ccmag2010_10

Founder & Editor-in-Chief Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com VP of Operations Michael Hewitt - mike@ccmag.com

Applying Tomorrow’s Technology to Today’s Ministry Volume 22

October 2010

No. 10

5 cover story

ChMS Overview 2010 by Steve Hewitt

Copy Editor Gina Hewitt

3 editorial

Corporate Home Office

Thanks for Registering at CCMag Web Site!

By Steve Hewitt

4 press releases 20 ACS ideas to impact

Your Ministry On Demand

from ACS Technologies

22 accelerating the dynamic church Dynamic Churches Serve Their Communities

23 tech talk

Contributing Editors Dr. J.D. “Doc” Watson Lauren Hunter Terry Wilhite Yvon Prehn Nick Nicholaou Kevin A. Purcell C. Brian Smith Russ McGuire Drew Goodmanson Bradley Miller Michael Curylo

from Fellowship Technologies

PC Potpourri 1

26 higher power with kevin

By Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson

Logos 4.1 Upgrade Brings Us Back to Where We Started

31 nick at church

By Kevin A. Purcell

The Sky is----er...Cloudy

36 launching online

By Nick Nicholaou

Should I Buy from Non-Christians?

31 ministry communication

By Russ McGuire

Disaster Recovery and How to Hang on to PageMaker

By Yvon Prehn

Christian Computing® is a registered trademark of Christian Computing, Inc. Written materials submitted to Christian Computing® Magazine become the property of Christian Computing®, Inc. upon receipt and may not necessarily be returned. Christian Computing® 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 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.

Articles that are highlighed are provided by our partners www.ccmag.com/2007_03/2007_03editorial.pdf

Christian Computing® Magazine

October 2010

editorial

Thanks for Registering at CCMag Web Site! Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com Who Won the $500 Apple Gift Card? I want to thank each and everyone who visited our site at www.ccmag.com and registered! Thousands of you took the time to register with us. If you didn’t register on our site, please feel free to do so. Granted, our drawing for the $500 Apple Gift Card is over (drawing was held on Oct 1, 2010), but we plan to announce other drawings in the future, and, once you are registered, you will always be entered into all of our future drawings! Why register? We realized that with the move to digital, we were only collecting email addresses. While this is all we really need to deliver CCMag to our subscribers, we were missing information we used to be able to gather when we mailed the magazine. For example, it was easy to go through our database and see how many addresses were listed as a “church”. Or, by even looking at the physical address, we were able to see which states most of our readership lived in. By gathering some basic demographic information when you register at our site, you are helping us get a picture of who is reading CCMag! So, who won? Jacob Skaggs from Bellevue, NE. Jacob serves at his home church (WayPoint Community Church). When we informed him that he had won, he said, “Wow I can’t believe it! That is so awesome!” He went on to say, “I have been reading CCMag for almost a year now, and have enjoyed each issue. I love how you guys aide churches with moving into the 21st century.” Congratulations Jacob. If you are not already an Apple user, you can use the $500 gift card to either purchase a new iPhone or an iPad, or any Apple product you desire. Again, thanks to everyone for registering. I think we will be giving away something again soon, so keep current. You can visit our site at anytime and update your information if you change addresses, churches, etc. And, encourage your friends to visit our site and sign up as well. Besides being registered for some great giveaways, they will receive their free subscription to Christian Computing Magazine. Together We Serve Him,

Steve Hewitt Editor-in-Chief steve@ccmag.com

Christian Computing® Magazine

October 2010

Press Releases Fellowship Technologies and ServiceU Create Church Software Partnership Memphis, Tenn., October 5, 2010 -- Fellowship Technologies has partnered with ServiceU to combine the best of church management software, Fellowship One, with the best of event management software, EventU. “This strategic partnership between ServiceU and Fellowship Technologies is the first step in the integration of resource management and resource scheduling with the power of check-in, attendance and reporting for Fellowship One churches,” said Jeff Pelletier, a vice president at Fellowship Technologies. “Additionally, this integration aids churches with communication capabilities to connect with registrants, providing a 360-degree, holistic view of each family. After an event, staff can provide timely follow-up for capitalizing on ministry moments with people who attended as well as those who registered but did not attend the event. It’s an administrative ‘win’ for the church staff and an individual ‘win’ for each person.”

EventU that automates facility heating and cooling (HVAC) online based on a facility’s events schedule; TransactU™ provides secure online donation, payment, and event registration tools; TicketU™ provides online ticket sales, box office management, and theater software. About Fellowship Technologies Founded in 2004, Fellowship Technologies became a pioneer in the church market with their flagship product, Fellowship One. Through the power and ease of use of the product, Fellowship Technologies has been able to provide solutions that help dynamic churches of any size to focus on their call to serve and minister to people. Today, Fellowship One is the leading 100% web-based church management software used by ministries around the world, ranging from new church plants to mega-sized, multi-site churches. Expanding from one client and seven staff members, Fellowship Technologies now boasts over 1,600 church and nonprofit organizations as clients and over 90 employees on staff and has been listed on the Inc. 5000 list for two consecutive years.

“This alliance gives churches the freedom to choose software that best suits their needs,” said Tim Whitehorn, CEO of ServiceU. “We’re glad to be partnering with a Kingdom-minded company that understands the value of collaboration to serve the local church.” People wanting to attend any church event can register through their church website or through an email invitation with a simple “click to register” link. The process is seamless to the user with the integration between Fellowship One and EventU handling the processes behind the scenes. About ServiceU Corporation Since 1999, ServiceU Corporation has been the trusted solution for providing software that helps churches, schools and nonprofits simplify and automate administrative processes by moving them online. ServiceU’s core product line includes: EventU™ for event, resource, and facility management through web-based calendar scheduling software; EventU Green™ is an add-on to Christian Computing® Magazine

October 2010

cover story

ChMS Overview 2010

Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com

ach year our October issue of Christian Computing Magazine has an emphasis on Church Management Software. Regardless of how you abbreviate it, CMS or ChMS, for over the last two decades, churches have turned to Christian Computing Magazine for information, reviews, and press releases about new features and even peruse the advertisements within our pages. In 2007, we published our last comparison feature chart in the October issue. After that year, we moved to creating and publishing a “live” comparison chart, available from our Web site on the Internet. This year, that chart has again added new features. As in the past, you can access our ChMS Feature Comparison chart from our Web site (www.ccmag. com). As you scroll through the list of features, if you see features on the chart that are not important to you, you can simply click on the check mark and remove them from the feature chart. This allows each user to customize the final chart, showing just the features they wish to compare. As you narrow your search to specific companies or products, you can click on the check mark below the vendors you wish to eliminate from your search, again, customizing the chart. As you go through the process, you will eventually be left with a chart listing only the companies you are interested in, with the chart providing a comparison of only the features that are important to you. This year, there is a new twist. Each of the companies listed have been given access to the database through their online registration. This means the chart is really “live” and can be edited by any of the venChristian Computing® Magazine

dors at any time, as they add new features to their product or services! My thanks to Mike and his programming staff for these new additions! One final note, if you wish to print your final chart, we have discovered that it prints best if you are viewing it using Mozilla’s Firefox browser. Sponsor Contributions Last year we tried something new, and from the comments we received from our readers, it was a big hit. We have asked all of the ChMS companies that sponsor CCMag to provide a small overview to help introduce their company, product or services to you. We simply told them they could share what they believe makes them unique, and/or what new features they have added this last year, and/or what they having coming down the road in the year ahead. We gave them complete freedom to submit whatever they wished to share to those seeking to purchase a new October 2010

ChMS product. As you read through their submission, it should excite you to see the potential for ministry that these companies offer through their many different products and services. If you are looking to move to a new ChMS product, or are purchasing a product/ service for the first time, I encourage you to check with these companies. They have invested in you already by being a sponsor of Christian Computing. Their support of our publication, allows us to distribute it to 50,000+ subscribers free of charge. We hope you will check them out and, if and when you have contact with them, please thank them for being a sponsor in CCMag! ACS Technologies Since 1978 ACS Technologies has developed technology solutions specifically for faith-based organizations that help them maximize their ministry efforts. Our products provide clients with integrated solutions that eliminate the need for multiple systems and help members, staff, and volunteers have the latest data at their fingertips. We provide nearly 50,000 clients service and development efforts in 6 key areas: megachurches, medium/large churches, and small churches, organizations, schools, and the Catholic market. Our industry leading brands – ACS™, PDS™, Membership Plus™, & HeadMaster™ – allow churches, schools, and denominational offices to manage child care, serving, reporting, special mailings, Web sites, donor relationships, growth strategies, groups, events, finances, and so much more. The tools needed to connect with the surrounding community are integrated under one roof, whether data is accessed online, offline, or wirelessly. What Makes ACS Technologies Unique ACS Technologies recognizes that each church does things a little differently and we have a portfolio of options to choose from to meet those unique needs. “No matter what size or denomination, their goal with every client is to help them achieve their ministry’s vision. They strive to be a true partner in helping your ministry succeed,” stated long-time client Lesley Baker. As the most widely used church management solutions company, we bring technologies like online giving, small groups management, and volunteer management to churches across the nation. The bedrock of our company is dedication to our clients. Custom tailoring today’s most useful technologies for modern ministries is our passion. Hearing how they in turn Christian Computing® Magazine

help our clients’ minister to others is the way we measure success. Latest Developments In today’s economic climate, organizations of all sizes are looking for ways to provide their staff with the ability to work outside the office while reducing IT maintenance costs. ACS OnDemand™ is a flexible, secure hosted solution that answers this ministry need by enabling clients to use ACS Technologies solutions anytime, anywhere via a simple Internet connection. “The ability to work remotely has been a lifesaver for us on multiple occasions,” stated client Glenn Kinken. Online giving is also a hot topic for today’s churches. Churches that are looking for a way to improve their giving, even when people are sick or out of town should look into Online Giving within Access ACS™. It allows you to accept ACH and credit card payments from members and non-members alike. “Donors can keep track of their own giving history and staff members can breathe easier during the end of year contributions rush,” stated client John Scibilia. ACS Technologies has also recently partnered with Monvee™, a revolutionary spiritual development tool. Our partnership combines resources to support, integrate, and develop ministry solutions. A series of APIs will allow Monvee to connect with the most widely used brands of ACS Technologies and many other church management software brands. Our goal is to create a platform that will allow Monvee to be used by all churches sharing data between Monvee and their church management software choice to help foster spiritual growth among members & non-members alike. Opening up information via the Web continues to grow in popularity. Meeting your organization’s constituents where they are is key to sustaining your organization. You’ll find ACS Technologies working with churches to make this work in each individual situation, at a pace that’s appropriate for your ministry. To learn more about ACS Technologies and the ways that we can help your organization reach true ministry impact with integrated software and solutions built on a top-notch customer service foundation, please visit www.ACSTechnologies.com, call 800736-7425, or email us at solutions@acstechnologies. com. CCIS CCIS Church Management Software has been October 2010

providing quality management tools to churches since 1981. Our software suite includes everything the church administrator needs to manage the business of the church. Accounting is a substantial part of this job. It’s easy to responsibly manage your church’s finances with CCIS AccountAbility™ – a true fund accounting program designed for churches. When your church receives contributions, they are often given for a specific purpose, which means the money will be spent to support a particular program or ministry. The practice of “Fund Accounting” helps you control these restricted funds without opening multiple checking accounts. CCIS AccountAbility™ maintains individual ledgers and balances for each fund and also manages the general fund for operating expenses. Make deposits and write checks from your regular checking account, and let CCIS AccountAbility™ do the accounting for you. Popular commercial accounting programs, even those promoted as solutions for non-profits, are not designed for the unique requirements of churches. An accounting system ideal for your church should provide a separate statement of revenue and expense, a statement of activities, and must have a separate year end closing entry for each fund; commercial for-profit accounting programs don’t provide these features. This places an unnecessary burden on the program administrator to export the information and create reports in spreadsheet programs. Accounting can seem like an overwhelming or complicated task, but the CCIS Customer Support Team will help you every step of the way!

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October 2010

The CCIS church management software suite is a complete church administrator’s tool: Membership, Contributions, Activities, Attendance, Accounting and Payroll, all from a company that has been helping churches for almost 30 years CDM+ The latest release of CDM+ offers the best of both worlds—the speed and stability of desktop software using PostgreSQL, the world’s most advanced relational database management system and the global connectivity offered by our Data Hosting Service and Web Ministry Tools. CDM+ Web Ministry Tools are widgets that you place on your church website to interact dynamically with your CDM+ database—everything from (optionally) password-protected directories to online registration and payment for events. The Giving Tool provides a turnkey solution for online donations that integrate seamlessly with CDM+ Contributions and Accounting software. No need to enter donation records or deposits in the ledger from a third-party company’s report—in CDM+ it’s accomplished with a couple of mouse clicks, saving you time and ensuring accuracy. And for those churches who want more than a basic online giving interface on their website, we offer an API version of the Giving Tool for complete customization. At CDM+ we focus on offering integrated and consistent software for your church or ministry. With CDM+, you don’t need three different software programs to accomplish necessary tasks. Your CDM+ suite can help you with everything from membership information and keeping track of the children in the nursery to managing the church’s finances (both pledge/ donation tracking and complete fund accounting, including payroll), facilities and event registration. With everything housed in one relational database, you avoid duplication of effort and the worry of what might happen to the church’s vital information stored on an individual’s computer. CDM+ Church Management Software is available for both Macintosh and Windows operating systems and can operate in a mixed environment (both types of computers accessing Christian Computing® Magazine

the same database). This is an ideal situation, when combined with our Data Hosting Service, for a dispersed staff or volunteers working from home. Subscribers to the hosting service have the peace of mind of knowing the church’s information is secure, automatically backed up each night and available ’round the clock. With nearly 25 years of experience in church management software, we enjoy a diverse and engaged user base. Enhancements to CDM+ are driven by our users’ input as they interact with our staff in training sessions or on the tech support line. We strive for a balance of using new technology while recognizing that churches don’t always have the latest hardware or the fastest Internet connection at their disposal. Our training and support staff has years of experience working with users of all sorts, from professional accountants to the secretary who’s brand-new to bookkeeping and from large multi-campus ministries to small churches with volunteer or part-time staff. And, in this time of automated messaging systems and outsourced call centers . . . our phones are answered by a real live person sitting in our home office. Visit our website, www.cdmplus.com, for complete information about CDM+ Church Management Software and to request a free demo. Call us toll-free

October 2010

at 877-891-4236. We’d love to talk to you about how CDM+ can help your ministry! Church Community Builder Church Community Builder (CCB) pioneered socially-driven, webbased church management. Having birthed this approach in the late ‘90s, CCB is uniquely poised to understand and meet the needs of churches seeking to build greater community and increase ministry engagement. Through comprehensive management and communication tools, churches can decentralize church management tasks and create a greater sense of belonging by providing secure access to staff, volunteers and the congregation itself. CCB was originally designed to help churches close the back door and get people connected. The company’s founders saw a critical need for a solution which managed volunteers and matched them to service opportunities based on unique gifts, passions and abilities. As the vision grew to become comprehensive church management, they saw the need to offer solutions which could extend beyond the church staff. “If we can put tools in the hands of everyone who wants to help, we can distribute the workload of ministry and promote a healthier, more effective church environment” says Chris Fowler, CEO and Co-Founder. CCB offers all of the functionality one would expect to see in a robust church management solution: individual and family records, realtime attendance, volunteer management and matching, outreach and assimilation tools, needs management, secure child check-in, online giving and event registration, calendaring, facilities management and more! As of this fall, these tools are available with fully integrated multi-site controls, offering campus specific segmentation while retaining a ministry-wide perspective. CCB extends these features by offering private social networking functionality which allows the various groups of people in a church to interact and connect in secure and meaningful ways. All of these benefits are completely integrated and available from one login page on the church website, making the users’ experience uncomplicated and straightforward. For the church, the integrated community tools result in a much deeper view of the overall involvement of the congregation. The demands of the local church are ever changing and the culture we are trying to reach for Christ grows more complex and distracted each day. CCB’s mission is to help churches reach and retain more people by consistently providing the latest technology and tools to help you connect, communicate and foster a greater sense of belonging for those God has entrusted to your ministry. For more information, visit www.churchcommunitybuilder.com. Faithful Steward For over sixteen years Faithful Steward has made managing church records easy for any size church. It’s church management that makes sense. Our goal is to make your job easier and give you more time for ministry. New staff and volunteers can be productive quickly with our user-friendly software. And yet it’s flexible enough to grow and adapt with you as your needs grow and your ministry changes. Now with the new web-based Faithful Steward version we’re making our program more reliable and portable than ever before. The church office, treasurer, accountant, volunteers, and various ministry team staff now have instant access to their data anywhere, anytime, from an internet browser on Windows or Mac. Those who want to have a desktop-based system can continue to use our desktop version. When you’re ready to move up to our browser-based program, your data can move seamlessly up to the web. Faithful Steward manages membership data on your families, including contact information, photos, the Christian Computing® Magazine

October 2010

groups they are in and their attendance history. It saves hours in preparing contributions for a bank deposit and end of year receipts. CCMag’s review of Faithful Steward said, “The learning curve is very short. They received high marks for ease of use and logical structure. The program is well built, does what it claims and all for a low cost.” Find out today how affordable it can be to easily manage your church records at http://www. church-software.com/ fs/church-managementsoftware-ccm.aspx, call us at 800-325-6642 or email info@faithfulsteward.com Elexio’s People Driven Software (PDS) PDS Live is the allnew, web-based, alwaysavailable-even-offline, people-focused church management solution! PDS Live is developed by People Driven Software which merged with Elexio in November of 2009. Elexio is a company that specializes in church website design and content management systems. We both share the same passion and mission which is to serve the Church with creative and effective technology solutions for ministry. With our merger we have joined two strong, profitable companies and positioned ourselves to deliver an integrated content management and church management system that seamlessly connects your people and helps them grow and serve together. Elexio is now the parent company and together we serve well over 2,000 churches in all 50 states and 26 countries and have over 20 employees.

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PDS Live brings several tremendous benefits to churches. • First, it represents a huge leap forward for churches that want the best of a browser interface and the best of a local Desktop interface. We specifically designed the browser interface for all the people in your church, whereas the Desktop interface is for staff and key leaders. Attenders and members can update their own information online and interact with their small group and ministry teams. They can also give online and register for events. Staff can leverage a very fast, information-rich Desktop interface October 2010

with powerful reporting capabilities and advanced automated communication processes. • Second, PDS Live is the only system that offers full offline access to your data. Users can work anytime, anywhere, even WITHOUT the Internet. Additionally large churches can have their own local copy of the database that automatically syncs with our server 24/7. (Offline access is only available on Windows.) • Thirdly, PDS Live has a Kiosk interface designed for event check-in, especially for kids. PDS Live Kiosk has all the powerful options that churches need especially large mega-churches that are checking in thousands of kids each week. We’ve put a tremendous amount of work into making the user interface very simple and very fast, even for the most complex situations like the challenges that multi-site churches face. Our system even allows portable churches to run fully offline and bi-directionally synchronize later when an Internet connection is detected. It features fingerprint scanning, bar code scanning and simple name/PIN identification. It can be run unattended or attended. PDS Live Kiosk can be used for ANY kind of event checkin including large conferences, concerts, classes, retreats, etc. Elexio sells complete turnkey kiosk hardware stations featuring 19” touchscreen monitors. • Fourthly, we now offer support for Macs that want to run our Windows-based PDS Live Desktop application. We do this via Remote Desktop Connection which is a free utility from Microsoft. We host the software on our server and Mac users simply connect to it with our easy-to-use connection tool. It looks and feels just like a native Mac

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• And finally, because of our merger with Elexio, we are uniquely positioned to offer churches a completely integrated website married to the church database. This level of integration offers churches a very polished, intelligent website with many new capabilities for the future. It will also save churches money because they can get more products and services from one company. For more info please visit www.elexio.com and www. peopledrivensoftware.com. faithHighway’s Ignite CRM As a proprietary web-based software, IgniteCRM has the member, group and contributions management abilities found in typical church management software. However, IgniteCRM takes relationship management to a new level with these robust features to ensure churches keep more first time visitors and engage more members. 1) Ministry metrics to quickly monitor church health 2) Create unlimited custom reports for executive decision-making 3) Personalized dashboards to view each ministry’s October 2010

critical data 4) Group HTML email templates to effectively communicate consistently 5) Contribution tracking from individual to organizational levels by fund 6) Secure, tiered password administration system for multiple levels of users 7) Robust attributes manager and reporting 8) Drag and drop functionality for custom fields and forms Regardless of size, each church should be in tune with the needs of members and staff. The IgniteCRM ministry metrics allow leaders to review the church health as a whole on their dashboard. From contributions to attendance, visitor connections to group participation, leadership is equipped with real-time, relevant information to focus on ministry objectives. The IgniteCRM custom report system utilizes drag and drop capability to provide pastors with customizable forms, searches and reports. Equipped with the exact information necessary, pastors can effectively minister and grow their church. Whether small groups, life groups, or Sunday school classes, IgniteCRM facilitates groups easily and effectively. The group manager module enables every group leader to communicate with their group, track weekly church and event attendance and create member profiles, complete with group member attributes. Through the attributes system, staff can record and access information at a momentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s notice, from interests to profession, spiritual maturity to allergies. IgniteCRM equips ministries with more than just a name and phone number, but instead, a snapshot of the whole person. This allows leadership to coordinate volunteer positions with qualified members. The worship team, parking attendants, and community service groups, can all be coordinated, checked-in and facilitated ahead of time, through the user-friendly IgniteCRM volunteer management module. ConnectPoint dynamically reports contact made to each visitor, with the ability to add reminders, tasks and events for future follow up by the appropriate Christian ComputingÂŽ Magazine

ministry leader, making sure that every visitor is personally contacted. With sorted email lists, unlimited file storage, multiple organization management, custom forms and report fields, and contribution tracking and reporting, IgniteCRM will be the most cost-effective addition for churches everywhere, as first time guests become committed members, leading to healthy church growth. Fellowship Technologies Regardless of size or experience, every local church understands that while they may have a Godsized vision, they often have scarce resources. Your church will need to find new ways to become more effective and efficient. New tools and new methods are needed to help families address the issues in their lives, and help them become full-time followers of Christ. How can your church maximize the effectiveness and efficiencies of their efforts while remaining good stewards of the resources God has entrusted to them? The answer is Fellowship One. Fellowship One, web-based church management software, is used by dynamic, growing churches around the world, from new church plants to megasized, multi-site churches. Fellowship One allows October 2010

you to focus on the reason you began working for the church – to minister to people rather than administer data. Fellowship One is a comprehensive system that gives you the tools to effectively and efficiently meet the needs of your church across three key areas: Community involvement, small groups and membership self-service functions like online donations and event registration; Ministry outreach, assimilation, education, volunteers, childcare and events; Administration of member data, finances and reporting. A balance is needed across all three areas to adequately serve the families within your church. While we believe that Fellowship One is the best church management system available, no tool will be successful without solid processes to support it. Our consultants will work alongside your church to understand your unique goals and then help to customize and implement proven best practices for using Fellowship One. Every church that uses Fellowship One has access to a huge library of resources including tips and tricks, best practices, education videos and certification classes to help you get the most out of Fellowship One. Should a church need additional assistance, we’re always here to help. Our Support department is available 6am – 10pm, 7 days per week, 365 days a year or even after hours for emergencies. We have also formed a network of excellent ministry partners that offer a wide array of products and services that compliment Fellowship One. Alternatively, a church can extend the power of Fellowship One themselves by using our free, publicly available, API to build custom technologies solutions. Visit www.FellowshipTech.com today to learn more about Fellowship One and sign-up for a guided tour or start a free 30-day test drive. Fellowship One is a product by Fellowship Technologies. Located in Irving, Texas and founded in 2004, Fellowship Technologies now serves over 1,500 churches in 12 countries and has been listed on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies for the past two consecutive years.

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Icon Systems The twenty-first century has given a face-lift to what we know today as database management. Traditional database management systems only allowed churches to keep track of people and numbers. Icon Systems’ innovative IconCMO software takes you a step ahead by integrating the information you have to produce desired results. IconCMO is the only web based system available that offers church membership, contribution management, parishioner access, a FASB verified accounting system for churches, and a third party API (Application Programming Interface) all in one package. With IconCMO, church leaders, staff, and volunteers can perform their duties anytime and from any place where Internet access exists. Information is more accurate and easier to access, all while reducing costs. By listening to our customers we strive to offer something new each year that will enhances the user’s experience. 2010 was an exciting year as many new enhancements were added as well as new features that enrich the user experience. IconCMO Parishioner’s Access: The Parishioner’s module was enhanced to give parishioners the ability to verify and update their own personal information, October 2010

view their giving patterns and print their own contribution statements. Churches assign a unique user name and password similar to what a bank or brokerage firm gives to their customers. This ensures that giving information, mailing addresses and contact information is correct and the special events information such as birthdays, communions, confirmation, graduations, baptisms, etc. is complete. This leads to greater reliability of information as congregational members monitor their own profiles. IconCMO Communication: With seamless, electronic email communication you can share information much faster than standard mail and without the expense of creating letters, stamp costs, and other preparatory items. HTML email support was added allowing users to format the email text as well as add images to the document. IconCMO keeps track of bounced emails and notifies the sender making it easier for churches to maintain accurate email addresses. IconCMO Web Services (IconCMO API): This new feature allows churches to access IconCMO data in a variety of ways. For example, churches can integrate the picture directory and a calendar of events directly into their website from information stored in IconCMO. Third party developers can integrate their system with IconCMO reducing redundancy of information and saving significant time for church staff and volunteers. For example, Icon Systems has integrated with Constant Contact for advanced e-mailing capabilities. If the church has an account with Constant Contact, email addresses can be exported seamlessly to Constant Contact, eliminating duplicate entry. Christian Computing® Magazine

IconCMO Security: In today’s world, information security is critical and requires constant re-evaluation and maintenance to ensure customers are protected. Keeping a customer’s trust is vital to surviving in this tech savy world. IconCMO is protected with 256-bit encryption, the strongest data encryption available. All transmitted data uses this encryption similar to what is used by online banking systems. This additional feature is provided at no additional cost. IconCMO is an all-in-one web-based church software designed to keep track of membership, communication, contributions, payroll and accounting needs. All of these solutions can be utilized from any computer with access to the Internet. There is no hardOctober 2010

ware or software to buy, no “How to have more time for ministry!” upgrades, no maintenance fees, no service contract renewals, Do you want to save time, get more done and have fewer headaches? Then Donarius Church and no hidden costs. Management Software will make it easy for you About Icon System: For to track your members, contributions, pledges Starting at $63.97 more than 18 years, Icon Sysand more. Imagine what you can do with the for the base version with tems has been developing high25% off for small churches extra time! Donarius will also: quality software for non-profit Download a free demo at: • Print your tax receipts organizations. The company www.donarius.com • Show the giving pattern of your members was founded in 1992 by Rob• Print your church directories 1-888-479-4636 ert Gifford, who previously • Send personalized letters, emails and text Nuverb Systems Inc. messages to keep your members informed headed research and develop“Software tailored for you” ment for Great Plains Software and helped create Great Plains • Save time with Recurring Entries on variable schedules and percentage distributions. Accounting and Dynamics, two highly popular accounting software systems. Icon Systems’ software is • Print checks on demand. currently used by thousands of non-profits nationwide. • Track restricted and designated funds in one or Since its founding, Icon Systems has become legendmultiple checking accounts. ary for its commitment to high-quality products as • Export any report to PDF or HTML format for well as outstanding service and support. To find out easy internet distribution. more please visit Icon Systems at www.iconcmo.com. • Create up-to-the-minute financial reports. Logos Management Software, Inc. • Built-in Bank Reconciliation reconciles your books with your bank. For the past 30 years, Logos has been developing church management technology that follows the needs • Automate your total payroll, including pastoral of your ministry, and not the other way around. deductions. Continuing on this path, on November 1st, 2010, we are about to launch, what could be our biggest The Logos II Church Management System enables update in the 30-year history of Logos. We spent your data to be used for day-to-day ministry. Below countless hours shadowing users in their environment, are a few highlighted features and benefits. pouring over customer surveys, and asking tons of questions. The result is a completely new software • Unlimited data fields per person with extensive interface and a simpler user experience by streamlinability to customize text to fit your church. ing the processes. • Track your congregation’s skills and talents to This update hits our two most popular products, help them find their best fit to serve. Logos Fund Accounting and Logos II, the church database/ census software. While a new look has been • Comprehensive child check-in system. brought to our software, the dependability and core • Print directories, lists, reports, assignment functionality that kept Logos in business for 30 years cards, labels, name tags, rosters, etc. is still intact. • Record pledges and track progress towards Logos Fund Accounting was developed to specificompletion. cally to meet the needs of the church. Check out some • Specialized features enable tracking highlighted features and benefits below. involvement in any groups that you define Sunday School classes (up to 4 levels), Small • Customize your own account structure. Groups, Clubs, Choirs, etc. • Keep your mind at ease with the security and • Record attendance as people check in at a desk integrity of a fully auditable system. or kiosk - or quickly mark or scan attendance • Monitor income and expense activity with on convenient rosters. Plus, automatically print automated double-entry accounting. name tags at check in. • Speed data entry with easy Deposit Assistant • Syncs with Logos Accounting to automatically and Invoice Entry routines. Christian Computing® Magazine

October 2010

update your Income and Asset accounts in General Ledger providing a secure audit trail for your financial records. Enter it once and you are finished. Customize your Logos systems with even more options. • Register participants for events that involve fees, and print receipts, statements, etc. • User Reports allows designing custom reports or the ability to edit Logos’ standard reports. • Protect your members and staff with our safe environment solution which tracks certifications and processes detailed background checks. Check out more at http://logoscms. com Nuverb’s Donarius Church Management Software Donarius is the easy way to track your members, contributions, and pledges. It prints your tax receipts, quarterly statements, bank deposits and church directories. Donarius tracks relationships such as: husband/ wife, children, and small groups. You can import data from your current software so you don’t have to re-enter it. Best of all, you get excellent service. Imagine you’re using Donarius and you’re not sure how to do something - the answer is just a call away. Then after using Donarius for a few weeks you might prefer to have it work slightly differently. Can anything be done? Yes - we will change the software to suit your needs. Gary from Conway, PA summarized it like this: “Donarius is a simple to use, well-thought-out and masterfully designed piece of software. Everyone in our organization loves it because it could be customized to fit our exact needs. . . . Every issue is addressed and every question gets answered until you, the customer, are satisfied.” The base version of Donarius has member/contribution tracking and reporting for $63.97. Optional modules are $16.50 each, to track pledges, “gifts in Christian Computing® Magazine

kind”, EFT donations and family relationships. Other modules customize your tax receipts and send personalized letters, emails and text messages. Small churches of 100 regular donors or less get 25% off. A future module will let you add your own fields to the member database. Go to www.donarius.com and see a short video tour of Donarius or call 1-888-479-4636. PowerChurch Software PowerChurch Software has been serving churches and non-profit organizations for over 25 years. Over time, our users’ needs have changed and we continue to develop new, more effective products and services to satisfy these needs. Nearly 32,000 active churches and organizations in the US and Canada make PowerChurch Plus one of the best selling church management packages available today! Available Products PowerChurch Plus is an all-in-one software solution that contains Membership, Contributions, Accounting, Event Scheduling and much more for one low price. The software is fully networkable at no October 2010

additional cost. PowerChurch Online is a remote installation of PowerChurch Plus that gives users of Windows, Mac, and Linux computers access to their program data from basically any computer with an active internet connection. PowerChurch Check In System is a child check in/security software that pulls information and pictures from your PowerChurch Plus data. Run as many check in kiosks as necessary for no additional cost. It supports Dymo label printers, bar code scanners, and web cams for capturing pictures of those new to your membership. PowerChurch Mailroom integrates US Postal processing features into PowerChurch Plus. CASS certification validates and formats addresses to USPS standards. The software also allows you to generate Presort mailings for the greatest postage discounts available. Customer Satisfaction Our Program Development staff has an open door policy, constantly reviewing user feedback, suggestions for changes to existing functionality, and wishlist items for future releases. Most of the features in our latest release, PowerChurch Plus Version 11, stemmed from user requests. In 2009, PowerChurch Plus won the highly regarded Campbell award for Customer Satisfaction, based on a nationwide survey of users of all major church management software products representing churches of all sizes and denominations. Information regarding user satisfaction, pricing, purchasing decisions, and relevant church data was gathered in the survey. For more information about PowerChurch Software products and services, visit www.powerchurch. com or call toll free (800) 486-1800. RDS Advantage RDS Advantage© announces RDS Connect©. RDS Connect© includes all the features and capabilities of the powerful RDS Advantage system, now hosted in a Cloud. Cloud computing embraces new technology for ‘Software as a Service.’ RDS Connect takes this one Christian Computing® Magazine

step further, to ‘Software as a Secure Service.’ RDS Connect© is hosted on a Tier III Data Center, and all data transfer is 256 bit SSL encrypted. This may be the most secure and complete hosted church management system available. This complete hosted-in-the-Cloud church management system provides: • Maximum security and up-time – SaSS (software as a secure service) hosted on a Tier III data center • Use Windows, Apple/Mac or Linux • All that’s needed is an Internet connection • Remote Deposit Capture • Access from any place in the world • Includes comprehensive accounting • Automatic daily backup of data • System installation on the Cloud by RDS • Reduced hardware (IT) management costs • Unlimited toll-free customer phone support • System upgrades automatically installed • Constant Contact interfaced with RDS for bulk e-mail • Includes the powerful RDS Advantage system features (Accounting, Check-In, Library, Scheduler, moremore-more) • Backed by 27 years of successful service to churches and not-for-profit organizations October 2010

RDS Connect© is available for a monthly fee, plus a modest set-up charge. RDS continues to add new features and technologies, such as finger-vein identification for payroll and check-in stations, individual-control of fonts used throughout the user’s system, event scheduling interfaced with user’s calendars on their websites, new features for check-in stations, analytical demographic reports about members, remote deposit capture for contribution and receivable checks, VOIP phone messaging, health advisories, export reports in different file formats, music library, and automated library system. Database integrity is guaranteed because all applications are part of one normalized, relational database. Contact RDS at 800.337.6328, rds@rdsadvantage.com Shelby Systems, Inc. Technology on a Mission Since 1976, Shelby Systems has provided rock-solid software to faithbased organizations in more than 40 countries. We offer outstanding products, innovation, customer support, and training to help achieve the goals of your ministry. Shelby Systems offers distinct product lines – with a solution for every budget, size, level of technical ability and ministry style. Shelby v.5 Shelby Systems v.5 is designed for mid-size to large churches. Starting at $899, this flexible, module-based management system has the scalability to accommodate a wide range of churches, denominations and non-profit organizations. Our Financial suite of applications permits total control of your budgeting and financial recordkeeping. Shelby’s rock-solid financials meet non-profit fund accounting standards critical for financial accountability. An extensive suite of Church applications allows you to manage the day-to-day operations of your ministry. Modules such as secure Check-In, Membership, Attendance, Contributions and more provide the tools you need to succeed. Shelby’s e-Solutions allow Christian Computing® Magazine

you to extend your ministry beyond the walls of your church. Staff, volunteers and members can access information, make a donation, or register for an event from anywhere with an internet connection. Shelby v.5 continues to be updated with enhancements requested by the user community providing the tools necessary to empower the ministry of today’s churches. Arena Arena Premium is a browser-based, enterpriselevel ministry system designed for large to mega churches. Arena conforms to your ministry approach and communication methods, ensuring your people and resources are connected at all times. Every availOctober 2010

able feature is included in Arena Premium and allows churches to customize their ChMS. In June 2010, Shelby Systems launched Arena Select, a new line of its Arena church management software. Arena Select is loaded with the most commonly requested features optimized for medium to large-sized churches. “Arena Select provides churches with a powerful toolset that helps them connect with their members and grow their ministries and has a pricing plan with your budget in mind. The easy-to-use interface allows new users and volunteers to quickly make an impact in their work,” said Frank Canady, President of Shelby Systems. “Shelby Systems has a strong history of developing quality software products that support faith-based organizations in serving the Kingdom, and the introduction of Arena Select certainly continues this trend.” Arena Select is ideal for the church that wants an intuitive, powerful way of expanding its ministry. Key elements include membership and contact management, superior reporting tools, and simple grouping and search options – all accessible via the internet. With connectivity from virtually anywhere, an Arena user has all the tools needed to work from the office, home, or on the road. The addition of items such as Mission Trip Management, as well as Check-In and Contributions, round out a thorough set of features. Both staff and members will appreciate the convenience of features such as Online Giving and Event Registration. For further information about how Shelby Systems can support your ministry, contact our Sales team at 800.877.0222, e-mail sales@shelbyinc.com or visit http://discover.shelbyinc.com. VIANSOFT® Church Management Software Since 1985, Vian Corporation has provided high quality, low cost, easy-to-use Church Management Software solutions for recording contributions and keeping financial, accounting and membership records (currently for Windows 98 through Windows 7). The VIANSOFT® Church Contribution System and Church Treasurer are used by over 4000 congreChristian Computing® Magazine

gations worldwide in over 58 denominations as well as by ministries and non-profit organizations. The programs are not web based. They are used on a single computer or on a Local Area Network. The Church Contribution System is designed to record contributions, membership records and print statements and receipts. The Church Treasurer is a fund accounting program designed to keep track of budget, income and expenses. Our customers keep telling us what features they like about VIANSOFT® Church Management Software: “very easy to use” “handles my congregation’s needs” “extensive reports” “reports that people who are not accountants can understand” “powerful programs” “free program support” “no yearly maintenance fees” “the best church management programs I’ve seen” “your software is some of the best I have used, of any type, in 20+ years in the software business” To see if the software will meet the needs of your congregation or ministry, visit our web site www. vian.com. There you will find overviews and detailed information about VIANSOFT® Church Management Software products. You can also download free program installation files from our web site that include Tutorials, a 90-day free trial period and complete user’s documentation. Note: You will not have to reenter data you enter in Trial Mode.

October 2010

ACS

ACS ideas to impact

Your Ministry On Demand

from ACS Technologies

or a lot of churches, an on demand software service is not new. They know all about why it can be so beneficial. For some though, it’s a new idea. That is why we’ve put together this overview of ACS OnDemand to provide more information about this exciting way of doing church business better. This article, which has been excerpted from the ACS Technologies white paper Your Ministry On Demand, offers a closer look at this resource-maximizing church management tool. ACS OnDemand at a Glance ACS OnDemand is a flexible and secure hosted solution that lets churches use all of their ACS desktop software whenever and wherever with the power of the Internet. It increases the amount of work that can be accomplished by expanding where the work can be done. ACS OnDemand offers: • Anytime, anywhere access to ACS solutions over the Internet • 24-hour network support so connection to the server is never lost • Regular data backups provides automatic data recovery • All data backups stored in disaster-proof vaults • Data encryption services • A flexible solution that changes as church needs change • Worry-free upgrades and updates Benefits Of ACS OnDemand The benefits of ACS OnDemand are all centered around giving churches and their staff the ability to accomplish more while using fewer resources. ACS OnDemand allows staff to focus on ministry instead of technology, and to grow and change with ease. 24/7 access, improved security, and quick implementation offer peace of mind while allowing ministry processes to be streamlined. Christian Computing® Magazine

Give Staff and Volunteers More Options With ACS OnDemand, staff and volunteers can work from home, while traveling, or anywhere they have an Internet connection. This is vital because of the demands and deadlines placed on church staffs. It can provide another powerful way to ease workloads and provide staff and volunteers more options and flexibility in when and where they work, which results in more productive employees. Focus On Ministry Not On Technology All churches want to devote as much time, effort, and resources as needed to nurture and grow their ministry. With ACS OnDemand, each software upgrade and update, all data back-ups, and any IT maintenance issues are taken care of, allowing churches to focus on their ministry. Grow & Change with Flexibility We all know software needs can fluctuate, as well as the number of church members and staff. With ACS OnDemand, users can select what they want and need at that time. When needs change, all it takes is a change to the monthly service plan. ACS OnDemand lets churches select the applications they really use and stop using applications that are no longer needed. 24/7/365 Access ACS OnDemand provides remote access to the church’s ACS software over the Internet. This means anyone on staff October 2010

with the appropriate permissions can access their ACS work files whenever and wherever they need to. Being in the office is no longer required to complete tasks, enter data, or connect with members and staff. Improved Security Information security is paramount to our service. We have the skills and resources to invest in best-in-class and mandatory security infrastructures. Every church has critical, confidential data that needs to be protected and preserved, and we are committed to providing complete data protection. Quick Implementation Many of the typical implementation tasks associated with installing and readying desktop software for use are eliminated with ACS OnDemand. There is no software to install, just a thin client application on each user’s desktop. A dedicated team of specialists help each church quickly and easily get setup and working in no time. Peace Of Mind With remote backups, churches never need to worry about losing vital data again. Data is safely and securely backed up on a regular basis. If it becomes necessary to reinstall data this is taken care of quickly and easily. Streamline Your Ministry ACS OnDemand can help churches focus more on ministry, focus their staff’s time and resources to the most important elements of their roles, and lessen worries about IT maintenance. ACS OnDemand is the best of both worlds — the strength and depth of ACS desktop applications, plus the flexibility and availability of the Internet. The benefits for churches and their staff are a great way to accomplish more ministry while focusing on technology less. For complete information about the many benefits of ACS OnDemand, download Your Ministry On Demand today.

Christian Computing® Magazine

October 2010

accelerating the dynamic church

Dynamic Churches Serve Their Communities

from Fellowship Technologies

o be truly effective, local churches must have a strategy for serving the people in their community. Dynamic churches!CCELERATING 4HE $YNAMIC #HURCH find creative ways to serve their com- ¸ munities in ways that reflect the distinct mission of their church.

Not Just Another Church It is this distinct mission that no other church in the community can duplicate. The heartbeat of each church is revealed in ways that fit the specific needs of their community through service opportunities that tap into the gifts of the church membership. When churches stand out and represent their communities well, people are drawn into the love and support of these unique churches. Too many churches assume that being labeled as part of a denomination, or even being non-denominational, defines who God has called them to be in their area. But the Bible teaches that “without vision, the people will perish” (Proverbs 29:18). We are not defined by who we say we are, but by who others say we are. When churches live out their distinct mission, people will say they are a unique part of their community and not merely another church. Meeting Unique Needs Dynamic churches understand that to reach the hearts and minds of their neighbors, the unique needs of the community must be met. This is manifested through acts of service, activities and community projects that churches invite their members and community to participate in. When churches reach out in love, people’s hearts are engaged. Then, when prayer is freely and lovingly offered, people begin to see selfless faith. When truth is shared without judgment, our friends and neighbors see the authenticity of Christian Computing® Magazine

our actions backing up what we say we believe. A Missional Strategy A church’s missional strategy should include personal invitations with free web-based event registration. This makes it easy for people to connect through relationships or on their own terms. Once an event is over, it’s vital that the church follow-up with the participants’ prayer requests and establish personal connections. An equally important strategy is for churches to partner with their city government and/or community organizations to provide free volunteers to help give back to the community. When churches can make a positive impact through acts of service and friendly interaction, community organizations begin to see the church as co-members of the community rather than an isolated group from the community. Serve with Consistency As dynamic churches embrace this missional attitude, they represent their heart for the community as both genuine and welcoming. The relationships built provide some of the best wordof-mouth referrals about the church and can build the kind of image that every church should desire: being community-focused. To be a dynamic church, there must be a clear vision matched with the commitment to a missional service model that reveals the love of Christ to our friends and neighbors.

October 2010

tech talk

PC Potpourri 1

Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson - docwatson3228@qwest.net

hile surfing the Net recently, I stumbled onto a couple of the sites I’ll mention later that actually gave me the idea for this new series. While some subjects simply don’t warrant their own full-length article, they do deserve mention, so I’ll just do so in a potpourri fashion. Here we go with our first installment. of this classic, several links for more info, and the 44 MP3 Free Audio Books segments for its 24:37:50 total running time. If you’re inter Audio books are absolutely great. I used to do a bit of traveling and enjoyed listening to a good novel on tape or CD. ested, you can even volunteer to be a reader. A couple of other sites include: Thought Audio (www. Our local library came in handy for this so I didn’t have to thoughtaudio.com/), a slick looking site that offers many clasinvest in a title I would probably listen to only once. This is all the more accessible nowadays with MP3 (or iPod). You can pay for and then download audio titles from many sites, but did you know that there are hundreds of titles you can download for free? The first site I found was Books Should Be Free (www.booksshouldbefree.com/). Figure 1 displays several of the most popular free titles. Use the buttons at left to peruse books in each category, or use the custom Google search at the top to look for a title. For my fun reading, for example, I recently acquired an interest in King Arthur, so I successfully tried that search. I also liked LibriVox (http://librivox. org/, Fig. 2). I clicked the “LibriVox Catalog” button, typed Moby Dick (my favorite classic next to Shakespeare) in the “Title” field, clicked “Search,” and then clicked the one Fig. 1 – Free audio books at “Books Should Be Free” match it returned. This displayed a summary Christian Computing® Magazine

October 2010

Fig. 2 – Free audio books at “LibriVox” sic titles, and Audio Books for Free (www.audiobooksforfree. com/home), which also has many titles although a somewhat frustrating search engine. Old DOS Games Remember Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Frogger, and Tetris? How about Wolfenstein, the first of the first-person shooter

games? While today’s games are, of course, light years beyond such old DOS games, (“old” is not necessarily synonymous with “no good.”) Whether you’ve never played them before or would like to play them again for nostalgia’s sake, there are literally hundreds of great games you can get for free. Try out Abandonware DOS Games first (www.abandonwaredos.com/). In categories such as action, adventure, racing, role playing (RPG), strategy, and others, this site has over 700 games to choose from, each including info about the game, screenshots, and a download link. There is, of course, a search feature if you know the title you want to find. With about 500 choices, take a look at DosGames.com (www.dosgames.com/). I was pleased to find, for example, “Terminal Velocity,” a game I used to enjoy but had since misplaced. You’ll also want to take note of the “Essential Utilities” link listed on the left side of the home page. One such utility is “DOSBox,” a DOS emulator that runs some DOS games better than Windows. It’s especially helpful for Windows XP/2000, which don’t include “true” DOS. Still another site is RGB Classic Games (www.classicdosgames.com/), which sports almost 400 games. Trivial Pursuit on YouTube Here’s a quickie. While most of the games on YouTube

Fig. 3 – 24TimeZones map. Christian Computing® Magazine

October 2010

Fig. 4 – DayLight Map.

are low budget, the new “Trivial Pursuit” game is more cutting-edge (http://www.youtube.com/trivialpursuit). Try it out. Visual Time Zone Maps The church I pastor supports a church planter in the Philippians. Sadly, however, I don’t think he fully grasps the concept of time zones. He called me one “day” (i.e. day in his time zone) at 5:00 PM, but did not realize the 14 hour difference, which made it 3:00 AM in Colorado. Oh, well. I had to get up in four hours anyway. He really needs one of the nifty time zone maps that are available. One of my favorites is 24TimeZones (http://24timezones.com/, Fig. 3). Mouse over any dot on the

map to see the city it represents and its current time and date. Click on the dot to see a more detailed informational page with information such as DST offsets and time for any other cities nearby. You can also customize the map to display cities of your choice. DayLightMap.com (http://www.daylightmap.com/) is very cool (Fig. 4). It first displays the world as night and day. Clicking “Options” on the right side of the map enables you to set up to 10 clocks on the map by address, map click, or latitude and longitude. You can also select to set the location of the sun at the present moment. If you have “cookies” enabled, you can check the “Save in Browser” box so your markers will be saved for your next visit. TimeZoneCheck (www.timezonecheck.com/) is also worthy of mention for its at-a-glance display (Fig. 5). The left clock is your local time according to your computer’s clock. You can compare these with the other two, which display Standard and Daylight Saving Time, when you hover the mouse over any location. You will also note the scroll arrows at the bottom right of the display for scrolling the map east and west. The “search” box at the bottom of the map enables you to locate the time for any place on earth. You can also save your locations. The narrow strip at the bottom of the browser window indicates the date by using color. If you stumble onto a site that you think might be a good ingredient for our PC potpourri, send it along. Enjoy!

Fig. 5 – TimeZoneCheck. Christian Computing® Magazine

October 2010

higher power with kevin

Logos 4.1 Upgrade Brings Us Back to Where We Started Kevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.org

ast November, Logos shipped its first big upgrade in many years. The fact that we are only at version 4.x shows that Logos doesn’t do major upgrades without serious effort and thought. And, they also seldom do major upgrades without jarring their users into a new paradigm of Bible study. Such was the case with versions 2, 3, and last year with version 4. If you haven’t already done so, please read my review from last year’s November issue of CCMag. I’ll wait… (http://www.ccmag.com/2009_11/ccmag2009_11.pdf). Finished? Good, now let’s fast forward to the present. This year, 11 months later, Logos is issuing a point release. In software parlance that means not a huge change but big enough that we need to say 4.1 instead of 4.0a. It’s like the difference between a whole new body design in a car versus keeping the basic body design but adding a few new features and fixing a few glitches from last year’s model. Version 4 was a whole new body design but version 4.1 is last year’s model with some missing features added back and a few cool new tools. Even the biggest version 4 fans had to admit that there were some big features that were a part of version 3 that were missing in version 4. For many power users this required that we use version 3 and 4 simultaneously. So, is 4.1 good enough to remove version 3? Christian Computing® Magazine

October 2010

Christian Computing速 Magazine

October 2010

Let’s see. What’s New That Was Old For a complete list of what is new in this release go here: http://www.logos.com/L4/ support/whatsnew41. The most important new feature is printing support. It is hard to imagine that the previous version didn’t have the ability to do something as simple as print a Bible passage or your notes. I sat in on a training session with Logos expert Morris Procter and he said that the bigwigs at Logos asked him why would anyone want to print? They were serious. The outcry was heard and they are finally adding that back in and it is implemented well. (To see the printing dialogue box go to: http://bit. ly/93NtdW) Not only can you print, but you can also export content to many useful file formats. This is great for taking your content with you. Just export a section of a book to a PDF file to read it on your mobile device. Export to a Word document to help you in your Bible study handouts or notes. Similarly, Logos added back the Smart Tags feature. This only works in the 32-bit version of Microsoft Office, which is what most of you will have. I have 64-bit on my home desktop and it doesn’t work for me. However, I can type a passage into a word document on my laptop and office system and it will automatically recognize the text. Below is some text that I was able to add to this document by simply typing the reference and then right clicking it. I chose “additional actions” at the bottom of the right click menu and then the fly-out menu has a number of options. I picked replace and it added the text you see below: John 3:16 (HCSB) 16“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. The other options are ‘open Bible to xxx passage’, ‘copy Bible verses’ and ‘options’ which opens the Word Smart Tag options window. This is handy for adding passages to a document quickly. This alone makes the upgrade worth the price – it’s free by the way. Another feature added back is Sentence Diagramming. I used this feature a great deal to visually outline my passages. I have to admit that I got out of the habit after I chose not to reinstall Logos 3 after a recent reinstallation of Windows. But now that it is back, I am happy. (To see the new diagram box go here: http://bit.ly/cjuZJM) The new version looks similar but has some nice new features. You use it by clicking File and then Sentence Diagram Christian Computing® Magazine

in Logos 4.1. You can import your old version 3 diagrams. The new version includes most of the version 3 features, but a nice new addition for this version is the free-form drawing tool. Instead of using the shapes, you can just draw on the screen with your mouse or even better a drawing tablet. If you have a TabletPC this would be a huge benefit. There are some other new features as well. Along with the bug fixes and version 4.1 is a great upgrade. In some ways it is really just taking us back to the start line again and giving us what we were missing from version 3. There are a few things still missing though. (list is here: http://www.logos.com/4/missingfeatures) They include the following: • Vocabulary and word lists • Video resources • Personal book builder to create your own books • Sermon file add-in so you can add your own documents and search them in Logos • An illustrations section in the passage guide All of these are things that were in version 3 in some form or another. They will not be added to Logos 4 until either the first quarter of 2011 or later. So I am sure at this time next year we will be talking about Logos 4.2 or 4.3 with these features added back. What’s New That’s Really New The previous items are new to version 4, but are really just catch up from what was in version 3 and the above list are things that were in version 3 but missing in version 4. Some of them are much improved in version 4. But here is one really new feature that we didn’t have before in any previous versions. October 2010

Gestures are a great way to get around on a computer using your mouse to do things like move back a page in your Internet browser. If you’ve never used them in a program like Firefox or Google’s Chrome browser, then you should give them a try. I will not use a browser unless I can use the back and forward gesture to surf back one page or forward a page in the history. I click and hold the right mouse button and drag it across the screen to the left to go back and the right to go forward. Now Logos 4.1 supports similar kinds of gestures. Go back in your history or forward with the gestures mentioned above. So if you were on John 3:16 and then did a search for the word perish and looked at two other verses with that word, you could then right-click and drag left to go back. Do it again and you are back and John 3:16. Drag to the right and you go forward. Drag up to go to the previous article in a book and down to the go to the next. Draw a C and you get the Table of Contents (or close it if it’s already open). I love gestures and will slowly be adding them to my Logos 4.1 habits. If you want to learn more about how to use Logos 4, then check out the helpful videos video tutorials created by both the company and the program’s users (http://www.logos.com/ videos). Also for help, besides the support page, visit the Logos forums (http://www.logos.com/forums). There are some really great people who will jump through hoops to help you out. If they have a Logos symbol by their name they are from the company. If they have an orange star they are advanced users

Christian Computing® Magazine

who really know their stuff. I am also in there and have been known to comment or help out when I see a question that one of the others haven’t already answered, which is rare since they are so quick to respond to queries. Conclusion While I could not give Logos 4 a resounding endorsement because of what was missing in comparison to what was new, I can now say with only two exceptions, Logos 4.1 is a great application for doing very advanced Digital Bible Study. It may be the very best option on the Windows PC and with a new Mac version it might be the best option for that platform as well. Yet there are still two problems with Logos. The first is cost. Logos 4 is a great tool, but to really get the most out of it you will want to buy a full package of books. They run from the Bible Study Library which gives you a lot of great content but has a retail price of about $265. There are discounts now in celebration of the new Mac version of the application. Also if you own any Logos content it will be cheaper as you will only pay an upgrade fee. Other libraries are as follows: •

Leader’s - $325

•

Scholars - $630

October 2010

•

Sliver - $1,000

•

Gold - $1,380

•

Platinum - $1,690

•

Portfolio - $4,290

If I were starting over today, I would get the Scholars Library on a payment plan. It is the best bang for the buck right now. Over a year you will pay about $60/month. Logos will let you make a monthly payment with only a $5/month fee added instead of interest, which is actually better than putting it on a credit card. I upgraded my Library and added some other collections when they came out so I pay a fee each month rather than paying the one lump sum. Another issue related to cost, is that you have to pay for books that others offer for free – like many of the public domain works that programs like e-Sword offers as a free add-on. For example the Old Testament Commentary from Keil and Delitzsch, which is freely available in many cheaper and lesser applications, is $120 in Logos format. Logos apologists will say that their format is so superior that it makes it worth the extra money. I say false. If you are on a tight budget, only buy the books that are only available in Logos on top of one of the library packages. It is a great piece of software and well worth the money for one of the base packages, if you can afford the upfront cost or the monthly payment. But to add a book that you can get for free elsewhere for $120 or even $30 is poor stewardship if you are strapped for cash. The other reason a user might not want to get Logos is if you have a slow system. This application requires some muscle to run it. While some report using it on very weak systems like netbooks, I would not recommend it. But most computers made in the last few years should work. However, nothing has made the notes feature of Logos usable on any of my systems which range from a very basic machine designed for office work to a powerful system that has no problems running the latest games while doing video editing and working with very large Photoshop files all while downloading software and playing music. After I type one sentence into a notes entry, it starts to bog down and takes forever to get each word out. For some this is a minor annoyance. They use other Bible applications for notes or keep the things they learn from their Digital Bible Study in a Word file or in a note taking application like OneNote or Evernote. If that describes you, then go for it. But if you want only one Bible application that handles notes well, don’t bother with Logos 4.1. That and price are the only reasons I would say that. To answer the beginning question is version 4.1 good enough to make us remove version 3? If the few missing features don’t matter then the answer is a resounding, “Yes.” Version 4.1 is a much better and more useful piece of software than the previous version. I couldn’t say that last year, but I can easily say it about this year’s model. You can follow me on Twitter to get other tech news, reviews and information about Digital Bible Study @kapurcell. I also post content related to Digital Bible Study and especially iPad Bible Study at least once or twice a week on my web site at http://kp.ly.

Christian Computing® Magazine

October 2010

nick at church

The Sky is----er…Cloudy Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com

he company that created the software that makes it possible to have virtual computers running on servers, VMware, sponsors an annual conference called VMworld that draws thousands of geeks from across the globe. This year it was in San Francisco, and more than 17,000 attended! What were the takeaways that are— or will— impact churches and ministries? Here are a few of my thoughts. Make No Mistake: This Will Impact You Here’s a quick primer on what virtual computers are about and their impact— now and in the near future. Virtual Computers. Most computers barely use their processor’s capacity. This is especially true for servers, which are more expensive than desktop and notebook computers. The processor is the most expensive component in the computer, so finding a way to get more work out of them makes great sense. By running software that enables virtualization (this type of software is called the hypervisor), you can run many ‘computers’ on a single machine, or ‘host’. And doing so saves money on hardware purchases, support costs, and utilities while also improving reliability and business continuity. Cloud Computing. This buzzword has taken the geek community by storm. Originally it meant centralizing computer data and applications on a server in a datacenter somewhere. But corporations have been reluctant to trust their sensitive data and processes to the Internet— there are too many unknowns that could seriously impact their profitability. It has thus been redefined in two categories:

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The Public Cloud refers to the original concept, focusing on using data centers. The Private Cloud refers to centralized computer data and applications on servers located on the corporation’s premises. Virtualization is the least expensive and most powerful way to achieve private or public cloud computing. If your network is not based on virtualization yet, it most likely will be the next time you update it. The Death of the Notebook & Desktop We’ve been saying for awhile that mobile computing devices, like smartphones and tablets, will replace the notebook; I believe it’ll eventually replace the desktop too. The only way that can happen is if The Cloud—public or private— can deliver data and applications for processing on mobile devices. We’re already seeing a drop in desktop and notebook sales. Smartphones and tablets, like Apple’s iPad, are selling in huge numbers! Best Buy said last week that they believe mobile devices are the reason notebook and desktop sales are falling in their stores, where they’re also October 2010

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October 2010

seeing a huge increase in the sales of mobile devices. With all of that mobile computing power, people are going to want to do more of what once required a computer on their mobile device, and only The Cloud will be able to fulfill that want. A Change Is Coming! There are three major reasons why corporate America has not yet adopted the public cloud: 1. Security & Trust. When corporations think of putting their data on a server in someone else’s datacenter, the threat of hacking and leaks of sensitive data is scary. Whether trade secrets that give them a competitive edge, or sensitive communications that could be damaging and possibly cause a legal catastrophe, the threat is too big. Even though private servers can be hacked or data on them also be leaked, the threat is lower and the cost difference to have a private cloud is worth it to corporate leadership. 2. Internet Unreliability. Though it continues to improve, the Internet is still susceptible to regional outages that can make it difficult to reach data in someone else’s datacenter. The concern of corporate leadership is that if their employees can’t get to the data they need, then personnel becomes unproductive— again affecting profitability. This challenge can be solved, however: • By locating and replicating data in multiple datacenters in different geographic regions, and • By connecting workers to the Internet with redundant Internet connections. That means using multiple Internet providers on different Internet trunks (or backbones) in a failover strategy; if one trunk goes dead, work automatically moves on to secondary carriers. Christian Computing® Magazine

3. Territorial Protection by IT Directors. IT directors are not excited about the impact of The Cloud on their departments. It will likely mean a significant reduction in the need for internal IT staff, and with Concerns One and Two previously mentioned, the case is easily made that a move to the public cloud is too risky. For those of us in ministry, corporate Concern One has yet to be solved adequately, but Concern Two is solvable. What about Concern Three? In ministry, our mission is arguably the most important on Earth. The more that can be spent accomplishing the mission, rather than supporting its infrastructure, should be our goal. That being said, church and ministry IT directors should — and generally are — hopeful regarding the possibilities The Cloud brings. So, Concern Three should not be much of an issue, though we are all human. The remaining challenge, then, is Concern One.

October 2010

launching online

Should I Buy from Non-Christians? By Russ McGuire - russ.mcguire@gmail.com

ast month we discussed AJAX in the most technical article I’ve yet written for Christian Computing. If it was too programming-centric for your tastes, don’t worry, this month I’m tackling a topic which may be the least technical I’ve yet written for this magazine.

Where Do You Shop? This series is about the lessons learned in launching Hschooler.net. We characterize it as an online ministry/ business and we describe it as “a social network for Christian families.” It’s run by Christians and it’s our hope that Christians would want to use our service rather than secular equivalents such as Facebook or MySpace. That would imply that I think Christians should buy from Christians rather than from non-Christians. And yet, throughout this series, as I’ve talked about the decisions we’ve made, I don’t think I’ve ever said that “we chose x over y because x is a Christian company and y isn’t.” Is that hypocritical of me? I’m guessing my buying criteria aren’t dramatically different from yours. I’m a busy professional having to live within a budget. From the products and services I buy I need excellence and value. I need excellence because if what I buy doesn’t work as advertised, at the very least I waste time making it work the way I need; and at worst its failures reflect poorly on me and on my ministry/business. I’m too busy to have to overcome the failings of the products and services I buy. They also need to reflect good value – a fair price for what is provided because of the budget constraints within which I must operate. Christian Computing® Magazine

That being said, my hope would be to have choices in the marketplace for the products and services that I buy that are top-notch quality at an excellent value and that are provided by Christians in business. Unfortunately, that’s not often the case. In some categories (e.g. Church Management Systems, Bible Software, Church Website Design), by the nature of the product or service, it’s going to turn out that the best quality/ best value offers are likely to come from Christian businesses. But for products and services that appeal to a broad market it is much harder to find top quality and best value from explicitly Christian businesses. Sometimes there will be a “Christian business” offering a solution, but the quality isn’t as high as the market leader’s, or the price represents a significant premium over the competitive market price. When should we be willing to settle for lower quality or to pay the premium? In my (admittedly, not formalized) vendor selection process, I’ve developed four questions that I apply in evaluating whether or not to buy from a non-Christian business: 1. Does doing business with this company represent a spiritual risk to me or my constituents? 2. Does doing business with this company create a ministry/ witnessing opportunity? October 2010

3. By supporting this business, am I supporting activities that are counter to the Glory of God? 4. By supporting this business, am I supporting activities that further the Kingdom? Spiritual Risks In Matthew 10:16, when He was sending out his twelve apostles, Jesus told them “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (ESV) The most important question to ask is whether doing business with a given company introduces unnecessary temptation to sin for you or for those that will be exposed to them by your choice. As with any risk, we need to consider the likelihood of the risk becoming a failure and you need to consider the opportunities to mitigate the risk – are there things you can do to eliminate or minimize the risk. Each of us has our areas of weakness. Most men are liable to the temptation of lust, but only some men are tempted to drink excessively. You must recognize your own weaknesses and make appropriate choices. If doing business with a certain company will expose you to an area of weakness for you, you should be very cautious. However, in some cases, there are ways you can mitigate the risk. As a simple example, cable television networks carry a wide range of programming. Some of it is quite edifying

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for believers. Much of it is not, and some of it systematically attacks our defenses against sin. However, there are a variety of steps you can take to mitigate the risks. For starters, I wouldn’t recommend Christians subscribe to channels like The Playboy Channel. For some cable systems, you can also block certain channels so they don’t even show up in your program guide. Either through the cable set top box or through your TV you probably can also block programming based on the content rating system. You can also take non-technical steps to mitigate risks, such as choosing to never watch television alone if you feel you are particularly vulnerable to the temptations represented by television content. If you feel the risks are too great and the mitigation steps are insufficient, you may choose to use a Christian provider like Sky Angel instead of cable, or you may choose to bypass television entirely. However, when we think about our ministry or business, we need to think more broadly than ourselves and our specific temptations. We must recognize that our constituents, most likely, are subject to every temptation known to man. In choosing a particular vendor, are we causing our brothers and sisters to sin? Are we exposing them to risks and threats unnecessarily? Witnessing Opportunities Jesus sent his apostles to be in the world, but not of the

October 2010

world. So it is with us. If we are in the world, we have the opportunity to represent Christ to those around us by our actions and sometimes by our words. In considering a particular non-Christian supplier, I often ask whether, by doing business with them, I will have the opportunity to witness to them, either through representing un-worldly integrity and grace, or perhaps even have the opportunity to share the Gospel with them. To be honest, most of the companies that I do business with these days do not provide this opportunity. I fill out a form online to initiate the relationship and have an automatic debit against my credit card each month for payment. Supporting the Ungodly As I consider non-Christian vendors, I try to discern what other activities they participate in and whether I want to be supporting, with my payments, those activities. For example, when considering hosting companies, I look at the companies they list as references. I also carefully read their terms of service. Do they allow their services to be used for pornography or gambling? Do they list as reference accounts tobacco or alcohol companies (and by doing so, promote these businesses)? Promoting the Kingdom

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On the other hand, as I consider vendors, is a Christian supplier taking some of his proceeds and directly investing in the advancement of God’s kingdom? By spending my money with that vendor, is my business contributing to that work? Balancing it All Out Having considered those four criteria, it’s unlikely that any single vendor selection process is going to result in one clear-cut winner. Some vendors will represent higher quality. Some will represent better value. Some may represent a witnessing opportunity. Others may be investing to advance the Kingdom. Balancing all of these factors out to choose one supplier may not be easy. Thankfully, we aren’t alone in making hard decisions. This is when we turn to prayer and seek the Spirit’s leading to make a wise decision, and praise God that he is really the one in control of it all. 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 Hschooler.net (http://hschooler. net), a social network for Christian families (especially homeschoolers) which is being built and run by four homeschooled students under Russ’ direction.

October 2010

ministry communication

Disaster Recovery and How to Hang on to PageMaker, Even When Adobe & Microsoft Say You Can’t Yvon Prehn - yvon@effectivechurchcom.com

y first introduction to PageMaker was a demonstration in 1985, when it was newly released. It seemed almost magical in how it was able to set type and manipulate images. I was Senior Editor at Young Life Intl., and was used to the full-scale in-house typesetting, layout and print shop. PageMaker changed everything. Flash forward twenty-five years and I’ve used the program almost daily to create hundreds of articles, books, and publications of every imaginable kind, but I almost lost it last week. Read on for how I saved it and for overall advice on crashing computers and disaster recovery. I didn’t even realize I had a problem I work so hard producing materials for the Effective Church Communications ministry, that I don’t always keep up with the hardware issues as much as some folks do. But I had good computer backup systems in place-my ministry website (www.effectivechurchcom.com) is continuously backed up by a premier hosting company; my videos are all on a separate server and system; I have a separate drive on which I continually back up writing projects in process. But outside of my backup care, something came about in an area that I least expected—as a consequence of what I assumed was my thrifty care of computers and software. Because many of you work in churches with older computers and software, this tale will be useful for Christian Computing® Magazine

you to read; if you use PageMaker (I know not many, but a significant number of you do) it is essential reading. Regardless of your software or computer use, please consider what I learned from my recent challenges. PageMaker and the XP operating system Here is what happened to me: I use both a desktop and a laptop computer. My desktop model is an HP computer running Windows XP with 3GB of RAM, I’m not quite sure how old it is, but I got it second-hand about 4 years ago. My laptop is an HP running Vista, it’s a bit newer, and I think maybe 3 or 4 years old. Even though I believe in making things last as long as they can, I knew the desktop computer was approaching death and so I have been conscientious about backing October 2010

up projects I was working on with it (more on that recommendation later). I also knew that for some reason, it was the only computer that PageMaker seemed to work really well on. I had problems with PageMaker on the laptop, but I assumed that was because I didn’t install it correctly. The desktop began making loud clanking noises. I opened it up and cleaned out the dust, carefully using compressed air. It ran smoothly for a few days. Then it died a quiet death. It would simply not turn on. I had most of my files backed up so I assumed that if I just reinstalled PageMaker on the laptop, all would be well and work would continue as usual. It didn’t work out as planned After days of installing and uninstalling, I realized something serious was going on. PageMaker would not function properly on the laptop. I called Adobe support and was told my software was no longer supported and they said I needed to buy new software and click, they were done with me. Because I do not have the time or money to buy and learn InDesign this week, I was in a bit of dilemma. I have dozens of manuscripts of updated versions of e-books in PageMaker and many of them are just at the brink of being published. I thought maybe the Adobe people were just being nasty and the problem was with the laptop computer. My first solution was that I’d simply buy a new cheap laptop and load up my PageMaker on it and get back to work. I decided to do some extended research before purchasing one. After lengthy research on the various tech forums here is what I finally found out: • PageMaker stopped being made as a program with PageMaker 7 • PageMaker will not run on Vista or anything more recent • You may be able to install it, but many of components (a primary one being the dictionaries and the spell-checker) simply will not run on anything other than XP today and there is no way around it. • XP is the last operating system that will run PageMaker Christian Computing® Magazine

• Adobe still sells PageMaker 7 as a new program and they don’t tell you upfront (you have to read the specs carefully) that it will not run on anything past XP. Well, that wasn’t good news. A new laptop, no matter how pretty the screen or how much RAM it might have would not solve any of my problems. If I want to get the materials that are almost ready to go and out to you in a timely manner, I need to be able to access the files as they are on an XP system. That means I need an XP machine. More research and I hope a solution A friend at church said he’d give me his old computer….but it was running the newer Vista operating system (there is “old” and then there is my version of “old, but making due”). I decided to take in my dead computer to a locally owned computer store and see if it could be fixed—maybe it was a simple solution. The bad news is that not only had the power source died (I hoped that was all), but the motherboard (the heart and soul) of the computer was shorting out—it was dead, dead. The good news—the computer guys are able to build me a new XP system. They can take the license from the old computer (Microsoft charges $150 for that) and October 2010

apply it to the new one. I can get a very simple, inexpensive, what is now considered “low end” system, but it will be more than adequate for my needs to finish the PageMaker books. Just because new computers don’t come with XP doesn’t mean that can’t be put into a new box and that’s what the computer guys are in the process of doing. The spiritual lessons in this situation My first instinct is to rail against computer companies who don’t care about saving money and church people on a budget and being forced to upgrade even when what I have is working perfectly well to do what I need it to do—except when it doesn’t. And then I feel like I’m hostage to their upgrade demands that I won’t be able to do the work I need to do if I don’t buy what they force me to buy. But we are commanded to do “all things without griping and complaining (Phil. 2:14-15) and I do know that God is in charge of all things, even computer upgrades. I also know He will supply all my needs (Phil. 4:19) as I need them for me to do the work He has called me to do. We are also commanded to give thanks in all situations (1 Thes. 5:18). I think it is very important in times like this to remember that God is in charge of our technology and our interactions with it. We never step

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out of His commands for us to trust and obey Him no matter what the technology challenges. It is so easy to think that God is only involved in the “spiritual” parts of our lives, but I think one reason that Jesus became a man was to show us that everything, every fleshy, daily, work or leisure part of our lives is under his control and is to be lived as Jesus would want us to live. Everything we go through can be a lesson to help us live as Jesus wants and to help us listen to His voice. I am so thankful I didn’t simply rush ahead and buy a new laptop. It wouldn’t have worked; I wouldn’t have the system I needed for the work I need to do. If I hadn’t taken the time to research the problems, I wouldn’t know about the PageMaker limitation that may affect many of you also. If I hadn’t prayed and waited, I would not have experienced God’s gentle intervention in this area of my life and the growing confidence of His love and care in the midst of challenges. Please check out my website: www.effectivechurchcom. com. It is a training site for church communicators and fortunately I can work on the website and update it on any computer without relying on any one softward.

October 2010