ccmag2011_01

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 23

January 2011

No. 1

7 cover story

Faith Interactive

By Steve Hewitt

Copy Editor Gina Hewitt

3 editorial

Corporate Home Office

In Loving Memory of Guy Allen Bolen

Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com

4 press releases 11 ACS ideas to impact

from ACS Technologies

13 accelerating the dynamic church Do You Really Know Your Congregation?

from Fellowship Technologies

15 higher power with kevin

Both Exciting and Troubling Trends in Bible Software Development

Kevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.org

IT— Truth or Dare!

Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com

20 big ministry - small resources When Technology Fails

22 tablet time

Bradley Miller - bradley.w.miller@gmail.com

Free Software!

25 ministry communication

It’s Time for New Year’s Resolutions

18 nick at church

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

By Russ McGuire - russ.mcguire@gmail.com

Is Video the Best Way to Market Your Church?

Yvon Prehn - yvon@effectivechurchcom.com

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

January 2011

editorial

In Loving Memory of Guy Allen Bolen Aug 30, 1934 - Jan 21, 2011

Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com Sometime around 1978, Guy excitedly invited me to his home office to show me his new computer! It was a Tandy Model 1, the first home computer offered on the market. I had just finished college and was a pastor of a small country church, but I immediately saw the potential for this new tool. A couple of years later, Guy loaned me the $600 to purchase a Radio Shack Color Computer (used), and over the next years we saw our computers move from cassette decks (which is how you loaded and stored programs in the early days), to floppy disks (and they were REALLY floppy!) In the late 1980’s the Lord began to speak through Guy that He wanted me to do something more, and in 1988 I felt led to start a magazine specifically for those seeking to use these new computers in ministry. I didn’t have any experience in journalism, or in business for that matter. My degree was in Christianity and I had always thought I would always be a pastor. However, with this new calling from Him, God provided Guy. With a simple phone call, Guy arranged for banks to loan me the money needed to get started. When we lost money on the first issues, he put in more of his own money to keep us going. And, as those first years progressed and he retired from being an accountant for a large shipping company, he came to work for Christian Computing full time as our business manager. Yesterday, I attended Guy’s funeral. While I am deeply saddened that he is gone, it was a celebration of his life, and we rejoice that he is now with our savior and no longer having to endure the Parkinson’s and severe memory loss that plagued him during his last years. About a year-and-a-half ago, I was able to have lunch with Guy and he was having a “good day”. As we began talking about those early years, and laugh together about all of the good times we had during that time, I was able to tell Guy how much I love him, and how much I appreciate him. I told him that his help in starting CCMag has had an impact on thousands, if not tens of thousands over the course of 20 years. And it made me realize that, with his passing, all of our readers need to know about the dedication and support CCMag received from Guy. I doubt very much if there would have been a single issue, or that we would still be publishing today, if it hadn’t been for Guy. So, thank you Guy Allen Bolen. You will be missed by everyone that knew you, and many that didn’t have been blessed by your dedicated service. Together We Serve Him,

Steve Hewitt Editor-in-Chief steve@ccmag.com Christian Computing® Magazine

January 2011

Press Releases Bellevue CMS Offers Complete Web-Based, Open Source Church Management Reduced Cost and Community Partnership Mark OpenSource Church Management as Beneficial to Churches

Bellevue Church Management System (http://www. BVCMS.com) (BVCMS) is a fully-featured, web-based, open source church management system that was built out of Bellevue Baptist Church’s need to have an allencompassing management suite to handle their church technology needs. The biggest difference between BVCMS and other management solutions on the market is that it is “open source” meaning the code is free, it is more affordable than other solutions on the market, and the BVCMS community and wiki support the growing number of churches using BVCMS to run their churches. “We have made BVCMS available to any church looking for a more streamlined way to manage their members and overall administration,” says David Carroll, BVCMS developer and founder. “I understand the struggle that many churches face when it comes to having a solution that works well for their church. It needs to work well, and not cost an arm and a leg.” Open source software is computer software code that is made available to the public under a software license agreement that permits users to use, change, and improve the software and redistribute it under the terms of the license agreement. While BVCMS open source software is free, it does have obligations to users such as hosting and support costs, although a church can host and support it themselves and is not required to use BVCMS. BVCMS is licensed under the GNU General Public License which requires any derived works to be made available under the same license. This guarantees that the project will be forever free to users and developers. Here are some of the additional benefits that BVCMS offers to churches: 1. Churches receive the ability to control the future development of the church management system (ChMS). No longer is a church dependent upon a proprietary vendor whose decisions are oftentimes motivated primarily by financial gain. 2. The system is designed by users for users. Christian Computing® Magazine

3. The danger of being abandoned by a company due to any number of reasons is mitigated by having the source code to the system. Should the original developers discontinue the project anyone can continue to improve the project with the available source code. “My heart is in this project, and my desire is to make sure that there is no church that can’t ‘afford’ BVCMS if they need it, which is the very reason I decided to build this system as an open source project in the first place,” adds Carroll. More than 30 churches made the switch in 2010 to BVCMS, and many more are considering a move to this system. “BVCMS has given us excellent support, and financially it’s been a big win. When we have an issue, David takes ownership and stays on top of it until it is resolved. We now have a system better than anything I knew was out there, thanks to BVCMS,” says Rob Lamarre, administrative pastor for Point Harbor Church in Chesapeake, Virginia. To learn more about BVCMS included features such as membership management, check-in, advanced reporting, touch screen event registration and check-in, contribution management, volunteer management, customizable HTML email, and more, visit http://www.BVCMS.com/ features.

2011 National Church IT RoundTable The national Church IT RoundTable (CITRT) will be held at Calvary Chapel of Melbourne, Florida on February 24-25, 2011. Come a day early, February 23, for a tour of Northland Church in Orlando and the Kennedy Space Center. More than 500 church IT directors, business managers, network administrators, help desk technicians, and software and web developers, both staff and volunteer, have found an inspiring community of ministry peers in the CITRT. Come and join us in central Florida to learn from your peers and get recharged for another season of ministry. Registration is only $75. For full detains and registration information visit http://citrt. pbworks.com/w/page/34522008/Spring-2011-NationalChurch-IT-Roundtable

January 2011

Press Releases

Christian Computing速 Magazine

January 2011

Press Releases ServiceU Corporation Selects NiagaraAX Framework

Software platform allows event scheduling software to integrate with HVAC systems Tridium, Inc., the global leader in software frameworks, automation infrastructure technology, and energy management and device-to-enterprise integration solutions announced Tuesday that ServiceU Corporation, a leading software development company, selected the NiagaraAX Framework® as the technology platform for EventU™ Green, its event management tool that automates heating and air conditioning schedules. As a NiagaraAX Certified Developer, ServiceU has developed EventU™ Green as an add-on to the company’s EventU™ system, the complete online solution for scheduling and managing events for large multi-purpose facilities such as churches, schools, and civic centers since 1999. When an organization’s staff adds, changes, or deletes event schedules and room reservations in EventU, EventU Green then automatically updates the NiagaraAX schedules. Staff members no longer need to contact the facility manager every time an HVAC schedule change needs to be made. This enables the facility manager to focus on more important duties and yet still gives the facility manager complete visibility and control of schedules through NiagaraAX. The HVAC schedules can now be controlled much more tightly and accurately, resulting in significant savings in energy costs. “By integrating with NiagaraAX, EventU Green now has the ability to work with virtually any modern HVAC system regardless of manufacturer,” says Tim Whitehorn, Chief Executive Officer of ServiceU. “We are very excited that this integration will allow more organizations to take advantage of the cost and time saving benefits that EventU Green delivers.” “EventU Green serves as an excellent example of the development capabilities of Niagara,” said Marc Petock, vice president, global marketing and communications for Tridium. “The Niagara Framework provides an innovative and cost effective solution that will be completely Christian Computing® Magazine

compatible and interoperable with any of today’s HVAC systems.” 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 EventU that automates facility heating and cooling (HVAC) online based on a facility’s events schedule; TransactU™ is the one solution for secure online donation, payment, and event registration tools from an organization’s website, via mobile devices, and kiosks; TicketU™ provides online ticket sales, box office management, and theater software. About Tridium Inc. Tridium is the global leader in open platforms, application software frameworks, automation infrastructure technology, energy management and device-to-enterprise integration solutions. Our technologies extend connectivity, integration and interoperability to the millions of devices deployed in the market today and empowers manufacturers to develop intelligent equipment systems and smart devices that enable collaboration and communication between the enterprise and edge assets. The company’s Niagara Framework® is the foundation that makes buildings work and perform better. Niagara integrates, centralizes, manages and controls today’s diverse business systems such as temperature, humidity, ventilation, security and energy in any size building and environment. Niagara is creating better buildings---ones that are smarter, use less energy, are more efficient, have lower operating costs, are safer and contribute to a sustainable environment. Today, there are over 200,000 instances of the Niagara Framework operating in 45 countries. The company is an independent business entity of Honeywell International Inc. Additional information about Tridium is available at www. tridium.com.

January 2011

cover story

Faith Interactive

Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com

everal months ago, I was introduced to the company and services of Faith Interactive. Ryan Foley CEO and founder, gave me a demo of their services while I was attending the Parish Soft national user conference, and, I was impressed. The service is very mature and powerful, yet, easy for the end user to enjoy! Ryan and I met again during the holidays, and I began to see this was not just another great service to promote to our readership, but it was actually a fantastic service that we could actually use here at Christian Computing Magazine! And, with this interview with Ryan and Faith Interactive, I not only want to introduce their service to you, but am delighted to announce we will be using their services, and within a month or two, will launch our CCMag’s Online Community! It will include exciting new blog materials, new communities, (such as “ask CCMag” where you can go for help!) and much more. Our readers will have the opportunity to get to know each other, and to make connection with those that share the same interest, or the same geographical areas. Watch for more information in next month’s issue. And, enjoy my interview with Ryan, and learn more about the exciting services they offer, perfect for Christian associations, denominations and churches! What’s the story behind the beginning of Faith Interactive? In 2007, while working as the Executive Director of a faith-based organization, we were implementing a software system to facilitate member management and Christian Computing® Magazine

to streamline processes to help us become more efficient. During this project, it quickly became apparent to all involved that we were in equally desperate need of two key external facing challenges: Community: We needed to leverage the same tools that our members were using, we needed to more efficiently allow our members to connect and collaborate with each other. Communication: Communicating has always been a challenge with top-down facing organizations and we were no exception. Using a simple example of a traditional Faith-Based Organization/Association > Chapter > Member, there are multiple avenues of under-utilized means of communication. We were so used to delivering one-way communication; the many other opportunities were easily overlooked. In a traditional sense, a Faith-Based Organization has limited direct communiJanuary 2011

cation with the member and vice versa, it’s also a challenge to develop a meaningful dialogue between the Organization and the many members which fall under its wing. Not to mention the ability for the members to connect with each other. Ultimately as a Christian organization we wanted to leverage technology to lessen the time we spent performing administrative tasks and spend more time living out our primary mission of helping people know, love, and serve Christ. It slowly became clear to me that I was being called to use my new knowledge and past experiences to help other faith-based organizations, who like me, were struggling with the same challenges. After a few meetings with the CEO of Higher Logic we agreed to start a subsidiary company that could leverage the investment already made in the Connected Community software, thereby very quickly be able to offer the faith-based community a comprehensive and cost-effective solution. With this we started Faith Interactive. What was it about Connected Community that impressed you so much that you wanted to build a company around it? The software is so feature rich and offers real solutions, solutions to problems that exist in nearly every ministry, faith-based organization or church. It isn’t just another slick social networking tool. The software provides the communications infrastructure from which evangelization, training, member engagement and community are supported. For example, one of things every ministry leader, community administrator, or local program director wants is access to the people that have been entrusted to their care. A practical means of Christian Computing® Magazine

maximizing communications with Connected Community is through the Component Manager module where leaders are able to manage and communicate with their members directly through the software. We give them the ability to view their “slice” of the database. With Component Manager, community administrators have the ability to develop powerful marketing campaigns which include distinct mailing list, e-mail templates and blast email capabilities. These type capabilities allow better use of time, something that when working with volunteers is in short supply. Nothing frustrates people more than spending two-hours just looking for email addresses or phone numbers; this is scarcely a good use of our talents and quickly leads to frustration and a drain on our most valuable resource, time. January 2011

How is the software delivered? Connected Community is delivered through a SaaS (Software as a Service) model. In my view this is the ideal route for faith-based organizations. It keeps the focus of the organization and lets the software provider – in this case Faith Interactive – bear the responsibility for maintaining the technical infrastructure, upgrades, hosting and general support. It’s been my experience that when faith-based organizations take on responsibilities outside their core competency, overtime they get wrapped up in administrative concerns which distract from their core mission. Since founding Faith Interactive what have been some of your biggest challenges? Engagement One of the biggest challenges is helping people to appreciate the full value of member engagement. Research done by the Gallup Organization, and presented in the book Growing an Engaged Church by Albert Winseman, highlights engagement in this statement: “The reality is that belonging is far more likely to lead to believing”. If the core mission of our faith-based organizations is to help people grow in their faith, then strategies to increase member engagement need to have primary place in pastoral or organizational plans. With the proliferation of solid research, like that from Gallup, I think over time we will see increased investments in tools and applications that support member engagement. Part of our challenge is to not only to offer a superior software solution but to also spend time helping the faithbased community by sharing best practices through our ongoing learning series. Efficiency Another challenge that we encounter quite frequently is one of personal bandwidth. The impact of today’s fiscal realities usually equals reductions in staff. The remaining staff tends to be heavily burChristian Computing® Magazine

dened and worries about taking on a new “project’. It is hard for them to see that what we offer actually can help them by spreading the responsibilities of day-to-day activities throughout the organization and down to the deepest level. This is especially challenging in organizations where the leadership has placed too much emphasis on control and top-down communications. Within any community the greatest and most unique value is its members, given the right communication and collaboration tools, members working together, and as a community, will always have achievements that far exceed that of any individual effort. What is the most frequent question you hear when introducing the Connected Community software to new organizations. The question that undoubtedly always gets asked is, “why not just use a public network like Facebook?” At Faith Interactive we don’t see the public vs. private question as and either or decision, we see it as a “both, and”. If the mission of any faith-based organization is helped by utilizing a public network like Facebook, then certainly take advantage of it. Our only council is to not limit your communications and engagement strategies to only using the public networks; consider the advantages of using a private network as well. The public network should really be treated like a billboard, which directs traffic to the hub of information which would ideally be your organization’s website – the aggregator if you will.

January 2011

What are the advantages of “private networks” like Connected Community over public networks? Know Your Members The advantages that private networks have over public networks are many. The first that comes to mind is that it gives your organization the ability to have greater knowledge about your members. When you leverage a private network the data that gets created through member activity (i.e. entering profile information, uploading files, blogging, relationships, member preferences, etc.) is retained in a database that you can access, in a way in which you can protect the individual privacy choices of each member. Public networks, such as Facebook, have had considerable media attention due to privacy policy issues, specifically that the information created through member activity is owned by the particular network or software service provider. This information is used, most notably, to increase their revenue through advertisements. Capture Knowledge Another big advantage of private networks, and again as it relates to data, is the ability to build a historic repository of searchable information. From the moment that you turn on your private network you start to build a knowledgebase that can serve future members for years to come. I’ve often heard from ministry leaders that the front door is as wide as the back door, meaning people come into ministry stay for a short while and then leave. I have seen this firsthand with the turnover of youth ministers in my own church years ago. It seemed that every year we would hire a new youth minister within a short while he or she finds a better opportunity and moves on. Each time this happens you essentially end up starting over. Not so in a private network. All of the content (documents, videos, podcast, discussions, member information, etc…) that was created in the past remain in the database, waiting for the next leader to step in and start where things left off. In Control Yet another benefit, and one that has specific importance to faith-based organizations, is the ability to establish controls on content and advertisements. Often, advertisements, and/or content on public networks, can run in direct opposition to the values and mission that we proclaim to uphold in our faith-based institutions. In a private network, the organization leader is in control of moderation levels per community as well as any advertising opportunities. Christian Computing® Magazine

As our society moves more and more to mobile devices how is Faith Interactive staying current? In the fourth quarter of 2010 a new feature called M2 Mobile Membership was added to the long list of features in Connected Community. With this new feature members can browse, search and contact other members of their communities, view events, news, discussions, and prayer requests. The value of this type tool is more important than ever. Still today many churches, faith-based organizations, and faith based associations communicate through newsletters, bulletins, announcements, and general information on their websites. Meanwhile media habits have changed significantly as email, social media, online communities, and mobile have become primary channels of communication. Faith-based organizations need to remain relevant in the lives of the people they serve; they need to find innovative ways to increase engagement, and a sense of belonging. All too often Christians end up compartmentalizing their faith into a few hours on Sunday, having a limited experience of community and communion. With the help of interactive tools, like Connected Community, organizations can help facilitate more frequent communication between people and their faith-based communities, something that without question is needed today. Would you say that Connected Community is a tool mostly for organizational leader’s or for their members? Connected Community was built, and continues to evolve, based on a member-centric approach. Any good system of course will provide value to both leadership and members, nevertheless systems that focus mostly on the benefits to members undoubtedly also provide the information desired by the organization. A good example of this is demographic information. In addition to the secure personal profile that is pre-filled with synchronized information from the membership database, members are also able to enter additional personal and/or professional demographics (i.e. interests, job history, bio, etc…). Based on their entries they are able to discover other members with common and matching data. This can be very useful to the membership but also provides new information, not previously known, to the organization. To learn more about Faith Interactive or to schedule an online demo visit our website at http://www.faithinteractive.com/26G6T.

January 2011

ACS

ACS ideas to impact

It’s Time for New Year’s Resolutions

from ACS Technologies

ere’s an idea: Resolve to adopt best practices in your ministry in 2011. Ensure success by choosing core areas to focus on. Get started now by reading below about smart ways to approach events planning, allowing your staff to work from home, and volunteer management. Get the most out of church events Special events (http://www.acstechnologies.com/CCmag_ Events) are some of the most valuable and visible aspects of your church ministry. Through them, your church can be transformed and your community impacted. The first step in planning your event is to put together an “event team.” Once you assemble your team, bring them together to discuss your event. Begin by taking a close look at those to whom the event is aimed. Your next step in hosting a great event is pulling together resources, including facilities, materials, equipment, and volunteers. Make a task list for each team member and create completion deadlines. Consider using your Web site to post your team’s task lists and having your team members modify their lists as they accomplish tasks. With an online data management system, you can give your event team passwordprotected access to their list so they can log on and update it. Another important aspect of hosting a successful event is attendance tracking. An online data management system that interfaces with your church management system can be a big help. With a system like this, you can: • Mark attendance quickly. • Use the system to measure your event results and store them for future analysis. • Maintain the attendance records by individual or event. • View or print attendance graphs and summaries for all events.

Christian Computing® Magazine

For more information on best events practices, download Events from Start to Finish (http://www.acstechnologies.com/ CCmag_Events). Give your staff the freedom to work anywhere For a lot of churches, an on demand software service is nothing new. For some though, it’s a new idea. That is why we’ve put together this overview (http://www.acstechnologies. com/CCmag_Ondemand) so you can learn more about this exciting way of doing church business. Any church would benefit from a flexible and secure hosted solution that lets staff access your desktop church management software whenever and wherever with the power of the Internet. With that type of access, your staff and volunteers could work from home, while traveling, or anywhere they have an Internet connection. Your organization would be subscribing to a monthly service, which means you have the freedom to select what you want and need at that time. Information security is no light matter. Look for a software partner with the skills and resources to invest in bestin-class security infrastructures. Your church has critical, confidential data that you want to protect and preserve, and a remote setup helps assure that your data is in the best hands. Many churches have staff that fill multiple roles, such as being a part-time IT director and a part-time youth minister. What if the IT needs of the church could be reduced to let your multitasking minister do more? With a remote solution, your IT issues like upgrades, network support, backups, security, and training are no longer a burden. January 2011

Learn more by downloading the ministry guide Your Ministry on Demand (http:// www.acstechnologies.com/CCmag_Ondemand). Turn more members into ministry volunteers You know your members possess an array of skills that could be used in volunteer ministry, so why aren’t your volunteerism (http://www.acstechnologies.com/CCmag_ Volunteer) numbers higher? Try these steps for more involved members: 1. Host a leadership class for members where their talents and passions are assessed. 2. Enter volunteer data into a database. Many church management software packages allow you to manage every aspect of your church in one integrated program. 3. Produce customized reports by individual or position and determine who can serve where. It’s also important to communicate volunteer opportunities. Sending out e-mail is one way to increase awareness. By using a church management system that offers Webbased features, you can allow your leaders to access member information and e-mail addresses to send out individual or group e-mail. To get more information about how to take volunteer recruitment to the next level and create lasting ministry impact, download the ministry guide Raising Your Volunteering Numbers (http://www.acstechnologies. com/CCmag_Volunteer) today. When you start applying best practices to your ministry, results are sure to follow. Make 2011 the year you nail events, give your staff the freedom to work from home, and ramp up volunteerism. For more information on how ACS Technologies can help your church, visit our Web site (http://www. acstechnologies.com) today.

Christian Computing® Magazine

January 2011

accelerating the dynamic church

Do You Really Know Your Congregation?

from Fellowship Technologies

ost pastors know some basic information about the people in their church. From attendance numbers, to the ratio of adults to kids, to the number of small groups and financial giving of!CCELERATING 4HE $YNAMIC #HURCH the church membership, pastors are ¸ typically aware of the numbers. But, beyond the numbers, how well do pastors really know the people of their churches? Though we’re inclined to believe that small church pastors have a better understanding of their congregants; even small church leaders struggle with having the time to spend with members. Church leaders need to have visibility and insight into the people, ministries and activities of their church. Beyond the Numbers Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Community Church in California stated recently on Twitter, “Church leaders: You must look at the numbers, but then you must look past the numbers at the causes.” It’s helpful to have meaningful information (which can include “numbers”), but as Warren states, looking for the causes will give insight into what ministry decisions must be made. • Which groups are growing and creating new groups? • How many new preschool rooms will be needed at the current rate of growth? • Which small groups are best suited to serve a specific need? • How many kids missed two weekends in a row and should receive a call to the parents to check on them? • Which ministries need more volunteer leaders? While numbers can show basic information and provide actionable insight for logistics and planning, Christian Computing® Magazine

the real challenge is to have the right pieces of information shared and stored for the church staff to leverage. Measuring Ministry? The question is not whether to evaluate, but rather how and why to measure that which needs evaluating. For each church, this looks different because of their unique vision and culture in their communities. The idea of measuring ministries makes many church staff feel vulnerable. However, the first reason to determine which processes and activities need measurement is for the individual leaders’ own personal, spiritual and professional growth. Since each staff member is responsible for the volunteers under their span of care, it makes sense to help them qualify and, if needed, quantify the goals and objectives for serving their teams. Likewise, creating metrics for the health, effectiveness and/or growth of these volunteer leaders provides a level of expectation for both the church staff and lay leadership. Good Information For Good Decision-Making In essence, the right kind of information (data) can show ministry leaders what, where and how to respond. In many instances, up-to-date data can even help leaders prepare ahead of time for change of plans or actions. Capturing the right kind of information starts with a shared information base that should include the names, ages and communication channels (such as email and phone numbers). In this way, all information about the congregants and visitors is up-to-date and accessible by the staff for connecting with the people. When these vital pieces of data are collected and shared, securely, January 2011

among church staff, the opportunity to build relationships and help connect people with service opportunities rises dramatically. Regularly looking at metrics and trends builds a culture of both appreciation and ongoing learning that builds trust and helps communicate the right information to the proper audiences. Dynamic churches value meaningful information for making ministry decisions. To learn more about why, how and what to measure, visit the Dynamic Church Trends website and download free articles, resources and statistics to help your church learn how to make the most of your congregation information. Visit http:// fellowshiptech.com/trends to sign up for a free newsletter that puts the latest information right in your email Inbox every few weeks!

Christian Computing速 Magazine

January 2011

higher power with kevin

Both Exciting and Troubling Trends in Bible Software Development Kevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.org

s The Tale of Two Cities by Dickens begins, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”. One could say the same about Bible software. Previously I have written here about how exciting it is to be a user and observer of the Bible software industry right now. Some very exciting things are happening. The Exciting Future and Present Here is what makes Bible software right now really exciting. 1. You can do so much with so little! The early days of Bible software were exciting, but to look back on what we put up with to study the Bible digitally compared with today is mind blowing. This is almost always true in technology. But the fact that I can carry a full theological library in my pocket with a mobile phone and one of the dozens of great Bible software apps available from people like Olive Tree, Mantis, Laridian and Logos is amazing. The fact that I can have dozens of translations and daily reading programs on almost any mobile phone I have from the likes of YouVersion is mind blowing, compared to a decade ago (Google those names for their sites). With a netbook or a an ultra-portable like the MacBook Air or Dell Adamo notebook computers, you can have that same library along with hundreds of time saving textual analysis tools in something smaller than a Strong’s Concordance. And searching not just the Bible but a library of a thousand or more resources is nearly instant, even on these little handheld or ultra-portable machines. Fantastic! Christian Computing® Magazine

2. There is a dizzying array of software available. For the analytic types who want to do in depth textual critical study there are amazing tools that have more features than the most advanced Greek or Hebrew professor would know what to do with (look up BibleWorks, Logos, and Accordance). But if you are just a Sunday School teacher wanting to do simple study for this week’s lesson, there are amazing tools ready for use. A lot of them are free (like http://www.esword.net which has a new update, by the way). 3. The cloud is becoming viable.Don’t want to even buy or install software? Just study online. Great web sites like the Logos initiativewww.biblia.com bring Digital Bible Study to the cloud with some pretty advanced features. This will only get better. 4. Bible study is getting visual.For the visual types, one of the coolest new applications is Glo Bible (http://www.globible.com). The visual learner will find a playground of great Digital Bible Study in this program. And now they are announcing a touch friendly version for the Windows 7 platform. Microsoft is working hard to catch up with touch computing, which is strange since they have been trumpeting tablet computing before Apple or anyone else seemed to know it existed. In 2011 expect to see a lot of new January 2011

Windows 7 based tablets running a more touch friendly interface. Glo will be optimized for this new platform. This is all very exciting. But at the very same time there are some troubling trends in Digital Bible Study. The market is splintering costing users more money. I’ve spent too many inches in this column complaining about the lack of a standard for Digital Bible Study eBooks. It is a huge nuisance to have to open multiple programs in once Digital Bible Study session in order to access all the tools I use. This means I have to learn multiple platforms for Digital Bible Study. That’s fine for people like me who get to test and use most of the Windows and many of the Mac based Bible study tools out there for free. But there aren’t many people in the Digital Bible Study press. Most do not get that chance. The average pastor who serves a congregation of 80-120 people all by himself can’t afford three different applications each costing hundreds of dollars, not to mention missionaries and church planters or bi-vocational pastors. Sure there are free and online resources as we said in our list of exciting trends. But it is a shame that he cannot get access to some of these excellent resources because the big software houses in Bible Study markets are too narrow-minded to work together again like many did in the days of STEP – a now defunct Bible study file standard. I’ve heard many arguments from the software developers, but they all ring hollow. It is time for these people to find a way to get together so that we don’t need three programs or have to buy three copies of the NIV. But as long as there are hundreds of denominations in the Evangelical Christian Church I am sure there will also be dozens of incompatible file formats in the Digital Bible Study arena. And it just keeps splintering further.

Christian Computing® Magazine

January 2011

1. Quality of some software engines get more advanced but remain buggy – I participated in recent online discussion about a very popular software package that I have reviewed here and love. I won’t name names. Sadly the issue was about the speed of the software engine. The developers explained that the reason the program was a little slow is that they wanted to get all the features in and released before they optimized the code. I said that sounded a lot like a writer getting all the words on paper before editing and polishing it. That would be fine if I was writing this article on the Internet and stated at the outset that I had not yet edited it to get rid of all the typos and grammatical errors, nor had I polished the wording to make it readable. I would put the words “ROUGH DRAFT” in large bold letters and even ask for suggestions on how to improve or fix it. Then, only when I thought it was ready to publish, would I label it as a finished product. Yet, I’ve been subjected to more than a few “shipping” versions of software that felt more like a rough draft. When I asked the developers about this and complained publicly I was chided for criticizing the product before it was fully optimized. “Be patient,” I was told. The problem is the code was not optimized and yet the company sold it as a “Shipping version”. I know software has bugs even in final releases. That is why you get a X.1 or X.2 version. I’m talking about knowing that there are significant problems and still calling it a final release. If you know there are big problems, you have a Christian duty to let the buyer know this before they hit the “buy” button on the web site. In software parlance that is called a “beta”. I will still likely buy the software as will others so long as we know up front of the problems and have a good faith promise that it will be fixed. But the people who cannot abide beta software should not be fooled into thinking they are getting a final release. 2. Bible software developers who don’t behave in a Christ-like manner. Let me start by saying that 95 percent of the people I have dealt with in the Bible software world have been godly, Christ-like men and women. Second, we all make mistakes and I am sure that I have inadvertently offended some of you with my words here or others with what I have said in my blog, via Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/kapurcell), Christian Computing® Magazine

in the many tech journals or websites I write for, or on Facebook. I never intend to dishonor Christ or any of my fellow believers. So, I say the following with a spirit of redemption in mind. I am troubled that some people that I have followed because they work in the Bible software will resort to some behavior that is not God-honoring. Examples: use of very vulgar language on Twitter and in blog postings. Description of behavior that is not very God-honoring as if it is not a problem. And then being just combative and denigrating of individuals due to disagreements. Please let us all check our public behavior and consider who is watching as we interact in public, which is what the Internet is. If you would be ashamed to say it from the pulpit of your local church, do not say it online no matter whether your name is attached to it or not. The good news in this discussion is that I see far more to get excited about than I do to be concerned with. The people I deal with in the Bible Software world are great people who love the Lord, for the most part, and who also love the church and want to further her mission by helping people study and learn about God’s Word in the Bible. Praise God for this!

January 2011

nick at church

IT— Truth or Dare! Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com

here are many misconceptions about the Internet, hardware, and software that impact the decisions people make. Let’s shed some light on a few of

them!

The Internet We are increasingly dependent on the Internet today. • Types of Connections. There was a day when the best Internet connections for business were T1 lines. T1’s are very expensive, and their maximum speed is only 1.544 megabits per second (mbps). Today’s best connections are usually DSL or from television cable companies where many megabit connections can be had for a tiny fraction of the cost of a T1. If you haven’t shopped your Internet connection in the last two years, that would be a wise task to add to your list to do early this year. • Connection Speed. Many think that if they have a fast Internet connection their downloads and browsing will happen at ‘instantaneous’ speeds. Theoretically they’re right, but knowing how the Internet works helps explain why the results often don’t meet expectations. • When you connect to a website or transfer a file, the connection between you and your destination is not direct. The Internet routes traffic in ways that are often surprising! For instance, if I connect to my church’s network— even though it is only three miles away— the connection actually travels thousands of miles and goes through many devices! Even though we are both served by the same Internet Service Provider, or ISP (Verizon), the connection goes from my home in Huntington Beach, CA to Wichita, KS, and then back to Huntington Beach! The route takes it through at least six switches! Christian Computing® Magazine

• The connection will travel at the speed of the slowest device it connects through. If any of those are overloaded or being hit by a botnet (network of computers controlled by a Trojan virus, etc) Denial of Service (DOS) attack, my connection will be slowed down. • The connection speed is often limited by the computer I’m connecting to! Even though I have a very fast Internet connection, if the computer on the other end has a slow connection or has been engineered to slowly meter out its data (in the case of a download), our connection will be slowed accordingly. • Trends. The Cloud is coming! The trend will be to move data and applications to servers located in datacenters and to outsource your entire IT department, referred to as IT As A Service. This trend is still early in its lifecycle, and very few corporations are embracing it at this time for data or services they consider crucial to their operations and/ or profitability. That will change over the next couple of years as security, reliability, and cost factors improve. Hardware • Multiprocessing. Up to this point our computers appeared to do more than one thing at a time, but they did so by simply juggling multiple tasks with their very fast processing abilities. This is called multi-threaded processing. The computers we can buy today are finally able to do true multiprocessing because they have multiple processors. And those processors can each January 2011

do multi-threaded processing, making new systems very fast. RAM is still a key factor, though… our firm recommendsgetting as much RAM as you can afford when buying new computers. • Brands. It’s still true that not all name brands are created equal when it comes to engineering, design, and reliability. And some have grown a dependability mystique they don’t really deserve! But my firm’s favorite brands are still Dell and Mac. With those two it’s hard to go wrong. • Trends. Two trends worth mentioning: • Because of the trend towards The Cloud, the hardware you do your work on (desktop, notebook, tablet, or smartphone) will become less and less important. Applications are being developed to run ‘hosted’ (over the Internet) that are increasingly hardware and operating system ‘agnostic’ in that they don’t care what kind of computer you’re accessing them from. • With the growing popularity of the smartphone (iPhone, Android, etc) and tablet (iPad, etc), notebook sales are declining. The trend looks like we’ll be using mobile devices of our choosing for more and more of our actual work as The Cloud and the software it hosts grows in ability, reliability, and flexibility. Software • Free Solutions. There are an increasing number of freeware and shareware options available today to help us get our work done. Some are good, and some aren’t— just like any other software. The one piece of the puzzle that must be remembered when looking at free solutions is support. Most only offer support via email with a 24-48 hour response promise unless you pay them for support. When you consider the low cost of commercial solutions that offer charity licensing (like Microsoft Office for only about $80), it may not be a true savings to go ‘free’ when compared to lost productivity.

can be purchased. In addition, they are rarely welldocumented. We continue to recommend against such options. • Trends.Two trends worth mentioning in this category too: • Software pricing for charities is so low it will be interesting to see if ‘Cloud’ solutions will be cost effective. Currently, we are not aware of any software providers offering charity pricing for hosted solutions that have previously only offered shrink-wrap software. If that continues, charities may need to seek hybrid Cloud solutions that allow them to have their own servers in shared datacenter space. • Another trend, however, is the development of software for most office productivity work that can run and can share content across differing platforms. Given the trend toward mobile devices and The Cloud, this may become a computing option of choice. The downside, though, is that it will increase the challenge of offering good internal technical support to team members because many will be using software unfamiliar to other members of the team. Nick Nicholaou is president of MBS, a consulting firm specializing in church and ministry IT and CPA services. You can reach Nick via email (nick@mbsinc.com) and may want to check out his firm’s website (www.mbsinc.com) and his blog at http://ministry-it.blogspot.com.

• Homemade Databases. Databases that are customwritten actually cost more than those that Christian Computing® Magazine

January 2011

big ministry - small resources

When Technology Fails

Bradley Miller - bradley.w.miller@gmail.com

here is a knocking at the door - Mr. Murphy is at the door, but apparently the door bell has succumbed to his presence. Many times I’m awestruck by technology; but sometimes it can be a huge pain - my functional idol – if it could be called functional when it’s not working. Let me give you a wide variety of mechanical/electrical/ technological mishaps around the Miller household over the past 6 months or so. In June, the little light kept blinking on a new 1.5 terabyte backup drive and after some troubleshooting Western Digital sent me a new MyBook drive that was the next model up. (A big kudos to them for their customer service) In September we went camping and were in the midst of a huge storm system that blew down stages, tents, and tore up boat docks - this was the day after having our recently repaired ($$$$) car rear ended and totaled. We then came home in the wee hours of the morning to find the house had taken a lightning hit and blew out a variety of electrical goodies from stereos, computer network ports, fridge, and a garage door opener. (Thankfully, Murphy missed one garage opener - our only way into the house!) . During that time frame we also were starting to do audio and video recording for a new church plant and we learned the fun of not having the right equipment, to forgetting the newly purchased equipment, and then having issues with ancient soundboards and cabling. We have Christian Computing® Magazine

dealt with web site issues, domain transfer issues, and even software that went completely awry and took away our content admin area. Somewhere along the line, I missed what God was using me for and what technology was all about. Mark 6:30-32 (NIV) The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. Is this what your life feels like? Are you so busy coming and going that you don’t even have a chance to eat? (Even the Bread of Life in John 6:35?) So what was the technology of the day? Boats - remember when Jesus got in the boat and was out on the water to teach the people? (Voices carry across water - allowing large crowds to hear.) Jesus didn’t tell his January 2011

people “this boat has to be “How to have more time for ministry!” this size, and this color”. Do you want to save time, get more done and He wanted them to simply have fewer headaches? Then Donarius Church get away and it worked. Management Software will make it easy for you If the first boat they tried to track your members, contributions, pledges Starting at $63.97 wouldn’t have worked, His and more. Imagine what you can do with the for the base version with goal was still to get peace 25% off for small churches extra time! Donarius will also: and take time away from Download a free demo at: • Print your tax receipts the crowds. I myself have www.donarius.com • Show the giving pattern of your members • Print your church directories been so focused on the tech1-888-479-4636 • Send personalized letters, emails and text nology that I completely Nuverb Systems Inc. messages to keep your members informed “Software tailored for you” forget what the mission is all about. I have gotten so laser focused on a solution that I forget what the actual problem was all about. Let me give you a real life example. Years ago in our church they decided to do videos of the sermons. They were going to make DVD’s weekly and send them out. It failed miserably, not for the fault of anyone involved, but there were way too many learning curves with very little in the way of the right hardware or software to do the task. I studied the problem and figured out what the issues were and came up with another solution, but the solution required new hardware and software purchases. I became so preoccupied with that new solution and that way of dealing with the issue that I was ignoring some other new ways to approach the problem. Today rather than making DVD’s we are focusing on putting videos on the Internet, and rather than using complex software we are using iMovie on an iMac. The end goal is sharing the teaching of God through our pastor’s sermons with many people, but “my way” was clouding the goal from being realized. Never let technology become your idol - we are all blessed with many great gifts and for those of us who get excited about Moore’s Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law) that can be a daunting challenge. Sometimes, I need to step back and see the big picture and get time alone in God’s word to figure out what is truly important. What problems do you need to step back into the boat and get some time alone to reach the next ministry destination?

Christian Computing® Magazine

January 2011

tablet time

Free Software! By Russ McGuire - russ.mcguire@gmail.com

ast month I started a new series discussing the impact that tablet computing is likely to have on our lives as Christians. I started by talking about the disruption the iPad is causing in the computer industry and the positive impact it is having on my daily activities. This month we’ll talk about the most important aspect of any computing platform – software. Software and “Openness” Christian Computing readers know that computers are nothing without software. Sure, some of us remember the early hobbyist days when the joy of owning a computer was the ability to program it to do amazing things (like play a game of Mastermind – wow!). But these days, computers are mass market products whose success is almost entirely determined by what everyday consumers can do with them. The most obvious example of the importance of available software in determining platform success is the comparison of the Macintosh and Windows operating systems. It’s easy to argue that the Mac is a much more elegant, user-friendly, stable, and secure platform than Windows. But it’s impossible to argue that the Macintosh ecosystem has been more commercially successful than Windows. What’s the difference? Sure, many buyers have been turned away by Apple’s premium pricing, but I believe the greatest difference has been available software – people bought a Windows PC because the Christian Computing® Magazine

software they wanted or needed to use was available for Windows and not the Mac. And why did more developers write software for Windows? – Because, Microsoft made it easy for developers to make money. Microsoft took a relatively hands-off (or “open”) approach, giving developers the freedom to do as they please while enabling them with powerful development tools and support forums. Microsoft also encouraged a growing market for developers to sell into by working with Intel to enable many hardware manufacturers to come to market with competitive computer systems. In contrast, Apple hasn’t made it as easy for developers. They are more protective (http://www.zdnetasia. com/mac-app-store-limits-developer-options-62205309. htm) of their environment, limiting what developers can do, and they haven’t provided as strong of development tools (http://blog.phanfare.com/2005/10/mac-vspc-development/) as Microsoft. By not licensing the Mac OS, they have also limited the market that software developers can sell into. Bottom line, developers January 2011

chose the easier path to business success and chose the Windows platform over the Mac. The result for consumers is more software titles available for Windows than for the Mac. So what does that have to do with the iPad? After launching the iPhone, Apple took the right steps to help application developers make money by developing apps for the iPhone. Although not as “open” as it could be, the iOS platform was the first mass market mobile platform that was relatively easy for software development and that had an effective go-to-market path that enabled some developers to make lots of money. The result has been hundreds of thousands of software titles available for iOS devices – the iPhone first, but also the iPad at launch. Advocates of “open” approaches to software development talk about developer freedom. They talk about “free software” and use the phrase “free as in free speech, not free beer” to explain that they are talking about developer flexibility rather than a specific price point. However, given the competitive environment where iOS developers are fighting for attention, Apple’s support of the development ecosystem has also resulted in lots of free software that’s free “as in free beer.” Bible Software Unlike many here at Christian Computing, I’ve never been a heavy user of Bible Software on the PC. A decade or so ago I splurged and bought Logos Library System 2.0 and was amazed by all the functionality and available content. I used it for preparing to teach children’s Sunday School, but honestly, it was overkill for my needs. For the most part, I just spend time in the Word, either by myself or gathered together in small Bible studies. I have, however, been an early adopter of Bible software for mobile Christian Computing® Magazine

January 2011

computing. The convenience of having the Bible with me wherever I go has been a wonderful blessing. At times, my mobile Bible has even been my primary Bible. Being able to type notes directly into my mobile device during sermons and Bible studies may appear geeky to those around me, but has meant that I could always access that shared wisdom in future settings (at least until I switch Bible apps). So, my needs for Bible software are relatively simple. I need to be able to read the Word of God. I need to be able to navigate fairly easily to different books and chapters. I need to be able to take notes. And it’s nice to be able to pull up simple footnotes and commentaries. If you’re looking for more, I’d point you to Kevin Purcell’s excellent overviews in the May and June and this month’s issues of Christian Computing. I currently have five free Bible software packages installed on my iPad. My first download was the Logos app, because of the strength of the brand. My second was YouVersion, as much out of curiosity over how it had become one of the most popular downloads in Apple’s app store. I also sought out the software that I loved on my old PocketPC – Olive Tree Bible Reader and Laridian PocketBible. Finally, since my everyday translation is the English Standard Version, I downloaded Crossway’s ESV app. Of these, my favorite is Logos. As long as I’m in a WiFi hotspot, it works beautifully. The formatting automatically adapts to single column or dual column depending on whether I hold the iPad in portrait or landscape mode. Navigation isn’t as strong as other packages, but I love the way cross-references are handled. Tapping on the superscript letter in a verse brings up a small bubble identifying the cross-reference verses. Tapping on a verse reference brings up the verse in the small bubble without taking me away from the text I’m reading (although I am given the option to Jump to the reference text). This feature is incredible in daily reading, group Bible studies, and listening to sermons. YouVersion’s strength is in the number of translations that are freely available and that can easily be downloaded to your iPad for reference even when not network connected. YouVersion is also very much Christian Computing® Magazine

about social connectivity for your Bible reading. Olive Tree’s software has the best navigation and makes it easy to add personal notes. The ESV is a beautiful app that’s not quite the best at any one feature, but does a decent job at navigation, cross-references and footnotes, adding personal notes, and works well whether network connected or not. Having just started using many of these features, I’m just getting a glimpse for how a network-connected Bible I have with me all the time will change how I interact with the Word. Of course, that network connectivity piece isn’t always easy – but more about that next time! 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.

January 2011

ministry communication

Is Video the Best Way to Market Your Church? Yvon Prehn - yvon@effectivechurchcom.com

he title of this article is a trick question. There is no BEST way to market anything to everyone. However, video is obviously an extremely powerful medium as the current advertising campaign by the Mormon Church illustrates. Some comments about that project, some suggestions for creating your own videos, plus some suggestions on how you can combine video with other communication resources follow for an effective multi-channel outreach. Read on… An extraordinary example of video sharing Most likely you’ve seen some of the “I am a Mormon” videos on television or on the web. If you haven’t, I encourage you to look at them at www. mormon.org. I must admit to a bit of trepidation in referring you to the site because it is very powerful in advancing the Mormon religion. My trepidation comes from the fact that I am not a Mormon and that I do not believe it is a Christian faith that correctly represents my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (for excellent apologetic resources about the Mormon Church, go to www.equip.org). That being said, you cannot help but greatly admire the overall campaign and the extraordinary production quality of the videos and the site. They have taken a large cross-section of people and through video and text have them tell their story. The stories are from women, single fathers, people of various races. The cynic in me notes the somewhat excessive attempt to break from the stereotype of Mormons as Christian Computing® Magazine

primarily white males, but cynical or not, the message comes across that all sorts of people, people like you and me, are Mormon. The videos are short and though they focus on people telling their story, each story is a very carefully edited view of life that emphasizes Mormon values without much detailed information about theology. In short, they have perfectly captured the spirit of the age where relationships are primary and asking deep questions is pushed aside for warm feelings and the appeal of being part of a caring, loving group such as this. This is not the time or place to critique in depth their theology, but as an example of extraordinarily well-done videos to advertise a church, they are brilliant. A great resource for creating your own videos Few churches have the resources to create videos of this quality—though some do and of course this January 2011

magazine has a sister publication that is filled with great information all about video ministry. Be sure to sign up for it if you don’t get it at: http:// www.christianvideomag.com A resource that I personally cannot recommend enough is www.webvideouniversity.com. There are many video training programs out there that, in my opinion, were too over the top to be really useful to the average person (not video ministry unit in a large church), who simply want to do some videos for teaching and ministry. The person who runs the site, Dave Kaminski is an excellent, teacher who knows his topic extremely well and can explain it effortlessly. I personally highly recommend that you sign up for his video tip of the week and you can do that on his site, www.webvideouniversity. com. He offers an excellent, professional training course, plus training on specific topics including How to do Screencasts and How to use your FlipStyle Camera to Create Videos. Please remember my ministry does not participate in affiliate programs or take advertising—I recommend what I genuinely like. To read a more detailed article on how his training helped me, go to this link: http://www.effectivechurchcom. com/2011/01/powerpoint-toscreencasting-how-to-improveyour-church-communicationon-the-big-screen/ How to combine video with other communication resources Once you have created videos, you need to let people know they are available. You Christian Computing® Magazine

January 2011

can do this in a variety of ways. Social networking is an obvious way. You can upload videos to the numerous video sharing sites available, but if, like the Mormon videos, you may want to drive people back to your primary site, don’t upload all of them to YouTube or Vimeo or whatever else you use. Upload only a few teaser ones with links to your primary site. Putting up links to short teaser videos, announcements of them, and links to a complete video site are obvious content choices for your church’s Facebook, Twitter and similar sites. We have recently assigned a person in our adult education class at church to be our “internet evangelist.” Her job is to continuously update our Facebook and Twitter accounts, plus interact and link with the main church site and the various members’ Facebook pages. Don’t forget the power of paper If you’ve done some things online that you and your people love, follow the lead of many national advertising companies and use print to inform people that the online material exists and to link them to it. Check out your snail mail this week and note how many advertisements, especially in the form of postcards, are created to get you to a website. You can either do a postcard mailing from your church or you can create postcards in church office, and make up enough of them for every person in the congregation to have 3 of them. Put them in the church bulletin and then on Sunday morning, have the Pastor ask everyone to give or mail them out to friends or neighbors who might like to look at your videos. We’ve found business cards with a condensed message are a great way to get people to our church and ministry websites. Make up a large number of them for the members of your congregation, give them out and encourage people to pass them on to friends. In the midst of life, we have many conversations and if your people are excited about some videos you have produced online, maybe even if they are part of it, they will want to tell their friends about it. Always having a business card with you that has the URL is a great way to share and connect with friends. Bottom line Video may not be the most powerful way to advertise your church, but if you create them yourself with honest, true content and combine your use of video with other channels of communication; you will have a tool in the never-ending challenge of ministry to powerfully communicate your message. For many more articles, topics, resources and links to help you in the communication creation and ministry at your church, go to: www.effectivechurchcom.com.

Christian Computing® Magazine

January 2011