Your Church's 2009 Ministry Buyer's Guide by Your Church

MINISTRY

2009 CHURCH

BUYER’S GUIDE

PREPARED FOR MINISTRY

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WEB MAKEOVER, CHURCH EDITION WHAT TO LOOK FOR IF YOUR CHURCH USES A TEMPLATE-BASED DESIGN FOR ITS WEBSITE BY KEYTON KYLES

While most churches in America have a web presence of some kind, many church websites simply aren’t appealing. Warrior School Ministries, an Assemblies of God church in Ruston, Louisiana, is one example. The layout for its site, warriorschool.org, is extremely simple, lacking distinct, eye-catching aspects. The site does not have a photo album, and the content is marginal at best. On the positive side, though, the site’s strengths are its banner and calendar. A church member voluntarily programmed the Warrior School Ministry website and manages it for the church, but the time he has to spend on continuing development is limited. Paul Bradford, Warrior School Ministries’ pastor, has wanted a better website for years. “I want to make our website stand out,” he says. The site needs to be more dynamic to reach a new generation. While the volunteer website programmer is limited by time, Bradford is limited by knowledge. “I don’t know a lot about websites or website design,” he says. “In fact, I don’t know anything.” He says the whole thing “boggles” his mind. His lack of knowledge about websites and website design is not surprising— many pastors likely are in the same position. In an attempt to un-boggle the minds of pastors and administrative staff alike, we examined some template-based website providers and their service plans to see if they provide the answer.

DSGPRO / ISTOCKPHOTO

TEMPLATE VS. CUSTOM Template-based website providers use a content management system and predesigned website page templates to allow customers to create and manage their own websites in minutes. The church simply signs up for a plan (usually done online), chooses one of the pre-designed templates, and then adds the necessary

content. These services differ from custom-made websites in that the design options are pre-determined and loading the content involves no programming, so the cost is kept as low as possible. The benefit of a template-based service is that a website can be attained at a fraction of what it will cost to hire someone to custom program a site. However, someone still needs to go through the design and content-loading steps to get the site up and running. The advantage of a custom-programmed site is that the church can decide exactly how it wants each page to look. Of course the disadvantage is price—some cost thousands of dollars, plus the monthly or annual hosting and maintenance fees.

THE CONTENDERS With the help of Warrior School Ministries, we went to four different template website providers and set up a website with each. The four providers are: • SpinSite (spinsite.com) • Church Site Creator (churchsitecreator.com) • ChurchSites (churchsites.com) • ChurchWebsites (churchwebsites.com)

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MINISTRY At one point we needed to contact customer support via e-mail, and we received a prompt reply from a representative.

For each website, the registration process was simple, straightforward, and painless—we simply filled out a form with all of the usual questions. Registration for ChurchSites involves a call from a sales representative to get the process started. All others are done completely online. We used the following criteria to evaluate each website package. As you investigate your website options, keep these in mind: • Cost. Template-based services charge monthly or annual fees for the use of their software, hosting the website, and providing a URL. Some also charge one-time setup fees. Make sure your church’s budget reflects the ongoing costs associated with the website. • Template designs. Does the provider offer a wide variety of design templates? Will the template appeal to the audience you are trying to reach? Is the immediate reaction, “Wow! That’s cool!”? Does it make the page “pop” with expectation? • Ease of setup. How easy is it to actually create the website? Do you need to be a computer genius to figure out what’s going on? If you know how to program in HTML, can you use that knowledge to edit the template? Does the website offer a how-to video guide to assist you with creating your site? • Ease of navigation. Once the website has been setup and published to the viewing public, how easy is it for them to get around inside it? For example, can they easily find the pictures, calendar, schedule of events, or past sermons? • Ongoing maintenance and content updates. How easy will it be to keep the website current? Can you upload pictures and videos? Can you easily add current news and events? • Flexibility and customization. Can the providers’ template be

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• The created website also was difficult to navigate. There are positive aspects, too. One is the photo album editing feature, which allows five pictures to be added to the site at a time. Two of the other web[Church Site Creator] sites allowed only one picture at a time. Pilgreen says he liked that the album feature worked more like customized, if you choose to do a slideshow compared to the approaches so? An important part of website of some of the other websites. design is meeting your audience’s Another appealing aspect is price, needs, so flexibility with the tembut be sure the features received are plates will help you make sure the worth the money paid. look reflects your church. • Photo/media section. Pros: The photo and media section must • 60-day money back guarantee. be appealing and easy to manage, • Upload five pictures at a time. since we know people relate well Cons: to visual images. • Template designs not appealing. • Domain name. • Problems with navigation. If the website provider ties your URL to its domain name, then will CHURCH SITE CREATOR the name become cumbersome or Church Site Creator (full disclosure: confusing? Christianity Today International, pubSPINSITE lisher of YOUR CHURCH magazine, has a SpinSite offers three different plans: Starter marketing relationship with Church Site ($4.95/month), Express ($12.95/month), Creator) has four packages to choose and Platinum ($29.95/month). The plans from: Bronze ($19.95/month), Silver differ in the number of web pages offered, ($34.95/month), Gold ($69.95/month), the amount of storage space, the number and Platinum ($139.95/month). We of e-mail accounts included, technical chose the Silver package, which offers support, and other areas. SpinSite is the an unlimited number of web pages with only site of the four we used that offers a the site. Church Site Creator offers a 60-day money-back guarantee. We signed free, 30-day trial. up for the Platinum plan. An appealing aspect of Church Site The template choices were not excitCreator is that it offers more than 400 ing. They generally looked dull and template designs—an amazing number lacked any real “wow” factor. Page layto choose from. Closer inspection outs were difficult to adjust, and the navrevealed that about 80 percent of those igation was more difficult than it needed 400 template designs are the same, just to be. After loading most of the church’s with different color schemes. content on the site, it didn’t aesthetically We found this provider’s website tool appeal to us or to some of the members to be complicated—too much for the of Warrior School Ministries. average person to quickly grasp. Most “There’s nothing user friendly for the people would need to read their how-to regular Joe to easily add to the site,” manual in order to use the site effecsays Marshal Pilgreen, one of the tively. We routinely used the help secchurch’s current website administration. At one point we needed to contact tors. Other problems: customer support via e-mail, and we • Borders must be manually received a prompt reply from a repreadjusted to make text fit when sentative with the answer to our quesadding a page; tion—that was impressive. • There was no diversity among the For those who are familiar with web template design choices; design, the site allows the customiza-

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MINISTRY tion of some of the template designs. More than 20 pictures at one time can be uploaded to the photo album. People can easily log in or create a user account with the published site. The site also offers a “discussion topics” session—a great asset to any website. Church Site Creator offers great features and many templates to choose from, but it requires some knowledge about website design. “It unquestionably looks like it will take more work to get it to look the way you want it to,” says Pilgreen. Zach Kissinger, another website administrator for Warrior School Ministries, says the layout for the published site had too many issues. “The pictures were blurry; the calendar boxes were not the same size—it just seemed too confusing to get around,” he says.

pictures, possibly by the time this article publishes. This site has every feature most churches would ever need, including the capability to host audio files, video files, music, and an assortment of other features. On the negative side, the calen[Church Websites] dar section does not look as appealing as others sites. Also, CHURCHSITES the setup fee, combined with the ChurchSites offers a 14-day test drive of monthly fee, might price this option out the site for no charge. To get the free of range for many small churches. trial, though, requires speaking with a sales representative first. ChurchSites Pros: offers six packages. Each package has a • Offers the most packages. one-time setup fee ranging from $199 to • Lots of features. $1,799 and an ongoing monthly fee • More freedom to create a website ranging from $25 to $100, depending on for specific needs. the number of people who will have Cons: content manager privileges on the site. • Cost. We tested the ChurchSites Template • Only uploads one picture at a time. Standard Package. CHURCHWEBSITES Working with the representative was This site offers a 30-day, free trial period. easy, and it took only a few minutes to ChurchWebsites offers four packages: get the initial church information into Basic ($39.95/month), Advanced the website. After that, we could work ($69.95/month), Premium ($99.95/month), directly with the website to add and and Premium Plus ($119.95/month). The change information. free trial period involves the Premium Although only one picture at a time Plus package. can be added, the photo system is easy Although ChurchWebsites does not to use and satisfactory. ChurchSites offer a large selection of template plans to add a mass-upload feature for

Website administration and maintenance is easy, even for those not familiar with website design.

Pros: • 30-day free trial. • Some template customization is possible. Cons: • Most templates vary only in color. • Requires technical knowledge. • Poor navigation.

Template-Based Websites SCORE: Package Tested

SpinSite

Church Site Creator

Church Sites

ChurchWebsites

4.0

6.9

8.5

7.3

Platinum

Silver

Template Standard

Premium Plus

$199

Setup Fee Monthly Fee

$29.95

$34.95

$25 for one manager

$119.95

Cost

Templates

Ease of setup

Navigation

Maintenance/updates

Flexibility/customization

Photo/media section

Features

Domain name

Scale: 1 = Poor; 10 = Outstanding

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designs, the ones offered are acceptable and probably can fit the style of most churches. Website administration and maintenance is easy, even for those not familiar with website design. Kissinger of Warrior School Ministries says he especially appreciated two features. “The things that really stood out to me were the inclusion of a Bible search tool and the calendar,” he says. “Those were by far the most appealing when compared to the other sites.” On the downside, the photo album feature does not allow multiple albums. Instead, users create a single page of pictures, and all pictures are automatically reduced to 400 pixels in size. Also, while some packages offered by other providers allow an unlimited number of web pages, ChurchWebsites allows a maximum of 10—and that is with the most expensive plan. The prices for these packages are high, and careful analysis will be needed to judge if the investment will be worthwhile in the long run.

Pros: • Easy to navigate. • Design templates are appealing. • Bible-search tool is offered. Cons: • Cost. • Pictures resized to only 400 pixels. • Does not categorize pictures in a photo album.

THE BOTTOM LINE Every church needs to have a web presence of some kind. Simply being listed in the Yellow Pages is not enough. A template-based website service is one way to get your church on the Internet very quickly. If your church does not currently have a website, consider a low-cost service to provide a basic website. Just don’t expect eye-popping design, a user-friendly interface, or an easy-to-navigate site. Alternatively, you could probably find a volunteer or pay someone a small amount of money to create a static web page with all your basic, non-changing information.

If you’re looking for a functional website—one you can work with and grow into—you’ll need to look at more expensive options such as Church Sites or ChurchWebsites. These two offer the features and functions that might make the monthly investment worthwhile. We tested only a small sample of what is available in template-based websites. There are many similar services offered with different template designs and feature packages. Some providers offer a free website design in exchange for placing certain advertisements on your site, and others make money only from the hosting fee you pay. The best way to know if a templatebased website will work for you is to take advantage of trial periods and money-back guarantees to test several services. Put a few together, and have several church members check them out and give you honest feedback. Keyton Kyles is a freelance writer in Chicago.

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MINISTRY BibleWorks and Logos can search for a particular kind of grammatical construction, regardless of the word. In Logos, for example, you could look for every verse where the Holy Spirit communicates in any way—speaking, announcing, or calling. BibleWorks has been a favorite for the scholars at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, though Logos’s recent improvements have won accolades from professors and students of biblical languages. Zondervan’s Pradis can search for either the root form of a word (such as all the uses of agape as either a noun or agapao as a verb) or its particular morphological form (a certain tense or voice, for example). PC Study Bible and QuickVerse allow searches, but they are more difficult and are pegged to the old, but still serviceable, Strong’s numbering system.

EXEMPLARY EXEGESIS

WORD-WORKING

A SIDE-BY-SIDE REVIEW OF FIVE BIBLE-STUDY SOFTWARE PROGRAMS.

AMANDA ROHDE / ISTOCKPHOTO

BY LEE ECLOV

If you don’t use Bible software to study, then you can’t imagine what you’re missing. Even if you are using software that is five years old, the ease of use, sophisticated procedures, and vast array of additional resources put today’s generation of software in a different league. This article focuses on the most recent versions of these five popular software programs: PC Study Bible Version 5: Professional Reference Library; $899.95 (on sale for $674.95). Biblesoft.com. BibleWorks 7; $349. BibleWorks.com. Logos Bible Software 3: Scholar’s Library: Gold; $1,379.95. Logos.com. QuickVerse 2008: Platinum Edition; $799.95 (discounted to $599.95). QuickVerse.com. The Teacher’s and Pastor’s Library 6.0 for Windows (Pradis-based); $149.99. zondervan.com.

SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND Each program provides biblical text in many different translations and paraphrases. BibleWorks also has the Bible in dozens of other modern languages. All the packages tend to puff up their list of Bible translations with a few versions you probably wouldn’t bother having on your shelf. Surprisingly, QuickVerse does not provide the New International Version in its Platinum edition, though it’s happy to sell you an add-on of the NIV, Today’s New International Version, and New International Reader’s Version for $40. Various Greek, Hebrew, and English versions can be displayed in parallel fashion—as many or as few as you want to see. It is easy to cut text and paste it into other programs. PC Study Bible and Logos provide especially quick and ingenious tools for pasting biblical text into other documents.

Each program parses Greek words and provides basic lexicon definitions. Only BibleWorks, Logos, and The Teacher’s and Pastor’s Library offer help with Hebrew, including Hebrew text and word morphology. BibleWorks and Logos, once again, are extraordinary. In BibleWorks, for example, as you draw the mouse over the English text of an Old Testament passage, a small window appears with each word showing the Hebrew word and its meaning. Meanwhile, in the adjoining column, a much more complete analysis of each word appears, with even more links to word-study books and grammar tools. Logos arranges things a bit differently, with every word in the selected text appearing in a column that shows the word as it is in the text, the lexical (basic) spelling, a brief definition, a tinybut-clever bar chart showing usage of that word in each book of the Bible, and links to various lexicons and wordstudy tools—all in a about a half-inch of screen space. Logos’s exegetical strong suit is providing semantical range of meaning, tapping into the Louw and Nida lexicon that’s based on semantic domains. For example, you can search for all words related to “thinking,” and even that is broken into sub-categories.

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MINISTRY Several packages provide books in their libraries to help you brush up on grammar and syntax, or even tools to teach you these languages. BibleWorks, for example, has vocabulary flashcards.

STUDY BUDDIES Four of the five packages provide links to the venerable The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, a classic compendium of 500,000 cross-references. You simply point at a reference and a window pops up with that verse. Zondervan’s program does not have this book, but it does have its own cross-reference system (though not as extensive as TSK). I am surprised that none of these packages use the superior New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, compiled by Jerome H. Smith, although Logos offers it as a $40 download. Diagramming is painstaking and laborious. Both BibleWorks and Logos make the process much quicker. The BibleWorks program was flat-out fun (if you like diagramming), and then I discovered the program already has the entire New Testament diagrammed! Most programs have a simple notepad that links your notes to the passage, allowing you to build a kind of commentary of your own. In fact, QuickVerse allows you to write your own commentary and share it with others in its system. Most notepads are basic in function, but BibleWorks and Logos again come through with very sophisticated capabilities. Logos has a resourceful system for marking text with digital color pencils and pens. You can define certain colors or lines to indicate a certain subject (e.g. salvation subjects circled in red). This feature was another fun surprise that had me wanting to stay and play awhile.

SMALLER LEARNING CURVES One of the big changes in this new generation of software is friendliness. The graphic appearance is inviting and often intuitive. But “intuitive” works only if you’re looking to do something you’ve thought of already. These programs often do things you have never been able to do before in a paper-and-pen world. That means a new user needs to

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The cost of the software package is directly related to the number of newer, copyrighted books included. take the time to watch or read the tutorials. I found the help provided by PC Study Bible, Logos, and BibleWorks to be very helpful and clear. The Teacher’s and Pastor’s Library and QuickVerse need work. Biblesoft’s PC Study Bible and QuickVerse both have very inviting and intuitive arrangements of toolbars and tabs. QuickVerse mimics Microsoft Office 2007, and PC Study Bible has bright, clear buttons and a very clean look. The Teacher’s and Pastor’s Library is weakest in this area and needs a design makeover. I found it klutzy and old-fashioned. Logos has done a great job with design, but its very complexity—the enormous range of things it does— means you must use its tutorials. A pastor friend of mine told me he bought Logos (the previous version) for more than $1,000, but he hasn’t used it, because he couldn’t figure it out. By his own admission, he hasn’t watched or read the tutorials. If you won’t take the time to learn the way these programs work, don’t buy them! BibleWorks is notorious for being difficult to learn. The icons are cryptic and tiny. On the other hand, learning to use a tool this sophisticated is bound to be challenging, and many users have learned how to do it. Once you watch the tutorials, it all seems pretty easy. After you’ve used the program for a week, you’ll have the essence, and should be thrilled with how it helps you.

BUILDING A LIBRARY When publishers say you’re getting

$2,000 worth of books, many of the titles are older books of limited value no longer protected by copyright. Old books can be useful, of course, but you need newer scholarship as well. The cost of the software package is directly related to the number of newer, copyrighted books included. Nearly every publisher offers hundreds—even thousands—of titles you can purchase individually and load into their systems. Your best value is to find a package that matches your needs as closely as possible. I was surprised by the number of “reading books” available—books you read from cover to cover as opposed to reference works. Books must work in the software platform of your program—Pradis in Zondervan or Libronix in Logos, for example. Books purchased in one system won’t work in another. So think about what program you want to grow old with. Logos has various additional functions that can be purchased, called addins. These make several tasks possible, such as language pronunciation, sentence diagramming, and sermon files, among others. The sermon file add-in provides a way for pastors to keep their sermons in a file database, as well as a separate file for illustrations. I wish I’d had it when I was starting out. QuickVerse has Sermon Builder, which is essentially a library of sermonwriting resources such as illustrations, quotations, and a filing system for your illustrations. Sermon Builder comes with the Platinum Edition or can be added to the more basic editions. On the negative side, Logos has an annoying pop-up commercial every time I start the program reminding me to buy more books. The Teacher’s and Pastor’s Library has a red-letter link at the top of the working pane that says “Book Store.” BibleWorks is the one exception to the build-a-library approach. It offers a very solid collection of exegetical works and a few other very basic resources. This definitely keeps its price lower, and it may suit you just fine not to add other books. If you wish to do so, you’ll have to work through a different program.

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MAPS AND MORE Almost all of these packages have scores of wonderful maps (though The Teacher’s and Pastor’s Library program needs work here). These maps cover just about every Bible teaching situation you can imagine. The BibleWorks maps are the cream of the crop. It uses satellite technology and high-resolution topographical maps with hundreds of overlays, such as all the places mentioned in each Bible book. Several programs also offer a full collection of photos of Bible lands and artifacts, as well as detailed timelines. All of these features can be copied into other programs, such as Microsoft’s PowerPoint, making them great for teaching. Most programs allow you to customize the screen layout. You can have the Bible versions or books you most commonly use open all the time. The use of tabs and panes make it easy to have several resources open without a cluttered appearance. You can also save different layouts for different purposes.

All programs advertise free online support, as well as phone support. Some offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. When you order, ask for a list of support options if you don’t like what you see. Of the programs we reviewed here, QuickVerse and The Teacher’s and Pastor’s Library offer packages for Macintosh. While we did not review these packages specifically, they appear to be similar to the packages we did review. One top Mac package, Accordance—Scholar’s Collection 7.4 (AccordanceBible.com) is priced at $249. A very hefty collection comes in at nearly $2,500!

THE BOTTOM LINE Each of these programs boasts satisfied customers; each will help you study in ways you never could with paper-andink books alone. For $150, Zondervan’s The Teacher’s and Pastor’s Library is probably the best bargain if you do not plan to do extensive language study. It is stodgy in design and needs a facelift,

but it is a great price for what you get. Biblesoft’s PC Study Bible and QuickVerse are great if you aren’t particularly into more scholarly approaches. Both are designed well and fun to use. I’d give PC Study Bible a slight edge. For those who are serious about using the biblical languages, you have to go with either BibleWorks or Logos. It’s a toss-up between the two. One of my student scholars felt he needed them both to get the range of study he wants to do. BibleWorks offers the better price. With Logos you pay more and get more, especially in the other nonexegetical resources, plus it is generally easier to use and more creative than its competitors. In the final analysis, Logos’s Scholar’s Library will be my goto software. Lee Eclov is pastor of Village Church of Lincolnshire in Lake Forest, Illinois, and editorial advisor to PreachingToday.com. Adapted from an article that first appeared on PreachingToday.com.

“Don’t say a thing until she saves all the changes.”

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MINISTRY Cost: Varies—see website Sponsor: Willow Creek Community Church. Note: Special discounts for Willow Creek Association members. Info: willowcreek.com/conspireconference

WISELY CHOSEN EVENTS CAN REAP REWARDS FOR YOU, YOUR STAFF, AND YOUR CHURCH. BY CAROL STRATTON

Are all your sermon notes filed under miscellaneous? You might benefit from learning a few more organizational skills. Do the high school students always seem to have important homework to do on youth-group night? Maybe a few new creative ideas for your youth ministry would help. Is the roof leaking, and you’re not sure the budget can support needed repairs? Perhaps it’s time to learn how to raise money for capital improvement projects. Whatever the situation you are facing, the good news is that you aren’t alone. People with similar concerns are banding together at conferences and training events of all sizes and costs to talk about issues, problems, solutions, and opportunities. Here is a small sampling of useful events geared toward anyone from church planters to facility directors. CHURCH FACILITY MANAGERS CONFERENCE Topics: Practical solutions to facility management issues, networking, certification program. Who attends: Church facility managers. Date: Third week in June 2009. Location: Portland, Oregon. Cost: Approximately $200. Sponsor: National Association of Church Facility Managers. Note: Members encouraged to bring their families. Info: nacfm.com

SEPT/OCT 2008 YOUR CHURCH

CHURCH PLANTING BOOT CAMP Topics: Every aspect of planting a church. Who attends: Anyone involved in church planting. Date: November 10 – 13, 2008. Location: Indianapolis, Indiana. Cost: $399 ($249 other team members, $199 spouse). Sponsor: Church Multiplication Training Center. Note: CMTC was the first organization to begin church-planting training. Info: cmtcmultiply.org CHURCH SOLUTIONS CONFERENCE AND EXPO Topics: Leadership, church business administration. Who attends: Senior and executive pastors, administration staff. Date: February 17 – 19, 2009. Location: Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Arizona. Cost: $200. Sponsor: Church Solutions magazine. Note: 1,200 – 1,500 expected to attend. Three tracks available. Info: churchsolutionsconference.com

FOOD SERVICE MINISTRY CONFERENCE Topics: Food-service ministry, catering, cost controls, training food service staff. Who attends: Anyone involved in serving food to large groups. Date: Annual conference, date to be announced. Location: To be announced. Cost: To be announced. Sponsor: Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, Texas. Note: This is a very “hands on” conference. Info: Eddy Espinosa, eespinosa@prestonwood.org

CONSPIRE Topics: Creative, relevant, and powerful ways to reach kids. Who attends: Children's ministry leaders, staff, and volunteers. Date: March 18–20, 2009. Location: Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, Illinois.

GETTING A GRIP ON GROUPS Topics: Making friends, measuring maturity in small groups. Who attends: Pastors and small-group leaders. Date: November 14, 2008. Location: Granger Community Church, Granger, Indiana.

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CORNERSTONE KNOWLEDGE NETWORK CONFERENCES Topics: Church leadership, design and construction, financing, communication, and more. Who attends: Ministry leaders considering a building program in the next five years. Dates and locations: September 23, 2008—Chicago; October 21, 2008— Dalton, Georgia; March 3, 2009— Indianapolis; Date to be announced—Orlando. Cost: $195 ($125 for additional people). Sponsor: Cornerstone Knowledge Network. Note: Very focused and small, with many opportunities for audience interaction. Info: theckn.com, 888.595.7360.

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MINISTRY Cost: $119 (group discounts available). Sponsor: Granger Community Church. Note: This church offers workshops on a variety of subjects. Info: wiredchurches.com INFOCOMM Topics: Audio-visual conference and exhibit, worship track. Who attends: Senior and worship pas-

tors, technical staff. Date: June 17–19, 2009. Location: Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida. Cost: To be announced. Sponsor: InfoComm International. Note: Worship track starts a few days before general session. Info: infocomm.org

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KIDS WORKSHOP Topics: Making kid’s space fun, encouraging gifted volunteers. Who attends: Children's ministry leaders, staff, and volunteers. Date: November 14 – 15, 2008. Location: Granger Community Church, Granger, Indiana. Cost: $119 (group discounts available). Sponsor: Granger Community Church. Note: This conference is offered twice a year. Info: wiredchurches.com MAKING WORSHIP DANGEROUS Topic: The essential role of worship. Who attends: Pastors, worship leaders and teams, church leaders. Date: Spring 2009 (exact date to be announced). Location: Mt. Hermon, California. Cost: $400–$475 includes meals and lodging. Sponsor: Mount Hermon Christian Camp and Conference Center. Note: This conference is led by Dr. Mark Labberton and Michael Card. Info: mounthermon.org MINISTRYCOM NATIONAL CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE Topic: Ministry communication. Who attends: Ministry communication professionals. Date: September 18–19, 2008 Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Cost: $325; special pricing for groups. Sponsor: Main Street Enterprises. Note: Conference offers multiple approaches to problems and encourages networking. Info: ministrycom.org MINISTRYTECH NATIONAL CHURCH IT & AV CONFERENCE Topic: Using technology in ministry. Who attends: Church information technology, audio-visual, and production professionals. Date: April 23–24, 2009 Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado. Cost: $325; special pricing for groups. Sponsor: Main Street Enterprises. Info: ministrytech.org

150 Locust Street, P.O. Box 36, Macungie, PA 18062-0036 Phone: 610-966-2202 / Fax: 610-965-3098 E-mail: aosales@allenorgan.com

Web site: www.allenorgan.com Circle #005 on Response Card

SEPT/OCT 2008 YOUR CHURCH

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Elegant. NACBA CONFERENCE Topics: All things related to church administration. Who attends: Senior and executive pastors, administrative staff. Date: July 17–21, 2009. Location: Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, California. Cost: To be announced. Sponsor: National Association of Church Business Administration. Note: Conference and trade show, 54 years strong, 194 exhibits, 250 booths. Info: nacba.net NATIONAL OUTREACH CONVENTION Topics: Youth and children, targeted outreach, creative outreach. Who attends: Pastors, youth workers. Date: November 5–7, 2008. Location: Town and Country Convention Center, San Diego, California. Cost: Varies—see website. Sponsor: Outreach Magazine. Note: Speakers and presenters brought in from around the world; nondenominational; 10 teaching tracks and 50 workshops. Info: outreachconvention.com PROCLAIMING THE TEXT Topic: Preaching conference designed to help pastors with scholarship. Who attends: Pastors, lay leaders, seminary students. Date: June 1–5, 2009. Location: Montreat, North Carolina. Cost: $195 early discount ($125 spouse, $90 college/seminary student). Sponsor: Montreat Conference Center. Note: Gorgeous setting; other conferences include Interim Pastoring and Christian Education. Info: montreat.org, 800.572.2257 SEWANEE CHURCH MUSIC CONFERENCE Topic: Fundamentals of traditional church music. Who attends: Choir directors, singers, organists, music leaders. Date: July 13–19, 2009. Location: Dubose Conference Center, one hour west of Chattanooga,

Tennessee. Cost: $250. Sponsor: Sewanee Church Music Conference. Note: Celebrating its 59th annual conference in 2009. Info: sewaneeconf.com SIMEON WORKSHOP ON BIBLICAL EXPOSITION Topic: Increase the pastor’s confidence and ability in rightly handling God’s Word. Who attends: Preaching pastors. Date: Three-day seminars; check website for cities and dates. Location: Several locations in North America. Cost: $99, includes meals and snacks. Sponsor: Charles Simeon Trust. Note: Very hands-on; all levels of ability welcome. Info: simeonworkshops.org, 773.752.9876 TEAMinar Topic: Teambuilding for church leadership. Who attends: Staff or lay leaders. Date: October 6–8, 2008. Location: Mt. Hermon, California. Cost: $4,800 for entire team (up to eight individuals); includes food and lodging. Sponsor: Mount Hermon Christian Camp and Conference Center. Note: Nancy Ortberg leads this new seminar. Info: mounthermon.org

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WORSHIP FACILITIES CONFERENCE AND EXPO (WFX) Topics: Buildings, technology, growth. Who attends: Pastors, administrative staff, facility managers. Date: November 5–7, 2008. Location: George Brown Convention Center, Houston, Texas. Cost: Varies. Sponsor: Church Production magazine, Worship Facilities magazine. Note: Anticipating 5,000 attendees and 400 exhibitors. Info: wfxweb.com

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