microsoft 365 E1 subscription. The church also set up a shared folder where each department can place announcements.

Each week, when the Visual Media Technician sets up the Sabbath morning announcements slide show to project on the screen, all that is required is to open the shared folder/file, then copy/ paste all the announcements into the slideshow. It takes about 10 minutes or less per week. The Visual Media Technician loves this setup because he doesn't have to spend time tracking down emails, or retyping handwritten notes. The pastor and department leaders love the structure because they can add announcements in the shared folder on the fly, and the Visual Tech will get them immediately.

If you're interested in getting MS 365 for your church, contact the Alberta Conference IT Department. We will be happy to assist you.

(1) Some charges may apply. (2) Microsoft Modern Workplace Training https://support.office.com/en-us/article/create-and-organize-teams-ea9aa9c2-ae29-44ca-b838- 4424b4daa44d?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US (3) Microsoft Modern Workplace Training https://support.office.com/en-us/article/manage-meetings-69aefc02-b58c-4066-811c-d1b71dd2c552?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US (4) Ibid.

Example 2: Easy Worship Announcement Loop Sample Church1 set up all its departmental leaders with a free Microsoft 365 E1 subscription. The church also set up a shared folder where each department can place announcements.

Each week, when the Visual Media Technician sets up the Sabbath morning announcements slide show to project on the screen, all that is required is to open the shared folder/file, then copy/ paste all the announcements into the slideshow. It takes about 10 minutes or less per week. The Visual Media Technician loves this setup because he doesn't have to spend time tracking down emails, or retyping handwritten notes. The pastor and department leaders love the structure because they can add announcements in the shared folder on the fly, and the Visual Tech will get them immediately.