TECHNOLOGY EMPOWERING MINISTRY
?
social media and the privacy illusion • thriving worship ministry 20 TOOLS AND APPS FOR PASTORS • CHURCH WEBSITE DOS AND DON’TS
is
technology getting in the way of
your message
>> 5 Reasons New Volunteers Aren’t Joining Your Team
MAY 2018
www.ministrytech.com
CONTENTS
05.18
4 behaviors of thriving worship ministry
10
(For worship leaders: A peek under the administrative hood.)
4 social media and the privacy illusion
the greatest ransom ever paid Welcome to the world of million-dollar ransoms.
Don’t skip the basics—we need to be reminded again and again.
16 when the it department and users clash Operations are one thing; policy is another.
8 TECH CHECK 05.18................................................................................. 7 What Isn't (and What Is) Important on a Church Website.................................................................................. 12
20 great tools and apps for pastors
Hey Church—Here’s Why You Might Not Have Enough Volunteers................................................................. 23
What's on Your List?
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A Word from the editor Ray Hollenbach
Marketing Manager Rudy Kovac
Managing Editor
Ray Hollenbach
Art Directors
Troy Irvin, Henny Vallee
Contributing Editors
Matt Farrand, Russ McGuire, Caleb Neff, Nick Nicholaou, Mike Norris, Yvon Prehn, Jonathan Smith, Steven Sundermeier
Copy Editor Laura Severn
ADVERTISING VP Advertising Sales
Jared Bryant
National Media Consultants
Nikki Dirks, Charles Fleece, Malari Foster, Joseph Landry, Seth Rankin, Barbara (McDonald) Wolfe, Ryan Yoder
Account Associates
Leslie Massey, Bethany Payne, Syndie Porter, Nicole Vargas, Lara Whelan
Administrative Director Rebecca Meyer
Publisher
Outreach Inc. 5550 Tech Center Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80919 (800) 991-6011 Ministry Tech® is a registered trademark of Outreach, Inc. Written materials submitted to Ministry Tech® Magazine become the property of Outreach, Inc. upon receipt and may not necessarily be returned. Ministry Tech® Magazine reserves the right to make any changes to materials submitted for publication that are deemed necessary for editorial purposes. The content of this publication may not be copied in any way, shape or form without the express permission of Outreach, Inc. Views expressed in the articles and reviews printed within are not necessarily the views of the editor, publisher, or employees of Ministry Tech® magazine, or Outreach, Inc. © Copyright 2018 Outreach, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
ILLUSIONS: PEOPLE VS. METHODS Our May issue features an article by Jonathan Smith, Social Media and the Privacy Illusion. With the recent news that Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed the data of 87 million Facebook users — (Stop! Don’t skip that number: 87 million!) — Smith’s article is especially timely. Privacy is an illusion in the cyber world. I’ve been reflecting on this question lately and I’ve come up with . . . more questions! It’s like crossing the Rocky Mountains: you climb one peak only to discover more mountain peaks behind the first one! The issue before us may not actually be about privacy, but rather the real issue might be our illusions. Working in the tech world comes with its own unique mountain range of illusions. Privacy is just the beginning. But there may be more illusions. For example, when we use church management software (ChMS) we might easily believe the illusion that keeping track of people in the church is the same thing as caring for people in the church. Today’s pastors and church staffs have more information about their members than ever before, but is that the same thing as providing pastoral care?
For (another) example, when we use state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems to enhance our Sunday meetings we might easily believe the illusion that we have worshipped the Creator God, when in fact we have only assembled an entertainment event based on Christian themes. Today’s worship leaders should ask themselves whether their church could enter into worship if the “worship team” was one person with a piano or guitar, singing 100 year-old hymns. For (one final example), when we combine email, social media, and SMS messaging to “connect” with members and visitors, are we really “connecting?” Or have we forgotten that communication is interpersonal, but technology is only methodological. By all means, let’s embrace the best practices technology has to offer; let’s also continue to see through the illusions and (re)discover the people Jesus redeemed. That’s why our magazine is entitled Ministry Tech— because ministry comes first.
Ray Hollenbach is the Editor of Ministry Tech magazine. He has previously served as the editor of Outreach’s Better Preaching Update, and as the editor of the Pastor channel at Churchleaders.com. You can reach him at rhollenbach@outreach.com.
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SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE PRIVACY ILLUSION Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and Us by Jonathan Smith
T
he place of social media in our culture has taken a dramatic turn over the past few months. What seemed safe now seems insecure, and privacy that we took for granted now seems as though it never existed. So what happened and why should we care? There were two big revelations that led to Facebook’s CEO testifying before Congress. First, it was revealed that a firm specializing in data analysis allowed a political organization access to Facebook data. The firm, Cambridge Analytica, had access to Facebook data for research purposes and it appears one of their employees shared that data with a political organization for them to use for their objectives. Second, as a result it become apparent that Facebook is collecting our data and sharing it with others as a part of how they make money. This left many with a lot of questions about online privacy and who has access to our data. While this sounds complex, it really isn’t. Let me try to answer many of the common questions.
What is Data Analysis? Wikipedia defines data analysis as “the process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions and supporting decision-making.” English translation: using data to make money. MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
This is the core of how Facebook and many other social media networks make money. While we may take social media services for granted, let’s remember that they have to make money. Facebook doesn’t allow us to use their website out of the goodness of their hearts. The community they have built and the tools we all use for connection, communication and ministry all exist to make money. Server farms cost money to operate and software engineers want their salary direct deposits to happen every month. Data analysis has been part of Facebook since the beginning. Their ability to analyze data on the demographics of those using their platform allowed them to target advertising and marketing in a unique, powerful and lucrative way. As another way to monetize their data, they licensed other firms to use their data for similar purposes. Enter Cambridge Analytica.
Is my data safe online? That depends on how you define safe. If by safe you mean that you have complete control over who can see your data and that your data is strictly controlled by the privacy settings of any social media website, then no. If by safe you mean that your data and privacy settings apply to individual users and user groups accessing your data, but that others are able to use your data as a part of research
and data analysis as per the terms of service of a particular social media platform, then yes. Notice the difference: Facebook and other sites do a good job of allowing you to control, on a user or user group basis, who can see your data. For example, if you want to block me from seeing your post on Facebook (or any other platform) you can do that with tremendous ease. However, if you want to prevent a contract firm like a Cambridge Analytica or a university research program from seeing your data, whether anonymously or not, you do not have that control. What brought all this to light was one of those researchers who shared Facebook data beyond the scope of their research and outside of the licensing agreement with Facebook for using that data. The fact that it was shared with a political organization only fueled the fire, but whether it was shared with Donald, Hillary or Bob the Builder doesn’t matter. The fact is the data was shared in violation of the data sharing agreement, in this case between Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.
Is Online Privacy Dead? No, in so much as saying online privacy in terms of you having complete control over your data never really existed. Since the first day Facebook came online, their terms of service have been pretty clear about how they
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Should I really read user agreements and terms of service? In a word, yes! While having a root canal may be more fun, a lot of the drama surrounding the recent Facebook scandal could have been eliminated if folks had only read the terms of service. A user agreement, or the terms of service, are the rules a product owner has for allowing you to use their product. Facebook has one as a free service, but pay services also have them. If you use a Microsoft product, like Word, there is a terms of service for using it. Have you read it?
#RUHOOKED
Teens & Social Media By Jonathan Smith
MinistryTech Monthly Contributor & National Speaker
Using Word as an example, if you purchased the Home and Student edition, you are not allowed to use Word for work purposes. Did you know that you have to be 13 to have a Facebook account? As we all now know, the Facebook user agreement gives Facebook the right to use what you post for data analysis by Facebook and those Facebook licenses. We are all going to give an account before God for all of our actions during our time on the Earth, actions in both the physical and virtual world. Of the many things I’m sure I’ll be held accountable for, I don’t want ignorance and therefore violations of user agreements to be among them.
A book for teens and the people who care about them. #RUHOOKED ISBN: 9781939881175/$6.99
So yes, read the user agreements and terms of service, or check with those you trust who have read them to provide you with input and guidance.
will use your data. What amazes me is that there is any real surprise here. This is how social media makes money to exist and what makes it so powerful. When I read that Cambridge Analytica had access to Facebook data my initial response was, “Duh.” Don’t be so naïve as to think that you have complete control of what you post online. There is no such thing as complete control over anything in the digital realm. MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
Available at TRISTANPublishing.com and Amazon.com The story in all of this was the breach of contract between Cambridge Analytica and Facebook when the data was shared with someone not licensed to have it. Think of it in terms of a copyright violation when you make copies of a song or book for all of your friends. That’s illegal, and so is what the Cambridge Analytica employee did in sharing the information with those not licensed to have it.
What does this mean to us? Several things come to mind. First, the Bible is clear about how we are to live our lives, and what the Bible says applies to how we live our lives in both the real world and the virtual world, despite being written thousands of years before Al Gore invented the Internet. 1 Cor. 10:31 says, “Whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to
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the glory of God.” This is why I don’t care if Cambridge Analytica, Donald, Hillary or Bob the Builder have access to what I post. My goal is to do my posting “for the Lord and not for men,” as Colossians 3:23 tells us to do. Second, I’ve known since the beginning that this is how social media works. They make their money on our data, so everything I post I know is part of their money making machine.
Again, applying 1 Cor. 10:31 and Col. 3:23 to what you post makes some anonymous data analysis company also seeing my data less important to me. I’m OK with everyone seeing my age, my religious background, my political affiliations, my relationship status and more. If I didn’t want anyone to see that, whether you or a data analysis firm, I wouldn’t have posted it in the first place.
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MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
Third, this doesn’t mean I’m going to go off the grid. I realize that some may take this as a wakeup call and want to get their data offline. I get that and understand that each person and organization will have to decide if they want to be part of an online community, understanding that their data is what pays for that community to exist, or if they want to go offline.
Is there any good news? Absolutely! First, I don’t think the users or the social media providers, like Facebook, are going to be as naïve as they have been. Hopefully users are paying more attention to user agreements, and providers like Facebook are making those agreements easier to read and understand. Second, many new tools, which should have already been in place, are being released. Some have already existed, like the ability to download everything Facebook knows about you. It’s a powerful tool and it will surprise you what they know. At least now, more people know this exists. Other new tools are coming to keep users more informed of who is using their data and even who provides some of the content on their services. Many of these new tools, like publishing who is responsible for a political ad or news story, seem common sense but are now being enabled as a result of the naiveté on both sides being shattered. None of this surprised God or His Word. Data stewardship is something we should all take seriously, especially as we manage data in ministry. Stewarding data is not only an organizational task, but also an individual responsibility. MT Jonathan Smith is the Director of Technology at Faith Ministries in Lafayette, Indiana. You can reach Jonathan at jsmith@faithlafayette.org and follow him on Twitter @JonathanESmith.
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tech check
05.18 SPRING CLEANING INCLUDES... Your computer! The folks at Wired.com have stepped up and provided a DIY guide, “How To Clean Your Computer Inside and Out,” dealing with everything from “fossilized fingerprints on your screen” to files you haven’t accessed since 1999.
Wired provides a kit-list for cleaning so complete you’ll feel like you’ve joined Chuck and Morgan’s fictional Nerd Herd (Do you remember Chuck? He’s streaming just about everywhere these days). Along with exterior cleaning advice comes guidance for de-cluttering your device, whether Windows or Apple. n
MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
How Do You Carry All Your Gear? Phone? Check. Tablet? Check? Charger, battery-back-up, ear buds, wait . . . there’s no way I can carry all this stuff around—or is there? The outdoor adventure specialists at Thule have assembled a gear bag designed especially for all your cyber stuff. The lightweight flexible bag features an inner compartment, a “hard-shell Safezone” pocket for breakables such as phones or Oakley’s. The Accent Backpack 28L is ideal for a connected, multi-device users. If your work involves multiple locations or air travel, this bag is perfect to gear up and go. Several reviewers indicate it’s also an excellent storage device to keep your extra chargers, headphones, and gear all in one location. It’s only slightly pricey at $130, but is occasionally discounted at various sites on the web. n
Kiosk-Ready Printers: Plug and Play Let’s face it: no matter how digital our environment becomes we will never outgrow the need for printers—especially printing on-the-go stuff like ID labels and receipts. This is certainly true for church-related activities like check-in for children’s church and Sunday school. Many churches have taken to printing nametags and pick-up labels to help ensure the safe drop-off and retrieve of all those toddlers running around the kid’s wing. You can even use barcode authentication, which improves security. DYMO’s line of portable thermal label printers eliminate the need for toner or ink, and produce a one-time use label as wide as four inches and capable of large fonts. If your children’s ministry is still using handwritten labels, check out the possibilities for your ministry to step up the tech.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Who can possibly keep up with all the tech options available these days? TECH CHECK highlights tech news and new gadgets that save you time, energy, money—and keep you from re-inventing the wheel. Have a hot tech tip or news item? Email rhollenbach@outreach.com.
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when the it department and users clash
Who Decides What IT Needs Are Legitimate? by Nick Nicholaou
A
church IT forum discussion came up recently that is worth thinking through. The original post asked for input on how to keep team members from connecting their personal devices to the passwordprotected staff WiFi. The discussion that followed was a little like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride! Lots of ideas being tossed around, most of which uncomfortably avoided the most important questions.
Underlying Risk The vast majority tried to help by explaining various ways the team could be controlled or prohibited from attaching their personal devices to the staff WiFi. There were a couple voices of reason that participated, suggesting positive ways forward. Those not in IT may not understand the underlying risk. Why shouldn’t team members connect their personal devices to the staff WiFi? There are legitimate dangers associated with letting personal devices attach to the staff WiFi. • The staff WiFi, usually password protected, is typically configured to give devices full access to the organization’s network as though they were connected and logged in via an Ethernet cable. That is in contrast to the public guest WiFi, which is typically configured to give devices access only to the Internet, and hopefully access that is filtered. MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
•T he organization’s data needs to be protected. Churches and ministries maintain a lot of sensitive data that could hurt congregants and team members if not adequately protected. Data like contributions records, HR records, social security numbers of staff and some vendors, church member disciplinary notes, board minutes, and more. That data needs to be kept private, but it also needs to be kept available for team members to use in the operations of the organization. Malware like ransomware exists because hooligans understand the value associated with appropriate data access, and endeavors to block access to the data unless a ransom is paid. •T he organization’s systems need to be protected. There are some who would like to disrupt the flow of church and ministry operations by crashing the system or participating in activities that could cause authorities to remove all computers and servers for forensic investigation and, possibly, evidence in a prosecution. When team members use the staff WiFi on their personal devices, the organization’s data and systems are put at risk.
The Next Question So, does that mean team members should not use the staff WiFi for their personal devices? Maybe; it depends on why they need it.
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One of the forum participants, Jason Powell at Granger Community Church, contributed, “Figure out what need they’re trying to solve. It took a while for our staff to be coached that there is no speed difference between our staff and public WiFi. After asking why they wanted a personal device on the staff WiFi, in almost every case, it was because they assumed it gave them something that the public WiFi didn’t. A simple conversation assured them that the public WiFi would do everything they were asking for.” What if the need is legitimate, though? Jason continued, “For legit needs like interns, volunteers, etc. needing a personal device to have more access, build a simple BYOD network.” A BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) network is not difficult or costly to do. The cost factors involved are more to create systems that can enforce protections and recover from breaches in case they occur.
Who Decides What IT Needs are Legitimate? This is the part often overlooked. IT is not responsible for determining what access needs are legitimate or not; that is leadership’s responsibility. IT should communicate the benefits, risks and any mitigation costs to leadership, and ask for direction. Only leadership is responsible for determining who should and who should not have access to systems and data. IT’s role is to engineer and configure, train, monitor, and enforce the decisions made by leadership.
MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
Effects of IT Setting Policy When IT makes decisions without leadership’s direction, those decisions usually take the form of policies and system settings that frustrate team members. In organizations where that is the case, IT often becomes the “No” people. Some church and ministry teams get dysfunctional in the wake of those policies. Team members—who feel called by God to fulfill their ministry call—often take the posture of doing whatever it takes to fulfill their call even if it means going around IT’s policies and system settings.
Effects of Leadership Setting Policy Policies set by leadership are ultimately enforced or modified by leadership. IT has the potential of having a ministry-facilitating impact by letting leadership set policy. And leadership should fully fund whatever is required by the policy decisions it makes, which means that IT doesn’t have to try to string together inadequate strategies. If leadership doesn’t fund IT with what is needed, IT should let leadership know and ask for either a change in policy or a change in the budget. MT Nick Nicholaou is author of Church IT: Strategies and Solutions and is president of MBS, an IT consulting firm specializing in church and ministry computer networks, VoIP and private cloud hosted services. You can reach Nick at nick@mbsinc.com, and may want to check out his firm’s website, www.mbsinc.com, and his blog at ministry-it.blogspot.com.
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4 behaviors of
thriving worship ministry
A Worship Leader's Guide to the Intersection of Technology & Administration by Mike O'Brien
O
ver the past couple of years, I’ve served 50-plus churches as a worship team trainer and guest worship leader. I’ve noticed some interesting trends in worship ministries that are healthy, growing and happy. This article has little to do with the quality of liturgy or congregational worship experience, but it’s more a peek under the administrative hood. It is not exhaustive; it’s just a list of markers I have noticed. Here are four behaviors of thriving worship ministries:
1. T HEY CONSISTENTLY (and uniformly) SCHEDULE THEIR VOLUNTEERS Most churches have multiple worship leaders. If you have three worship leaders and three different ways of administering bands, you will drive your volunteers crazy. There should be one system that everyone adheres to. If possible, try to implement the SAME system across the board for all volunteers so families can serve in multiple areas of the church without confusion. • Pick a System – There are several ways to let people know when they are serving at church. Planning Center Online is the king; however, you can also look at worshipteam.com and others. You might use a mix of online tools and simple PDF attachments to email. Your system should have a way to communicate seasonally (one to four months at a time), weekly (hey, you’re on this week), and the day of service (hey, you’re on today). Provide schedules at least one month before the start MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
of the schedule. (i.e., the January schedule is emailed November 30th). • Do not avoid creating a system because one volunteer doesn’t use email or Facebook. Those people either need to yield to the agreed method or you can build a secondary system for them. Either way, there should be a system to reach everyone. • Once a healthy method for communication is in place, don’t constantly change your methodology. You will build trust with consistency, which is measured in years, not months. • Raise heck when your system is ignored or amended by well-meaning, creative people. Consistency breeds faithfulness (and more drummers).
2. THEY HAVE SYSTEMS FOR SONGS Every local church is marked by the songs they sing. In this day and age, the song is the most prominent means of gospel delivery and discipleship. There is a virtual sea of thousands of worship songs for the choosing. Instead of pulling from that potential sea, great worship leaders work from a pool of songs. New songs are added with care and intentionality and are not adopted via the affections of one particular worship leader. Your pool of songs can live on a Google Doc or similar online database. It should be editable, and list active, potential and retired songs. Instead of pulling from a bottomless sea of songs, great worship leaders work from a small pool of songs.
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Churches that sing the same songs over and over again have a more active engagement in worship than churches that have no congruent songs week-toweek. If worship leaders and musicians are bored to tears with songs, that means the congregation is just getting to know them. Keep in mind many people only come to church once a month!
3. T HEY HAVE COMPELLING AND ORGANIZED ENVIRONMENTS “Where is a sharpie?” “Are we seriously out of 9-Volts?” "My mic stand is holding on by a prayer!” The stage, backstage and soundboard areas should be clean and labeled so a variety of workers can function with ease. Growing organizations are constantly inviting new people to “play,” and there should be physical spaces that are hospitable to newbies. Your faithful volunteers too should have what they need to do what has been asked of them. All areas (seen and unseen) should be stripped, cleaned and reorganized throughout the year. Old moldy cups of coffee and nests of cables communicate that you don’t care, and you will repel some creative personalities. The quality of the church drum set and vocal mics will tell me all I need to know about the value of worship in any given church. Great gear attracts great servant artists.
language of love and you might need to ask your volunteers directly, “How can I say thank you?” Here are the essential methods: Public Praise (from the pulpit, from a Facebook post) - AND IT’S FREE A Written Note - ALSO FREE A Thoughtful Gift A Gathering (quality time and/or fun) A Specific Word of Encouragement to each person on the team – YEP: FREE Healthy volunteer cultures are immersed with recognition, thanks and encouragement. MT
Mike O'Brien holds a B.A. in Music from Kennesaw State University and a Master of Worship Studies from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies. He has worked as a producer, engineer and mixer at Lucko Sound Studio, and with a collective of 25+ musicians called Poured Out Like Wine. Together, they produced seven albums with over 15 published songs with Vineyard Worship USA. He lives in Atlanta GA with his wife, Susan, and son, Ezekiel. You can reach Mike at vineband@hotmail.com.
4. T HEY SAY “THANK YOU” IN A VARIETY OF WAYS In the heart of every volunteer (and staff member) is the question: “Does what I do matter?” Great leaders are consistently encouraging and rewarding those that are serving on their teams. Everyone has a different MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
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COMMUNICATIONS
what isn't (and what is) important
on a church website Getting Our Priorities Straight by Yvon Prehn
T
oday every church has a website, which gives its church tremendous potential to reach its community and world for Jesus. However, few church websites accomplish all that their churches wish they did. Because of that, churches sometimes jump from one software system to another hoping that THIS time the church website will be all they want it to be. After many years of helping churches communicate with their websites and other communication channels, below are a few comments that you may not find elsewhere and may be useful for staff discussion.
#1 What isn’t important: What system you use to create it There is an abundance of systems and software you can use to create a church website, and it really doesn’t matter which one you use. Nearly any system can create an extraordinary site that represents your church well and that touches, and changes, lives for Jesus. Every few months it seems, some new system comes up with great advertising fanfare that this is the system that will revolutionize your church and have people flocking to the website. MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
What does it profit a person to be wowed by an upbeat, exciting website, but lose their soul? Probably not. A church may work intensely on a new system for a few months, but after a time, no matter how flashy or new the system, if it is not continuously updated and/or the people tasked with doing it look at the website as the last task in communication importance, it doesn’t matter what system you use. However, no matter what the system, if the person working on it cares passionately about reaching their community for Jesus and the importance of keeping the site updated, it will be a successful site.
#2 What isn’t important: How it looks Many people would not agree with that, and though we certainly don’t want to intentionally create an uglylooking site, any system advertised today will create a good-looking site. However, looks alone are not enough. It might be a website that looks extraordinary but has all the warmth of a high-end fashion magazine. Perhaps it’s beautiful in every way and typo-free, but if it is lacking in humanity and real
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COMMUNICATIONS spiritual content, it won’t connect with or serve your audience. I recently did an extended critique of a website (no identifying of the actual church) that was part of a church rebranding that illustrated this situation. Check out this article: Are you still telling people to “Call the church office for more information”? If the system and looks aren’t the most important, what is?
Important characteristic #1—Content on the site The most important thing on any church website is the content. As I constantly emphasize in my teaching on church communications, contrary to the popular saying that “the medium is the message,” that simply isn’t true. People don’t think you are a great church because you have a goodlooking, smooth website. The medium (your website as a communication channel) is not the message. The content of the message is the message. It’s the content that is important, not simply the fact that you have a website. Or that you have a gorgeous website with a banner of people singing with arms raised in enthusiastic worship. People do not go to church websites to be entertained or to get their multi-media thrill for the week or to play the latest exciting video game. They go to have spiritual needs met—how does your content do that?
Important characteristic #2—the most important content on your site The most important thing your website can and should have is how to become a Christian, how to get saved, MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
and the meaning of salvation. This is not the same as a Statement of Faith—that is important to include along with who you are as a denomination, but the Statement of Faith is something that primarily people who are already part of a church and perhaps new to your area will access. The terms and jargon (traditional and wonderful words they are) mean little to nothing to a post-Christian explorer of your church website.
In discipleship planning we are reminded that “what you win them with, is what you win them to.” Meaning that if people come to Jesus thinking he is the easy to solution to all their problems, that life will now be one big joyous celebration, and like everyone else in the church (according the pictures on the website anyway) they will be happy, it can be a big challenge when the demands of self-sacrificing discipleship and
To fully fulfill the Great Commission
RESOURCES FOR CHURCH COMMUNICATORS Training Templates Strategy Resources Podcast
www.effectivechurchcom.com | 13
COMMUNICATIONS unavoidable human tragedy God can use to refine them is brought up. Some might look at that as “bait and switch” in the Christian message. Carefully evaluate your church website—is this most important content on it, and not only on it, but top-level accessible? How to become a Christian, have your sins forgiven, have a relationship with God, explained clearly and in a way that is appropriate to your denomination and location? A way to contact and interact with someone to respond to this message of salvation and any questions about it? The questions above and the content to explain them are THE most important content you need on your site. In addition, as I looked at many sites, I didn’t see, but would have liked to see, these questions answered. What is a church? Why is it important for people to attend? Why should people attend other than it looks cool, and offers great coffee and fun things for kids? To paraphrase a Bible verse, “What does it profit a
person to be wowed by an upbeat, exciting website, but lose their soul?” Concentrate on the most important content for your site—the message of eternal life in Jesus—and to paraphrase another Bible verse, “Then all the rest of your website will be successful as well.” Additional advice and FREE e-book: The church website is not the only key church communication that often does not have the most important content, a presentation of the gospel. Church bulletins also frequently omit this essential information. For a free e-book that has examples of how you can include a presentation of the gospel of salvation in Jesus in your church bulletin, and that would also work on a website, go to: The most important content for your website or church bulletin—the good news of salvation in Jesus. MT Yvon Prehn’s ministry to church communicators has two parts: http://www. effectivechurchcom.com, a site of FREE templates, strategy and resources, and http://www.churchcomtraining.com, a Church Communicators Online Training School.
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PROTECTED WITH PURPOSE
the greatest
ransom ever paid
April Showers Bring Malware: A Crop of Thorny Ransomware Has Recently Bloomed by Steven Sundermeier
S
pring is here, and with it all the beautiful birds singing in the morning (I much prefer them to my alarm clock) and all the neighborhood kids running and reconnecting outside while playing in the yards. And we cannot forget the buds emerging from the ground and branches. As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers, and we will have a bit of rain, I am sure. However in the cyberworld, those April showers have brought more than just some flowers in May, as a new crop of thorny Ransomware has recently bloomed.
MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
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PROTECTED WITH PURPOSE Like dandelions in a front yard, Ransomware production continues to excel at a rapid rate. Thirtyseven4 has already observed as many new strains of ransomware in the first four months of 2018 as it did in all 12 months of 2017 (and 2017 had a record number!). The reason for the high emphasis on worldwide ransomware planting is simple: It is unfortunately a highly lucrative business, with reports of CryptoWall 3.0 grossing $325 million and estimated total ransom payouts globally now approaching $1 billion. And those are merely the (estimated) payouts to cyber thieves—there are other pieces and money-makers from the efforts. Global estimates for damage costs associated with ransomware are predicted to have exceeded $5 billion in 2017 alone. The numbers associated with these payouts are hard to believe, but if we look back at some well-documented ransomware attacks over the years, we get a glimpse of the reality of those figures. Early in 2016, it was reported that a Los Angeles hospital system, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center (HPMC), paid attackers/ hackers $17,000 to regain access to their critical data. Last Summer (2017), the Web hosting company Nayana, located in South Korea, forked over approximately $1 million to recover its data—resulting in likely the largest ransom ever paid. And finally, just months ago, the Hancock Health institute paid over $55,000 to decrypt its files. Statistically speaking, in about one third of reported cases, users are paying out up to $500 to ransomware authors, but in almost 20 percent of the cases, victims/institutes are paying $10,000 or more. It is also very MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
important to note that even if the ransom is paid, it does not guarantee that you’ll get your files back. In fact, in 60 percent of the cases where money is spent to decrypt files, people do not receive the necessary decryption information back (double whammy!). Because of the popularity of this topic and attacks, I spend a sizable amount of time dealing with ransomware and presenting
on the topic of ransom payouts for the cybersecurity side of things. It got me wondering about what the largest ransom ever paid for a person has been? In this context, I suppose we can define ‘ransom’ as the act of freeing someone from captivity or punishment. My guess is that some of you may recall hearing news of reported ransom stories in the past. My
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PROTECTED WITH PURPOSE knowledge on the subject is sheltered and mostly limited to the 1996 American crime thriller movie Ransom, where Mel Gibson plays the role of multimillionaire airline owner Tom Mullen, whose son is kidnapped on a $2 million-dollar ransom. Let’s see how well your memory fairs with some recent ransom-related stories I found in my research: Patty Hearst, a 19-year-old heiress to the Hearst media conglomerate. Patty was kidnapped in 1974 and ransomed at the time for $6 million (over $30 million today). Freddy Heineken, CEO of brewing company Heineken International. Mr. Heineken was released in 1983 on a ransom of approximately $22 million (the equivalent of around $55 million in 2018). Jorge and Juan Born, wealthy Argentine grain traders. The brothers were kidnapped in 1974 and ransomed for $60 million, equivalent to nearly $300 million today. (Do you have any guesses on what the largest ransom ever paid was? Any Robinhood fans out there? Arguably the highest dollar value ever demanded for a ransom would have to be back in 1190 when Leopold V, The Duke of Austria, commanded 150,000 marks for the release of King Richard the Lionheart. In today’s dollars that’s equivalent to $3.3 billion!) Whether we are thinking in terms of ransom as a new emerging cyber threat payment or the physical act of paying off a kidnapper, we think of it in terms of a “good” vs. “evil” or a “offender” vs. “victim”. However, we are just one month past celebrating the most defining event in all of history, Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus' death, burial and resurrection is undoubtedly the MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
costliest ransom ever paid. John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” By God sending his only begotten Son to die for us as a ransom for our sins, God is both the “Captor” and the “Liberator.” God creates us in His own image. Man decides his ways are better than God’s ways. A perfectly just and holy God can’t simply turn a blind eye to our sins and compromise His justice. The wages of our disobedience (sins) is death and we must be punished. God is Just (Captor). Yet, God is also loving. Instead of inflicting punishment on us, which we deserve, He provides a ransom: a penalty on Himself through Jesus. God is merciful (Liberator) without having to compromise His own holiness. I think about this with such amazement. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Many of you may be questioning why I wrote this article this month as opposed to the month leading up to Easter, and that’s a fair inquiry. The weeks and even month before Easter are filled with activities (i.e., Passion plays, Easter services and Community
outreaches) aimed at preparing our hearts and minds for Resurrection Sunday (and these are all wonderful things!). But, what about after Easter? I am sure in the coming months I will be writing more on the latest malicious cyber activity out there. I can all but guarantee you I will continue to receive and analyze dozens of new ransomware samples daily. Here is my hope for you, and also myself: Easter is more than a special holiday celebrated each Spring; it goes beyond in that we (hopefully) remember daily the price that was paid for us. And what will we do with that realization? When I come across a new and dangerous ransomware (or when you hear or read of these threats), I aspire to not only utilize my God-given talents to reverse engineer and combat the malware, but to remember the “ransom” that was paid for me. MT Steven Sundermeier is the owner of Thirtyseven4, LLC, a leading provider of antivirus/ security software. With 17 years of experience in the cybersecurity field, he is one of the nation’s leading experts in virus, malware and other threats. Before founding Thirtyseven4 in 2009, Steven worked in a number of roles in the antivirus industry dating back to 1999.
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20 FOR PASTORS great tools and apps
by Brandon Kelley, RookiePreacher.com
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n a world full of smart phones, tablets, laptops and desktops, we have the opportunity to utilize many tools for the glory of God. There are so many great tools and apps for pastors that it may seem a little overwhelming, but I hope to break them down in some helpful categories and give you some thoughts on each one.
SERMON PREPARATION Google Docs are great because they sync across your devices and they are very useful for collaborative projects. So if you have a sermon planning team and want to be able to work on a document at the same time, Google Docs offer you what you need. Multiple people can edit the same document at the same time. You can also work offline on Google Docs if you use the Google Chrome web browser. As soon as you get Internet connection back again, your document will be synced. You can also use Google Docs to write your sermon. Evernote is a powerful note taking application that allows you to organize notebooks or notebook stacks around topics that are important to you. It also has tagging capabilities so you can organize your notes in an even deeper way. As far as sermon preparation goes, you can make a stack of notebooks for each series you will preach in 2016 and add notes for each series as you come up with ideas and research. If you’re just getting started with Evernote or want to take it to the next level, check out my article on the essential notebooks every pastor needs. I give away two great templates for Evernote in that article as well. The Evernote Web Clippper is a great tool to take things off the web and put them straight into your Evernote. If I read a good blog post, I clip it and put it in my research stack -> articles notebook. Pages is my alternative to Microsoft Word. I have a Macbook Pro and Pages came with it. I love this word MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
processor for all of my writing except for books (I use a great Word template from Redeeming Press). I love Pages because it’s less clunky than Word. It feels substantially more minimal. BibleHub is a powerful, free Bible study site. It’s great to look at the original language of a passage, and they even have a substantial library of online commentaries. It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it’s very functional. BibleGateway is my go-to Bible study site for looking up passages outside of my main text. I also go here to grab the text to copy and paste into my sermon slides. TinyPDF is what I upload my completed preaching notes to. I preach from an iPad Mini and this app is a great tool to hold and display my preaching notes. It has a lot of capabilities that I don’t use, but it does a great job. I’ve never had an issue with it while preaching. They recently updated the app and changed the way you go to the next page. It used to be that you swiped horizontally like you would with a book, but now it’s vertical which I’m not sure I like. Nonetheless, it works great, but I may look for another solution.
TEAM MANAGEMENT Zoom Video Conferencing is what Joe and I use to record the Rookie Preacher Podcast. Most times it’s high quality, but there have been a few times when we’ve had issues with recorded sound quality. Regardless, if you work in an environment where your fellow staff members are not all in one place, this is a great tool to host meetings. You could also use this to host meetings between yourself and other ministry leaders, or really anyone. Google Hangouts went through an overhaul somewhat recently. It offers a great way to connect with your team through video conferencing and offers some powerful tools within the video conference that may be helpful for your
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virtual meetings. You may find that Google Hangouts can be utilized for a Video Blog solution where people can join you live, and then it automatically gets uploaded to YouTube. Dropbox is a powerful file sharing solution for your team. Dropbox is a cloud solution for personal and shared folders and files. They have recently done an upgrade that allows you to see who else is looking at a document along with you, and when you make an edit, it updates it for everyone.
PRODUCTIVITY Early Morning Alarm (you should have one of these on your phone already). Wayne Cordova, a.k.a. Geek Pastor, says that the number one productivity boost you can do is to get up early. I can attest to this. Running two blogs, both with podcasts, and with two books in the pipeline, I wouldn’t be able to do a fraction of what I do without waking up early in the morning before everyone else wakes up. Task Manager – I use Evernote for its simplicity, but many people recommend other apps for task management. Many people recommend Todoist. My weekly productivity template is actually one of the templates I give away for free when you subscribe to RookiePreacher.com. Pomodoro Challenge Timer takes the Pomodoro technique and gives you a challenge-based app that will help you get more done. Don’t know what the Pomodoro technique is? Read this. For the quick explanation, you’ll focus on one thing for 25 minutes without doing ANYTHING else. I just installed this app and am excited to see what it does for my productivity. MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
IFTTT is a very powerful automation tool. If This Then That has a lot of pre-made recipes of actions or you can make your own. I haven’t tapped into the depth that many people have, but I use this primarily for automation of my Twitter account. I have identified a number of bloggers who always produce great content. So I automated a recipe that says if they post something it is added to my buffer account that schedules a tweet. More on Buffer below. I also have a recipe that whenever someone uses the #sermonprep on Twitter, they are added to a Twitter list called Preachers. You can subscribe to that list to connect with other preachers.
SOCIAL MEDIA Hootsuite is a powerful social media management tool. I use this
to manage all of the social media accounts for The Crossing. If you have multiple social media accounts to keep track of, give Hootsuite a try. Buffer is my favorite social media management tool. I use this to manage my personal Twitter account and Facebook page. What I love about Buffer is that it will maximize your scheduling of posts in light of when your followers are most active. A new upgrade they just did now allows their Chrome browser extension to identify pictures within blog posts when you go to share them so you can add the picture to your Tweet, which increases engagement. It doesn’t allow as many accounts as Hootsuite under the free version, but I think it offers more power than Hootsuite. Canva is a great graphic design tool
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for people who aren’t graphic design savvy— like me. I use this to create quote graphics from Sunday sermons, Scripture quotes, and all the blog graphics on my blog posts on here and my personal blog. If you like to make engaging slides for your sermons, there is a setting for that as well.
PERSONAL GROWTH Kindle App is available on every device you have and allows you to read great books wherever you are. I have an actual Kindle, but also use the app on my iPad, smartphone and laptop. There’s a great way also to utilize your highlights and add them to Evernote for later use. See this article on how to do so. Podcast Republic is my podcasting app of choice. I have a Samsung Galaxy so, in other words, I don’t have an iPhone. If you are an iPhone user, you should have the Podcast app on your device already. Podcast Republic gives you access to the entire iTunes library and allows you to subscribe to podcasts, see the show notes and much more. Digg Reader is the way I keep up with all the blogs I follow. It is an RSS reader where you can upload blog feeds to. You can read and share blog posts without ever having to leave the Digg Reader. I also have a IFTTT recipe setup to where anytime I “digg” a post, it adds that post to my Buffer account. YouVersion is my Bible reading app of choice along with millions of others. It offers a great number of reading plans. You can connect with friends on the app and see what they are reading as well.
Improve Church Engagement Through Communication By subscribing to our on-line service, churches can call, text, email and notify all their members at once through one simple platform.
One Final Thought: Tools are only tools—it’s what you do with them that counts. MT Brandon Kelley serves at a fast growing church plant in Batavia, Ohio (east side of Cincinnati), called The Crossing, in the role of Spiritual Development Pastor. Among the many things he does at The Crossing, serving on the teaching team is one of them. Connect with Brandon on Twitter or email: Brandon@rookiepreacher.com
MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
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HEY CHURCH–Here’s Why You Might Not Have Enough Volunteers 5 Reasons New Volunteers Aren’t Joining Your Team by Abigail Saunders
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ne thing I know for sure: A church can never have “too many” volunteers. And chances are, if you’re reading this, you could use more volunteers. The truth is, there are some very real obstacles to getting more people to serve, but it’s not an impossible task. As someone who's consistently volunteered in the church, here’s some insight into why you might be having issues getting more volunteers. Hint: It’s not because you need more free snacks.
1. They Don’t Know There’s a Need. You might be thinking, “Of course there’s a need—how could they not know?” And yes you’ve said it from the stage a few times or maybe it’s been a part of church announcements. But do people really know specifically where and why your church needs help? If they don’t
MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
know there’s a need—why would they help? Unfortunately, mentioning it a few times during service doesn’t give people a sense of urgency. But that’s why we want to help. Post a volunteer position for free and share it with your church!
2. Volunteers Aren’t Recruiting. This one seems obvious too, but unless people are told to tell their friends, they likely won’t. Do you have passionate volunteers who love to serve? These are your ambassadors! One of the best ways to get others to start volunteering is by asking your current volunteers to tell their friends about why they love to serve! Here are two questions to ask your volunteers, “Who do you know that would be great at what you do?” And, “Would you be willing to personally invite that person?”
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Transform Your Kids Ministry Area! We get that not every church has an interior designer. And that you love your Kids Ministry and want your children’s areas to look as cool as the kids that come to your church - without breaking the bank! Outreach wants to help you put some “wow” on your walls with easy-to-install wall graphics and banners that will make your church the cool place to hang out.
3. They Don’t Know Their Role. Joining a volunteer team gives people the opportunity to do something incredibly meaningful with their lives! Most people just want to help out but they aren’t sure where to start. You can help by being specific about the current needs you have and matching those needs with the giftings of your volunteers. One great way to start doing this is by making job descriptions for your volunteers. This gives them a sense of purpose, worth and ownership in their new role.
4. They Are Intimidated by the Sign Up Process. OK, so maybe they do want to volunteer, but the process to get started is far too complex. “First go to this class, next read this pamphlet, after that you’ll need to jump through 50 more hoops.” Yes, it’s important to get the right kind of volunteers, but are you making the process messier and more confusing than it needs to be? We’d love to give you some simple next steps to help you get more volunteers.
5. They See Current Volunteers as “Stressed.”
Kids Ministry Wall Graphics & Banners With brands like VeggieTales, The Jesus Storybook Bible, The Action Bible and other gorgeous designs, kids from nursery to preteen (and their parents!) will love coming to your church to learn more about Jesus!
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MinistryTech.com MAY 2018
Have you ever seen someone constantly overworked, stressed and disenchanted? It’s likely you’d be hesitant to sign up for whatever they were doing right? The same goes for church volunteers. Investing in your current volunteers and making sure they are loved and appreciated is so important. I hope these tips help you in your volunteer search. We want to help you get more volunteers. You can start posting free volunteer positions today.
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THE LAST WORD
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1 TIMOTHY 1:17