Founder & Editor-in-Chief Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com Managing Editor Kevin Cross - kevin@ccmag.com
Applying Tomorrow’s Technology to Today’s Ministry Volume 26
September 2014
No. 9
Contributing Editors Yvon Prehn Nick Nicholaou Kevin A. Purcell Russ McGuire Michael L White
4 cover story
The Face of Bible S tudy is Changing!
Copy Editors Gina Hewitt Magen Cross
By Steve Hewitt
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Corporate Home Office
Editorial
Next Month is Our Annual ChMS Overview Issue. Here is Next Month’s Question! By Steve Hewitt
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Special Feature
Event Planning for Churches
Protected with Purpose
18 Church Windows Software
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I Don’t Use Antivirus Software Because…
By Steve Caton
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September 2014
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editorial
Next Month is Our Annual ChMS Overview Issue. Here is Next Month’s Question! I always look forward to reading through the cover story for our annual ChMS Overview issue. We ask each ChMS company to share what they accomplished this last year, and what they have coming down the road. We have seen a lot of cool new features in the last few years as some move into the cloud, others have started providing mobile apps, and others have increased community connections. However, what’s next? You drive the market! And I enjoy hearing from so many of you during the year with suggestions and ideas. So, the question for next month, right along with our ChMS Overview, is, “What would you like to see your ChMS solution do that it isn’t doing now?” Be careful! I remember speaking at a church administrator meeting and someone asking me who they could recommend to do broadcast texting. When I asked what ChMS they were using and they told me Church Community Builder. I knew that Church Community Builder had texting all set up in their service, allowing even volunteer leaders the ability to send out text messages to their individual groups. So, before you start asking for your ChMS Company to provide something, check to see if they might already be doing just that. Christian Computing® Magazine
I will not publish names or churches, and I will not publish the name of the ChMS you are using or used to use, or wish to use. You can feel free to tell me because maybe I will be able to help you, but I will remove them from the article if I publish your comment or “dream wish”. I am hoping some of you will be thinking outside the box. I am hoping someone comes up with a great idea on how ChMS can help to increase a church’s ministry or outreach. And, I hope some ideas are so good that as a result of sharing, we will all see new dynamic features added to ChMS services down the road! So, put on your thinking caps, dream a little, and drop me a line. steve@ccmag.com Together We Serve Him,
Steve Hewitt steve@ccmag.com
September 2014
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cover story
The Face of Bible Study is Changing!
By Steve Hewitt
I
was inspired to survey the readership of Christian Computing Magazine to learn how they are studying the Bible. I was inspired because I recently attended a church that used the YouVersion Live Event feature! I have YouVersion installed on my iPhone and find I use it when attending church on many occasions. However, I have never been at a church that promoted the “Live Event” feature! Basically, when it was time for the sermon, the pastor simply stated that they used the YouVersion Live Event and if we had YouVersion installed on our smart phones or tablets, we could simply open the app and go to the feature icon. From there, we were instructed to click on the “Live” feature from the list of options. When I did, YouVersion asked me to allow for their app to use my location, to which I quickly agreed. I then saw a list of two different churches near my location that used this cool feature. I easily clicked the one that matched the name of the church I was attending, and I found myChristian Computing® Magazine
self looking at a screen with the app already turned to the scripture passage the pastor was preparing to read. But wait, there’s more (I always love it when I can use that statement)! As the pastor began to have the points of his sermon appear on the screens behind him, I noticed that the points of his sermon were already listed below the scripture passage. And, even better, for each point there was a box which was set up to allow me to add my own notes! If the pastor had an additional scripture that was added after one of his points, it was displayed. September 2014
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There are even more cool features. The sermon, with the pastor’s points and my notes, are forever saved in my YouVersion. So if I ever find myself back at that passage, I will see the option to view the sermon that I just attended. And, if the passage really moved me, I have the option to share it, even posting it with the scripture, points and notes all on Facebook! Believe it or not, for the first time I can honestly say that as a pastor I think I would PREFER my members to use such an app over bringing their print Bibles to church. You get the scripture PLUS a lot more when using YouVersion with the Live Event feature. This article is not intended to be a review of YouVersion or their Live feature. If you are interested in how to use the Life feature in YouVersion, just go to Google and do a search. They have great tutorials that can get you set up. This experience DID inspire me to ask our readers exactly how they were reading/studying their Bibles. The results were very interesting! Before I give you the results, let me share with you how I scored them. I asked how you read/studied your Bible and gave you five options and asked
Christian ComputingÂŽ Magazine
September 2014
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you to give me a percent in each option since I was sure many study or read their Bible several different ways. The options included: • What percent of your time reading/studying the Bible is spent using a print Bible? • What percent of your time reading/studying the Bible is spent using a Bible study program installed on your computer? • What percent of your time reading/studying the Bible is spent using an online Bible study program accessed via the Internet? • What percent of your time reading/studying the Bible is spent using an App installed on a Tablet? • What percent of your time reading/studying the Bible is spent using an App installed on your smart phone? So, if someone responded and said they studied 80% of the time using their print Bible, and 10% of the time using an online Bible study service and 10% using their tablet, we scored them as a print Bible user. If someone stated they used the print 50% of the time and their Tablet, 50% of the time, Christian Computing® Magazine
we scored them in both categories. The results were a little surprising. While the largest percent of our readers are still predominantly using their print Bible, they only represented 31% of those that responded. While some reported they used their print Bible 90% of the time and some other method 10% of the time, most of those responding that they used a print Bible also noted that they didn’t have a tablet or a smart phone. It makes you wonder how many of them might switch over if they tried the technology! The second greatest response was a bit surprising. A little over 27% of our readers prefer reading and studying their Bible using an app on their tablet! Many left comments about how easy it was to read in bed, or use the many search features to do research on a verse. One reader shared the following testimony about using a tablet for his Bible. “I am a member at Hardingville Bible Church in NJ, and I can remember my first visit there 4 years ago when an older gentleman took me aside and told me “We Do NOT use THAT for reading a BIBLE here!” as he pinched my shoulder very hard. Fast forward four years and most of the deacons are using their iPads, and the row on which I sat, had 5 iPads, and one person using a print Bible. What surprised me is that there are as many seniors using devices as there are twenty year olds. They have really taken to them. The pastors joke “You people with Bibles on your devices, keep me honest here, where is: and they ask for something to be looked up.” Before I share the third leading way our readers study and read their Bible, I should note that in fourth place, smart phones are used 13% predominately by our readers. This means that if you take the apps that are used on tablets and smart phones, it makes up 50% of our readership and certainly shows a strong trend that Bible apps are the leading method of reading as well as studying the Bible. The third most popular method (since we split the vote between apps on tablets or smart phones) is using an installed Bible study program on a computer. 23% of our readers stated their favorite method of accessing the Bible While such programs can indeed be very powerful, especially in accessing large libraries for study, the most powerful ones on the market have already ported over to allow an app on a tablet or smart phone to access the same data and many of the same features! I was a bit surprised to see that last place at only September 2014
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5% of our readership was those using an online Bible study program. There are several great services out there and I have enjoyed the Bible Gateway for many years. For more information on what they can provide, visit www.biblegateway.com/newsroom. The conclusion is obvious. The direction for the immediate future of Bible study (not just electronic Bible study but ALL Bible study) is found in apps that run on tablets and smartphones. If your church or pastor is uneasy about such devices being used in church, please provide them a copy of this article. In conclusion, another reader of CCMag had a great idea. Here is their suggestion. “Our pastor often will start a sermon with “Open your Bibles or turn on your devices and turn to ...� We are from the South and are used to hearing the rustle pf pages on Sunday morning. I am going to suggest to the company that produces our [app] Bible that they include the sound of pages turning as we look up a passage - it will sound more like home.�
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September 2014
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Special Feature
How to WIN with Your Next Software Implementation! By Steve Caton
I
’m a big fan of a fascinating book entitled Predictable Success. The idea of setting your organization up to achieve long-term, certain success has become a very popular topic for business and church leaders over the past few years. Whether it is a more challenging economic environment or the shifting culture of today’s church member, business and churches alike are facing external factors which demand greater intentionality in how we lead, manage and execute. We all want to guarantee that any new process, system, product, or idea we roll out has a strong probability for success. If I had to take a poll, I would estimate that 100 percent of church leaders would want their software strategies to succeed. After all, technology isn’t cheap. We need to be good stewards of the money, time and people needed to successfully implement whatever software tools we deem are necessary to be more effective. Here’s the rub: HOPING for success isn’t enough to make it real. You’ve got to be highly strategic from the decision process through the implementation and ongoing utilization. Working with thousands of churches has certainly taught us that at Church Community Builder. So what does it require to successfully implement software in your church? I could talk about a lot of factors but in the interest of simplicity, I want to Christian Computing® Magazine
focus on one core principle highlighted in the book. In our experience this single, simple concept has had the greatest impact in helping churches achieve predictable success with new church management software and other technology. “Decisions are not made by a closeted set of leaders and then tossed over the transom for others to implement. Instead, they are made collaboratively by the key people who will be materially impacted by the decision.” The reason this principle for predictable success works is because it ensures buy-in and momentum from the start. When decision-making is shared, there is a core team of people that play a role in the successful implementation. When decision-making is September 2014
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centralized, there is a core team of people who either intentionally or unintentionally fight the very progress you hope to make. We see way too many churches make decisions about technology through a closeted set of leaders or, worse yet, a single leader. Before we fully understood the consequences of this approach, our team spent many hours dealing with the repercussions as the rest of the church staff struggled to understand the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ behind the decision. Because they were left out of the conversation, they were often bitter towards the people who made the decision as well as the chosen software. Success is, at best, an uphill climb, leaving behind a trail of lost opportunity and wasted money. There is a better way! If you want to achieve predictable success in your church’s software implementation, here are 8 critical steps to follow before you begin: 1. Identify the people who will be materially impacted. There are obvious roles, like your IT director or office administrator, but don’t forget about the other areas of ministry that will be impacted — small groups, children’s ministry, externally focused ministry, communications director, and others. Each of these roles will be affected by new software implementation, so having their input is important. 2. Evaluate their processes. After identifying the people who will be impacted, take time to evaluate how they could use the software to improve their area of ministry. 3. Let processes drive the key functionality you need. Once you’ve analyzed the various processes of your church’s ministry, let them help guide you in your initial process of research and implementation. 4. Identify your non-negotiables. What are the things your software must do? If a decision is made to pursue something that does not address a non-negotiable, be Christian Computing® Magazine
5.
6.
7.
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sure everyone is okay with that before moving forward. If not, you just created resistors who will hamper your success. Identify your ‘dream list’. Separate from your non-negotiables, these are the things you would give up in order to achieve an integrated solution for your non-negotiables. Identify your high-level goals. What do you all hope will be different? What do you all want to achieve by implementing a new system or process? Assign and conquer. Pick a point person to do the research, but be sure to include all those who were identified in step one. Everyone doesn’t need to be responsible for researching, but don’t leave them in the dark when it comes to the decision. Create accountability. Once the decision is made, be sure you create accountability so that everyone is on the same page about implementing the technology you choose.
If you follow those steps, the probability of making the right choice goes way up. You will also set your team up for a smooth implementation process. But wait! There’s a few more things to consider before you begin that journey.
September 2014
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These final steps can become the icing on the cake and provide a great insurance policy against having to repeat this whole process in 2 or 3 years. • Make sure your staff and volunteers understand the ‘why’ behind your decision to buy new software in the first place. • Prepare your data to move from one system to the next. Get rid of duplicates and bad records BEFORE the move. • Allow time to verify data and make sure things are functioning properly before rolling the new software out on a large scale. • Be sure to budget time and money for coaching and/or training. (This is one of the most common mistakes we see.) • Identify someone who can clear obstacles, settle conflicts and keep the team on track. A successful software implementation goes way beyond the software itself. Like most things in life, it takes vision, purpose, process and people working in harmony. Ensuring buy-in from your entire team is one of the easiest ways for you to achieve predictable success for any new process, system, or idea. So, whether it is your next church management system or a new strategy for connecting people to your church, make sure to involve the people who will be directly affected by the decision. For more information visit Church Community Builder’s website. About Steve Caton:
Steve Caton is part of the Leadership Team at Church Community Builder. He leverages a unique background in technology, fundraising and church leadership to help local churches decentralize their processes and equip their people to be disciple makers. Steve is a contributing author on a number of websites, including the Vision Room, ChurchTech Today, Innovate for Jesus and others. He also co-wrote the eBook “Getting Disciple Making Right”. While technology is what Steve does on a daily basis, impacting and influencing the local church is what really matters to him……as well as enjoying deep Colorado powder with his wife and two sons!
Twitter: ccbsteve Google Plus: plus.google.com/+SteveCaton Blog: www.churchcommunitybuilder.com/blog
Christian Computing® Magazine
September 2014
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ministry leadership
Event Planning for Churches By: Michael L. Jordan
W
hen it comes to planning for events, whether it be small group gatherings or large church events involving congregants and the community, finding the right people for the job at hand is an important step.
Volunteers play a vital role in church ministry, not only because of what the church can accomplish with them, but also because of the satisfaction volunteers receive from their service. But this begs the question: how do you find the right person for the job? According to the authors of the “Redefining Your Church Ministry Events” ministry guide, you can start with social media outreach to gauge your fans/followers and find out their talents and where they’d best like to serve. “From a church administrator’s point-of-view, it could be rather time consuming to uncover the skills of your entire congregation on a case-by-case basis. However, consider using alternate sources, such as social media, to do the hard work for you,” according to the authors of the ministry guide. “With the explosive growth of social media, Facebook is definitely the frontrunner. Based on their Christian Computing® Magazine
website, 71 percent of all American internet users are logging on to help find assistance. Why not use that knowledge to benefit your ministry?” Once you have the information, you can use it to assist in planning your next event. And with volunteers on board, you can move forward with setting up a team meeting. The first meeting. “Once you’ve gathered the best possible people for your event team, have everyone meet and lead them in discussing the future of the event,” said the authors of “Redefining Your Church Ministry Events” ministry guide. “Don’t take this step lightly, as this process is a key ingredient in your success for several reasons.” It’s important to get everyone together so they can get to know each other. This first meeting allows the team to brainstorm ideas for the event and open the lines of communication. Also, having September 2014
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everyone together will allow the leader to set some goals and deadlines. These goals will be important to keep the planning on track and should be clearly explained to the team members. Here are some things to discuss in the first meeting: • Why are you having this event? Is this just for church members or is it open to the community? Is the purpose to give back to the community or to disciple others and worship? • When and where is this event going to take place? • Don’t forget to talk about how you are going to pay for the event. One reason events fail is because the finances are not properly planned. • This meeting will also help get your resource list going. Make a list, checking it twice. Make a list of all resources you could possibly need and break the list down so each person has a specific task. Create deadlines and stay in touch with the team members. Some items to think about: facilities, materials, and equipment. Don’t forget to check with the church for available resources. The church may have the sound equipment you need, but if you don’t reserve it for the event, you may be out of luck if someone else has it reserved for a different event. “Many of the resources you need are available at your church, but you probably have to reserve them to ensure their availability on the day of the event. There are software programs which allow you to keep track of who reserves resources and even post instructions for room setup. By having a system like this, you can avoid double booking your church resources,” said the authors of “Redefining Your Church Ministry Events” ministry guide. Spread the word. ”Don’t let all your hard work go to waste and make sure you are marketing your event,” said the authors of “Redefining Your Church Ministry Events” ministry guide. “Of course you want your church congregation to know about the event, so make sure it is in church announcements. Once your church members have the information, they can start to invite their family and friends outside Christian Computing® Magazine
of the church.” And make sure to spread the word early. Social media is a great way to spread the word with people outside the church. You can post event updates as details are finalized. This will help keep people excited about the upcoming event. A great impression. Make it. You want to leave your guests with a “WOW’ factor. You want your event to be polished and make your guests feel welcome. Consider some of the following: • Directions – not just to the event, but a map of where different activities are set up. • Signs and banners – to point people in the right direction. • Post event location in your church management software – this will be helpful to members by providing them with a map. • Information table – staffed with volunteers who can answer questions, give directions, and hand out resources about your church. Using your church management software, you can set up a kiosk so new users can add themselves to your database. Then you can send them a thank you for attending the event. • Ushers/Greeters – this helps guests make a personal connection at the event. This falls back to picking the right person for the job. You want your greeters to be warm and friendly. “As the saying goes, ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression.’ Once you have planned and prepared for your event and people arrive, do everything you can to make each attendee’s experience at your church a great one,” according to the authors of Redefining Your Church Ministry Events” ministry guide. “If your event makes a lasting impression on people, they will help spread the word the next time you host another event.” The end result. One of the most important aspects of measuring your event’s success is by monitoring how many people came to your event. This can be accomplished by attendance tracking. There are a few ways you can do this. September 2014
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Once the event wraps up, meet with your team one last time to discuss the event process. This allows team members to share what worked and areas of improvement for the next event. And last but not least, make sure you thank everyone involved in the planning process and volunteers who helped during the event. This could be done by hosting a party or giving them a small gift as a token of your appreciation. Let us help you plan your next event ACS Technologies can help you plan events in your church and community. Whether it’s a party for several small groups or a community-wide happening, the key to a healthier, thriving body is getting people involved. When you do, ultimately you’ll spread the Gospel more effectively. To learn more about event planning, including stories of how other churches have succeeded, download our “Redefining Your Church Ministry Events” ministry guide here. By recognizing how ACS Technologies can dramatically increase your presence with your members and community, you can better assist each person with his or her own ministry goals as well as your own. By implementing these ideas and tools, you can raise the bar on your event ministry. As a result, your footprint on your community will increase and your church will move closer to accomplishing its vision. If you have been “waiting” for the perfect time to redefine your ministry, the time is now.
Christian Computing® Magazine
Events are some of the most valuable and visual aspects of church ministry. Through them, churches can be transformed and communities impacted. Events also serve members and visitors by allowing ƋĘåĵ ƋŅ ÏŅĹƋųĜÆƚƋå ĜĹ ĵĜĹĜŸƋųƼţ eĹŅƋĘåų ŞŅŸĜƋĜƴå åýåÏƋ ĜŸ ƋʱƋ ƋĘåƼ ŞųŅÚƚÏå ± Ĭ±ŸƋĜĹč ĜĹāƚåĹÏå ŅĹ ƋĘåŸå individuals to continue participating in church life.
Download our FREE ministry guide ƋŅ ĀĹÚ ŅƚƋ ĵŅųåú This ministry guide introduces ways to “map” a road to event success. There are great tools and strategies available to help put together events that will empower churches accomplish goals.
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protected with purpose
I Don’t Use Antivirus Software Because…
By: Steven Sundermeier
S
ome of my best and most memorable “Man to Man” moments that I share with my two young boys happen before the sun rises, as we exercise in the morning together. I like to jog and my boys enjoy riding their bikes, so for the three of us this is a welcome daily adventure, and we discuss life in those precious outings. Ever since I taught them to ride their bikes, they understood and grasped the importance of bicycle safety. However, as they are getting older I am noticing they’re constantly stretching their boundaries, looking for more independence if you will. For the first time this week, I got into a discussion with my oldest about wearing his helmet. Our discussion started off with him explaining his reasons for not wanting to wear his helmet. He tried rationalizing with me that his friends aren’t wearing helmets, that his helmet is too small and doesn’t fit, and his newest reason: “I only ride on the sidewalk and when we ride alongside you while you’re jogging we don’t go fast.” (Ouch!) Trying to soften the tone of the discussion, I sarChristian Computing® Magazine
castically replied, “now what if a coyote runs out of the woods (yes, there have been actual coyote sightings in our backyard woods recently), it starts chasing you and you end up crashing into a tree. Without missing a beat, he replied, “you’re not being serious, dad”. I simply said back, “Please do me a favor and count the number of cars that are backing down the driveway at the same time September 2014
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we are crossing”. He agreed and that morning on a short 2.5 mile run around the neighborhood he counted 17 cars, and more than half of those cars were completely unaware that we were waiting to cross. At the conclusion of the run, we resumed the conversation and we came to the agreement that we wear helmets not simply because they keep us safe, but also because danger has a way of finding us sometimes. I’ve been in the antivirus industry my entire professional career, which began straight out of college over 15 years ago. In fact, this December will mark Thirtyseven4’s (which I started and founded) five year anniversary. We’re really excited to be celebrating that milestone in a few months. Over the course of time, I’ve probably given a thousand presentations on computer security and answered a million questions relating to the topic of information security. In all my experiences, it never fails that I have to answer and/ or comment on the same two questions over and over again and again: (1) Do you guys (the antivirus industry) write the viruses? and (2) I don’t use antivirus software for my computer. While I simply don’t have the time or article space to answer both of those questions now, I will tackle the second issue because I was quickly reminded of it this morning when I talked things through with my sons about helmet safety. I don’t use antivirus software for my computer because… 1. I have a Mac and the Mac OS doesn’t get viruses. This has been a misconception for years. While the likelihood of a virus infection on a system running Microsoft Windows is still considerably higher than a Mac, the number of Mac malware samples being analyzed by myself and my team are higher today than ever before. Most of the newer Mac malware closely resemble and mimic Windows counterpart. For years, Apple has chanted the catch phrase “It just works” (regarding Apple products and services). I am not sure if actress Jennifer Lawrence and model Kate Upton and others would entirely agree after their photos were hacked and stolen under Apple’s infrastructure. The bottom line is that Macs are more vulnerable than they have ever been, and I see their threat levels and vulnerabilities being threatened and compromised just as Windows devices are. The Christian Computing® Magazine
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and not only are hackers stealing your confidential information but are also uploading malicious code to them so that when you access these sites, you are may unknowingly (and without your consent) be downloading malicious code directly to your computer.
old quip that “Macs don’t get viruses” is simply not true anymore. 2. I’m a very cautious person and only use my computer on certain legitimate websites. As Heartbleed and other recent website hacking breaches have shown, there is no longer such a thing as a “safe” website in today’s day and age. Sad but true. Cybercriminals are very savvy and are quick to exploit the latest vulnerabilities and penetrate even the securest of networks. Legitimate websites are getting hacked on a daily basis
3. I’m not Wells Fargo and therefore not a target for attackers. You’re correct that you might not be a high-profiled target but trust me when I say that your information (ie. even your username and passwords) are financially beneficial to cybercriminals. For example, if you dropped a quarter and it rolled down a sewer drain, it probably wouldn’t be worth your time to pry open the drain and manually climb down in an attempt to fetch it. However, what if your quarter was just one of four million quarters that fell down that same drain? When you consider your personal information (financial and other) and multiply that by millions of users, pretty soon you can see how your information becomes very valuable to spammers and hackers. Most of the world lives much of their lives online, and those quarters add up fast with so many users.
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4. Antivirus software slows my computers down. This is another common myth. Many independent security tests continue to prove this statement inaccurate. The bottom line is that today’s encryption techniques have been optimized to utilize minimal system resources. Computers are slowed down for many reasons, but in almost every case properly installed and configured antivirus software isn’t one of them. In my daily experience, there are hundreds of miscellaneous apps and toolbars (New options occur by the minute!) that people download without a care. These things slow down our machines (and possibly lead to vulnerabilities!). Whereas a solid antivirus product usually September 2014
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does not. It may take a moment to run a scan for arm ourselves with antivirus software. If you fall infections, and some products utilize additional into one of the categories that I listed above and resources when they update your system for the you are ready to take some safety measures, might latest virus threats (neither of these actions are I recommend Thirtyseven4? Aggressive security, “felt” with Thirtyseven4 btw—they occur continu- light and fast on your machine and friendly supously without users being affected). But even with port. We are affordable and cutting edge. Visit us products that might take a few extra seconds while at www.thirtyseven4.com for more information. securing your network—isn’t it worth it? In the meantime, whatever life brings your way From the first time our kids rode with traintoday-- live today to the fullest, but be safe doing ing wheels, to the countless “rides” up and down it! our street with me running and holding their bike steady as they mentally and physically connected the dots of pedaling and balancing and then eventually riding a bike without training wheels---from the first time, we have always worn helget your free demo mets. It’s just the smart thing to do. The safe thing to do. And the preventative thing to do. Antivirus is not so different. We know the dangers of being online withManage your ministry with out protection, but like my kids, we want our independence, or get lazy, or lose sight of what the Track donations, Email Statements, protection protects us from. The unknown can be dangerManage: Small Groups, Classes, Attendance, ous. Just like a car backing out Visitor follow-up, Outreach and MORE! a driveway at full speed without a glance from the driver, we can get plowed into online as well. Just ask someone who has been hacked and has had their personal Keep children safe with or financial data compromised. Incidentally, the best case for antivirus (or being responsible Easy check-in, secure check-out, in general), is that we just never Syncs with Servant Keeper, know what the future holds. Name badges w/ allergies, notes, alerts, class info. What I didn’t mention earlier Claim tickets for parents/guardians, run background checks is that during the course of that morning jog/bike ride with my boys, one of them had a crash. His tire got caught in the rut between sidewalk and grass, and Plan worship effortlessly with while the palms of his hands and knees were bloodied, his helmeted head was not injured. (Praise Keeps your song library at your fingertips, God.) Quickly plan and schedule services and teams We need to take a proactive Easily track song usage and do reports approach to computer safety and
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September 2014
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church windows software
CHURCH WINDOWS SOFTWARE
The “We’ve Always Done it This Way” Church Syndrome
By Maureen Wygant
T
hese are words we often hear in the church, whether it’s in the church office, in a committee meeting, or just in casual conversation. It’s as if the status quo is somehow linked to the sacred rites of the church. The churches that are experiencing growth in these difficult times are those who can look at past practices, keep what works, and then not be afraid to try new things. Sometimes, people that you think won’t be open to new things will surprise you.
Let’s look at a few “We’ve always” statements. Are any of these true at your church? Look at some of the suggestions for change. Perhaps you can think of a better idea for doing these things. Some suggestions are designed to save time and give you more opportunity to do ministry versus spending the time on record keeping. We’ve always had the same person track giving and also paying the bills, plus had only one person count the money each Sunday. This is a security issue. There should always be more than one person handling the money. And for fraud protection in the church, the person paying the bills should never deal with the income of Christian Computing® Magazine
the church. “Our people are honest” is not something we can ever take for granted. As designers of Church Windows software program, we often hear from client churches that are going through the painful process of investigating and charging someone for embezzlement. We’ve always mailed our newsletter. These days, most churches use their software program to track which members want a paper versus email newsletter copy. Then within the program, select the email people and go straight to the email screen and attach the newsletter. This can save the church a lot of money in paper, duplicating, and postage. September 2014
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We’ve always communicated with our members through the bulletin. This assumes that attendees and even pastors read the bulletin. Use email announcements, texts, and automatic phone messaging to convey critical information and reinforce announcements. We’ve always assumed everyone should put their giving into the collection plate on Sunday. You’re missing out. Many churches are now using their software to allow people to use electronic transfers to send their giving to the church. This covers those vacation Sundays when they aren’t there and might not “make up” the difference. We’ve always mailed everyone their giving statements. Let your software assist you in mailing those who wish to have them mailed and emailing the rest. As long as members receive their statements at the end of the year for tax purposes, the church has fulfilled its responsibility. We’ve always set up the pastor’s pay according to his or her instructions. It is wise to use a payroll program designed specifically for pastors to assure that IRS guidelines are being followed. This is especially of importance when it comes to housing allowances, auto reimbursements, and other allowances or deductions. It is better to be certain than to risk liability for the pastor or the church. The office for your ruling church body or a tax professional experienced with the tax characteristics of ministers can provide you with guidelines.
members can review the information and be better prepared. Meeting times can be drastically shortened, especially for financial reporting meetings. Many churches are now even conducting their meetings online using a conferencing program or something like GotoMeeting. These are just a few ways that church work can be streamlined to make the church more effective. Take a look at your church’s “we’ve always” processes. Move into the 21st century.
The Church is people!
You’ve been called to minister to the people of your church. Let Church Windows manage the information so you can minister to your people.
CHURCH WINDOWS DESKTOP & WEB contain integrated: .FNCFSTIJQ t 4DIFEVMFS t %POBUJPOT "DDPVOUJOH t "DDPVOUT 3FDFJWBCMF t 1BZSPMM
We’ve always passed out paper copies of everyone’s monthly report at our meetings. How much time is saved if reports are emailed in PDF format to everyone before the meetings? Then, committee Christian Computing® Magazine
September 2014
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higher power with kevin
PocketBible for Mac: A Quick and Simple Bible Study Solution for Mac
Kevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.org
T
he Bible software market for Mac got a little more competitive this summer as Laridian released their long awaited PocketBible for Mac, brining the simplicity of the PocketBible app from years gone by to OSX. This program started out as a Kickstarter campaign and when I learned about it, I quickly pledged to back the program and happily started testing it as a beta app awhile ago. No one will confuse PocketBible for an advanced Bible study tool that competes with tools like Logos Bible Software or Accordance, but it does make for a simple to use, speedy way to quickly look up verses, search for that passage you’re trying to find and access your PocketBible books. Most lay Bible students will really enjoy PocketBible and more advanced students should consider adding it to their arsenal for those times they want to quickly find something in the Bible. Christian ComputingŽ Magazine
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If someone already owns a Laridian PocketBible library of books, then he or she should go to http:// www.laridian.com and download it today. There’s no good reason not to install it on the Mac. Even owners of other more feature complete tools will want to give PocketBible a serious look since it’s one of the fastest and most Mac-like Bible apps available. Setting it Up Open PocketBible and log in using the simple registration screen that shows up upon first launch. Then go into the Cloud Library from the Books menu item, from with the Open Library box that shows up when the user hits the Open Library button on the toolbar, or hit CMD-L on the keyboard.
Here’s one possible area of improvement. I wish the program had a Download All button for instant installation of all of my books. That’s a one-time problem, so it’s not a big deal. For those who used Book Builder from Laridian to make their own books, install them by copying the books into this folder: ~/Library/Application Support/com.laridian. PocketBible/Laridian Books The user must open Finder, hit the Go menu and press the Option key to reveal the Library folder. Then drill down to the Laridian Books folder and copy books there. The User Interface PocketBible for Mac looks much like it does on other platforms. There’s the Study Panel on the left with tabs for things like … • Find – perform advanced Boolean searches • Bookmarks – find and organize your bookmarks • Highlights • Notes Christian Computing® Magazine
• FindNote – search your notes • GoTo – navigate books (table of contents) To use the GoTo section, click in the open book first and it automatically changes to the table of contents for that book. The default window pane layout includes a larger center pane where most users will place a Bible. On the right find two smaller panes. I opened two of my favorite commentaries. By default, the Bible pane will control the other two. In other words, as I scroll through the book of 1 Corinthians, the two commentaries will follow moving from verse-toverse and chapter-to-chapter syncing the content. There’s a toolbar with buttons for the following tasks: • Study Panel – opens and closes the Study Panel on the left of the main window • Open Book – opens the Library • Go To – opens the Go To box in Study Panel to jump to a place in book or Bible • Search – opens the Search box in Study Panel • Bookmarks – opens the Bookmarks box in Study Panel • Back/Forward – moves back and forth in the user’s history • Today – takes the user to that day’s reading in their chosen devotional • Cloud Sync – syncs with Laridian’s cloud sync service to back up or download user content like bookmarks, highlights and notes • Help – opens the Help book The menu at the top gives users another way to access the various parts of the program. PocketBible Features While PocketBible doesn’t offer a large collection of advanced tools, it does what it’s designed to do very well. For example, instead of jumping from page to page by tapping as one does on the mobile version of the app, each book scrolls through the September 2014
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book. That means we don’t need to try and remember which part of the screen to tap, like we do with the tablet or phone version. To highlight, bookmark or add a note to a passage, right click inside a verse to show the menu. By default there’s a collection of highlighting styles with all the basic colors plus three styles of underlining. Bookmarking uses a category system that the user sets up. For example, one might want to set up a category for topics like grace, sin, glory, church, etc. Then right-click and select the bookmark item in the menu and a flare-out menu will show the categories created. Click on a category to add a bookmark to that category. Other features available through the right-click include… • Adding notes • Looking up the selected word or phrase in PocketBible • Searching Google • Copying the passage or phrase • Starting speech which reads the text • Closing the pane or spliting it vertically/horizontally
Christian Computing® Magazine
PocketBible also handles daily Bible reading. Click on the Today button to open the chosen devotional or reading plan. When a user finishes that day’s reading or devotional, they can “tap” which means to click on it. This seems to be a holdover from the tablet days. Customize the layout by choosing the View menu and clicking on Change Layout. A window of optional layouts appears after a dialogue box asks if you want to discard the current layout. The result will be an empty layout. Click one of the empty panes and then click on the Open Book button to open a book. Click the next pane and repeat until books populate all the panes. To close a pane, right-click on the pane and close it from the menu. If a user would like, they can customize the toolbar to put things like Close Pane or Close Book buttons on the toolbar. Right-click any blank part of the toolbar and choose Customize Toolbar. Then add buttons from the window that appears by dragging them into place. 3 Minor Areas of Improvement and 1 Major Suggestion Here are a few minor areas of improvement I’d like to see in the first update. First, a user can’t close books with COMMAND+W like most Mac programs. This would make things faster for experienced Mac users who like to use keyboard shortcuts. Some of the available buttons don’t appear on the toolbar by default, and I think they should, like the Close Book button and the Close Pane button. Finally, I wish I could save a layout with specific books and give it a name. For example, I’d like to open the ESV, the ESV Study Bible and my favorite commentary in a three-pane layout. I can’t see a way to save this arrangement. I can open the three-pane layout, but then I must reopen the three books manually. The major change I’d like to see is a study helper option like other programs offer. WordSearch, Logos, and Olive September 2014
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and simple to master. I’m a satisfied Kickstarter backer. Bible students who plan to go deep and want something that can grow with them, may want to look at Accordance or Logos on the Mac. The two best Mac programs for advanced Digital Bible Study.
Tree all offer a feature where the user can, with the click of a button, show a window that lists all of their books pointing to a particular passage. It’s like having a research assistant go to your library and get all your books on 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and then open them in a stack on your desk. Conclusions If you’re a Mac owner and already own books in Laridian’s PocketBible or used to use one of their mobile apps for Palm, PocketPC or some other platform, then drop everything and download PocketBible for Mac. Windows users who want to switch to Mac, but didn’t because they own a large Laridian library, now’s the time. There’s nothing holding you back. Users who want to get started using a digital library, should give Laridian’s PocketBible a look. It’s a simple program that won’t take long to learn to use. It’s not the most advanced and doesn’t include as many features as some of the other Bible software programs, but I like it a lot and will make it my go-to program when I just want to quickly open the Bible and read or search for a particular passage. That’s because it’s lightning fast Christian Computing® Magazine
You want the freedom to … reach out … minister to people … create fellowship … contribute to your community PowerChurch Plus was created for just that!
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Install on your PC or network, or access online. Choose which fits your needs.
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We provide software tools, freeing you up to fulfill your mission.
www.PowerChurch.com • 800.486.1800 3&6 &KXUFK([HFXWLYHB [ LQGG
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September 2014
The Next Revolution
What is the Intelligence Revolution? By Russ McGuire - russ.mcguire@gmail.com
L
ast month, I briefly introduced the Intelligence Revolution and put it in the context of the broader Information Age - following behind and building upon the Digital Revolution, the Internet Revolution, and the Mobile/Social Revolution. This month, I’d like to more thoroughly explain what this new revolution is. Next month, we’ll look at the new power and the new danger represented by this revolution.
A Brief Review from Last Month The Digital Revolution is often referred to as the PC or Microprocessor Revolution, because the Microsoft-Intel-IBM personal computer ushered in this new era where computing power moved out of the data center, onto the desktop, and eventually into virtually every product with a power supply. However, the long term implications of this era of the information age stem from Christian ComputingÂŽ Magazine
the fact that these changes enabled virtually everything in the physical world to be digitized - to be accurately represented as ones and zeros that were easy to store, copy, and manipulate. The Internet Revolution is most notable for making it easy for that digital information to flow across boundaries - between individuals, families, companies, and countries. Among other things, this meant that information could easily September 2014
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be shared with others, and information from different domains could be combined to create new information. The Mobile/Social Revolution enabled everything and everyone to be connected digitally all the time. We are growing increasingly comfortable sharing information about ourselves online in fairly public ways. Meanwhile objects around us are constantly collecting information and bringing it into the cloud - from weather stations to security cameras to car engines. What is Big Data Analytics Over the past few years, a new discipline has started to emerge called Big Data Analytics. You’ve probably heard of it and you may have some idea of what it is, but unless it’s become part of your job description, I’m guessing it’s still a pretty nebulous concept to you. Admittedly, the definitions in the industry are still swirling a bit, but I found Timo Elliot’s blog post on “7 Definitions of Big Data You Should Know About” very helpful. He starts with a 12-year old definition that describes Big Data as representing the combination of Volume, Velocity, and Variety of data. He then introduces the new technologies that have made it cost-effective to deal with high volume, high velocity data from a wide variety of sources, most notably Hadoop and NoSQL. He goes on to point out that we previously primarily dealt with data about transactions, but now we are also analyzing interactions (e.g. web page clicks) and observations (data collected automatically by connected devices). He describes making decisions based Christian Computing® Magazine
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on transactional data as “managing out of the rear view mirror” but that interactions and observations can “signal” things that are likely to happen in the future. He closes his piece with a couple of analogies - “dark data” (data that we previously ignored because of technical limitations) and big data providing a “nervous system” for the planet. Although that collection of definitions fails to provide a single crisp, clear, and comprehensive definition of big data analytics, hopefully it gives you a good sense for what is happening. Because we are on our computers and on our smartphones all the time, doing stuff and sharing stuff, each of us has become a data factory churning out massive amounts of information about ourselves and the world around us. Likewise because the objects around us are increasingly observing themselves and the world around them, collecting those observations, and then bringing those observations into the cloud, we are surrounded by data factories. Technology now enables all of that information to be stored, correlated, and analyzed to create new insights that can create value for someone.
Christian Computing® Magazine
Some of those “someones” scare us. The revelations by Ed Snowden about NSA surveillance programs was a wake up call that governments are putting tremendous computing power to work in ways we could never have previously imagined. Some of those “someones” may bother us. Clearly, advertisers have much to gain by being able to more accurately target who sees their ads and when they see them. Nissan’s marketing dollars are best spent if they can put a compelling offer in front of someone who has a preference for Japanese automakers while they are in the process of considering their next car purchase. On one hand, we prefer to see ads that are relevant to us. On the other hand, it’s pretty creepy when advertisers are using big data analytics, based on information we didn’t realize was public, to put ads in front of our eyes. But, to be honest, we probably welcome some of those “someones.” My ESPN mobile app already knows that the Kansas City Royals are my favorite baseball team (because I told it so). And because of that, when I open the app, I see the Royals score and their latest news. However, I look forward to the day when that app will also know that I’ve set up my DVR to record the game and to not provide notifications each time the Royals or their opponents score! With all that as context, here’s my working definition for the Intelligence Revolution: “The Intelligence Revolution will help us better understand the world around us; will improve our decision making to enhance our health, safety, and peace of mind; and will enable companies to better serve us based on the correlation and analysis of data from the interrelation of people, things, and content.” Of course, my definition paints this revolution in the most positive manner possible, and hints at the “power” of this revolution. I think it’s obvious there are many “dangers” as September 2014
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well. We’ll talk about the power and the danger, as well as the barriers for this revolution, in next month’s column. Any geek worth his salt is already thinking we’re all being assimilated into the Borg collective in this “revolution”, which hopefully reminds us of what Jesus told his followers in the 8th chapter of John. “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31b-32) As technologists, we can easily get caught up in these technology revolutions, but let us never lose sight of the One who is the Source of all knowledge and intelligence, and Who cares for us and watches over us. The “revolution” that really matters is the one that in happens in our heart, changing us from being dead in sin to being alive in Christ. God is in control and He is working all things to His glory and to the good of those who love Him. It is my hope and prayer that these articles will encourage you in your daily walk with Christ. As 1 Peter 4:10 teaches us “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” Russ McGuire has spent the past 10 years as an executive for a Fortune 100 company. His current focus is on helping young Christian entrepreneurs to grow in grace and in excellence. He also provides advisory services for businesses large and small (sdgstrategy.com).
Christian Computing® Magazine
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ministry communication
How to Make Your Halloween Celebrations a Fantastic Time to Share the Gospel Plus: Some Free Resources
Yvon Prehn - yvon@effectivechurchcom.com
H
alloween is a great time to share the gospel because people are thinking about death and the afterlife. We can use this fixation to introduce them to the one person who conquered death—Jesus. But to do this effectively, you’ve got to do more than simply provide a good time for everyone at an alternative celebration. You must be convinced of the need to communicate the Gospel and take the time to create the materials necessary to do this. Here’s how. First, consider how three people celebrate Halloween: Person #1 casts spells, engages in perverted sexual orgies, mocks the cross, and sacrifices their neighbor’s pet dog to Satan. Person #2 dresses up as a witch, plays with a Ouija board just this one night of the year, and lets her kids go trick or treating alone and eat their candy stash when they want. Person #3 dresses up in a Bible character costume and every year takes their kids (also properly dressed) to the Trunk or Treat at the local church and leaves with bags of candy, which are carefully monitored in their consumption. They had FUN. Person #3 and her kids Christian Computing® Magazine
attend the church for other fun events, but have never actually gone to a worship service or Sunday school class. The church doesn’t ask for information and considers giving aggressively evangelistic or even church to visitors too pushy. At the end of their lives, all other things being equal, when all three people stand before God, if none of them have come to know Jesus as their personal Forgiver and Leader, do you think it matters one bit how they spent their Halloween? Please don’t get distracted here on the theology of degrees of rewards or punishment, we’re talking about the big picture here: eternal separation from God or eterSeptember 2014
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nal salvation and life. Whether you sinned or had fun on the night of Halloween is not the determining issue. Second, Don’t lose sight of why you are a church Does your church exist only to give the neighbor kids a good time? If you don’t intentionally work to move them at least a step in the direction of eternal salvation at your fun community event, why are you doing what you are doing? If year after year the same people show up for the fun times and you never tell them anything about Jesus or that they need to make a decision about him, what makes you different from the mall when it has an alternative Halloween event? The challenge for the church is to regain its distinct voice and message and to proclaim it always and in every way. Holidays are key times to proclaim our message and natural times to reach out to the community and as Christians, our outreach is incomplete without proclamation. There are many ways to do and on my website I have lots of them, but a few ideas here will show you how easy it is to incorporate some challenging thoughts into Halloween outreach. Third, create church communications to tie this all together Below is the text from a business card size giveaway that you could create to either invite people to a church event or to simply pass out at this time of year. On the back of the card you could personalize it with your church event AND most important of all give them a website link to a good evangelism site or the place on your church website where it tells you what it means to become and live as a Christian. Here is an image of the front of the card. Halloween outreach invitation card front text: Halloween, a fun time for tombstones, ghosts, and all things scary. . . . But what about when it isn’t Halloween? This Halloween, take some time to check out the one person in all of history who conquered death—Jesus. On the back of this card are resources for you to explore. Halloween can be fun, but it’s also time to consider eternally serious and truly scary questions. Here is the text on the back side of the card: Life is short; eternity is not. You owe it to yourself to carefully research what happens after you die. The resources below are not mindless quick-skim sites. Christian Computing® Magazine
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They contain well-researched information about Jesus and the truth about life after death. Take time, explore, question, make an informed decision. www.leestrobel.com, also books: Case For Faith; Case for Real Jesus www.equip.org —in the search box enter in “resurrection” also book: The Third Day www.whoisjesusreally.com www.garyharbermas.com Some folks might consider it a bit of a smack in the face to give a friend something like this when all they want to do on Halloween is have a good time and maybe get sick on candy. Some people might even be offended. But some people, even if they get mad initially might:
have good news—use Halloween and every opportunity to share it. For a many Halloween Resources including FREE resources including a free PDF printable version of the card mentioned above, motivational videos for staff, case-study for an effective Trunk or Treat, invitations, follow-up materials and much more go to: http://www.effectivechurchcom.com/2012/10/ links-to-motivation-and-tools-to-help-you-share-thegood-news-about-jesus-at-halloween/
• Get good and scared and decide to find out more. • Think about what it says and check out the websites. • Ask you some more questions. • Realize you are a friend who cares more about their eternal destiny than just having fun. • Decide to check out your church because you do offer something more than fun times on holidays. • Be touched in their heart, look at the websites and meet Jesus. Finally, make the most of every opportunity It is so much easier to go the fun only route. First of all it is, let’s face it—more fun. You also don’t have to deal with rejection, spiritual warfare, and agonizing in prayer that people will respond. But like the Apostle Paul we must take every opportunity to share the good news about Jesus. Those who face death without him will not meet a party-animal devil, but true horror, unimaginable and endless. That does not have to happen—you Christian Computing® Magazine
September 2014
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nick at church
Digital Wallets
Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com
I
’ve been using digital wallets for many years; they’re terrific! Having all of my credit card, ID, and password information with me at all times is very convenient. But it can also be dangerous, so how do you accomplish that safely? Why a Digital Wallet? Seinfeld had an episode dedicated to the thick wallets guys often carry in their back pocket (season 9, 12th episode, originally aired 1/15/1998 and called The Reverse Peephole). If you saw it, you remember that George got back problems from his overstuffed wallet. That was my problem too! My wallet had IDs, credit cards, pictures, notes— it was a problem. So when digital devices began to flourish, like the Palm Pilot, I sought out a digital wallet to lighten my load. And it was a terrific strategy! I could actually carry more and it felt like less! Win – Win! What Are the Dangers? To state the obvious, the biggest danger is that Christian Computing® Magazine
someone else could gain access to this data. If I leave my digital wallet sitting around where anyone could get to it, my identity information and credit card numbers, etc could be compromised. Not to mention the pictures of my family and pets! So putting this kind of data into a document doesn’t seem like a good idea. The same goes for a spreadsheet, though either could be encrypted and password protected. And that is the key to safeguarding this important and sensitive data: encryption. There are different levels of encryption, of course, so it needs to be encrypted at a higher level since it is very sensitive data. The first major encryption algorithm was developed in the 1970s and was called 56-bit DES (Data September 2014
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You want the freedom to … reach out … minister to people … create fellowship … contribute to your community PowerChurch Plus was created for just that!
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We provide you with the tools to increase administrative efficiency and streamline accounting tasks, freeing you up to perform the work that matters.
Install on your PC or network, or access online. Choose which fits your needs.
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We provide software tools, freeing you up to fulfill your mission.
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Encryption Standard). Though it had more than 70 quadrillion possible combinations, it is fairly easily broken with today’s computers and software. A new standard was developed to succeed DES called AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) that has much higher keys (128-bit, 192-bit, and 256-bit). 256-bit AES encryption (128,- 192-, or 256-bit encryption are key levels required for Top Secret data protection) has so many possible solutions that it is considered impenetrable by a brute force attack. So encrypting your data with a strong password (at least seven digits long that includes upper and lower case letters, numbers, and common punctuation) is a strategy that can be very effective. Do You Have One You Recommend? I’ve been getting this question a lot over the last couple of years. The short answer is yes, but my preference comes with criteria you may or may not feel as strongly about. My criteria for a digital wallet is: • Because this is sensitive data, I don’t want my data in The Cloud on someone’s servers. Even though those servers would likely be more secure than whatever devices I put my digital wallet on, they would be high-level targets for hackers. My devices probably are not attracting as much hacker attention as are those servers. So even though my devices are probably not as well protected, I want all of my data on my local devices. • The digital wallet data needs to reside on all my devices. Sometimes (like when I’m shopSeptember 2014
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ping online) I want to look it up on my desktop or notebook computer— whether Windows or Mac OSX based. Sometimes I want to access it on my tablet or smartphone— whether Android or iOS based. Thus it needs to be completely cross-platform. • The digital wallets on my various devices need to be able to securely synchronize their data to each other. My first digital wallet was eWallet by Ilium Software (www.iliumsoft.com). It was encrypted and easy to use. With later hardware technology I moved to another solution that is no longer supported; I liked the graphic presentation of the data better (the MasterCard, for example, was exactly like my MasterCard). Unfortunately that solution is no longer supported, and when I looked for a replacement I found myself returning to eWallet by Iliumsoft! They’ve done a lot to make their solution much nicer graphically, and it is truly cross-platform.
Apple’s Pay, which is scheduled to release in October, keeps the data on the local device only— if the device is an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. It actually tokenizes the data in a chip, so the data is completely secure. However, it will not sync with any other devices or platforms. I like the security strategy, but want to access my data on whatever device or platform I’m using at the time. Microsoft’s and Google’s digital wallets appears to store the data on their servers, which makes those servers a hacker target. So for now, eWallet is my digital wallet of choice. Nick Nicholaou is president of MBS, an IT consulting firm specializing in church and ministry computer networks, VoIP, and private cloud hosted services. You can reach Nick at nick@mbsinc.com, and may want to check out his firm’s website (www. mbsinc.com) and his blog at http://ministry-it.blogspot.com.
What About Apple Pay & Microsoft and Google Wallets? The most important thing to me is security.
Christian Computing® Magazine
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