DISASTER RESPONSE FOR CHURCHES • FEEDBACK: HOW TO LISTEN WELL CHURCH WEBSITES THAT WORK! • SOFTWARE SHORTCUTS
TECHNOLOGY EMPOWERING MINISTRY
CHMS FEATURE COMPARISON CHART ²INSIDE church ANNUAL management software
>> do pastors really use chms? GUIDE >> chms security highlight OCTOBER 2017 www.ministrytech.com CONTENTS 2017 church 14 management software (chms) annual guide 10.17 This year we spotlight a baker’s dozen of respected and established (ChMS) providers.
4 can technology do pastors calm the storm really use chms? around you?
Keep up with your Seraphim Software congregation's says yes. fast-changing lives 31
chms security highlight
Cover the basics to secure your data!
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TECH CHECK 10.17...... 7 how to prepare Listen to Your Congregation...... 8 your church for Building a More Effective Church Website...... 29 disaster Hacks You Can Use...... 34 response Startup: Telechoice’s Purpose Pyramid...... 36 ...And create a Holy Refuge. Walking the Fine Line Between Art & Science...... 39 42
2 | MinistryTech.com A Word from the editor Ray Hollenbach
Marketing Director Joey Tindell
Marketing Manager Rudy Kovac n our annual issue devoted to As we so often observe here at Church Management Software Ministry Tech, our goal is to address Managing Editor Ray Hollenbach I (ChMS) you’ll find a useful the intersection of ministry and Art Directors comparison tool—please feel free technology. And ministry always Troy Irvin, Henny Vallee to share this tool with anyone you means people: their eternal desti-
Contributing Editors know considering investing in, nies, their families, their hopes and Matt Farrand, Steve Hewitt, changing, or upgrading his or her their dreams. Our technical func- Russ McGuire, Caleb Neff, Nick Nicholaou YvonPrehn, Jonathan software. tions (whether as volunteers, Smith, Steven Sundermeier Ministry Tech Magazine has contract workers or full-time Copy Editor enjoyed years of relationship and church staff) always stand in the Laura Severn partnership with providers of these service of things much larger: the ADVERTISING software technologies. We’ve seen Lord Jesus and his Kingdom. VP Advertising Sales Jared Bryant the product grow deeper and wider. Technology services this great Features have been added, securi- mission. National Media Consultants Charles Fleece, Joseph Landry, ty’s been tightened, and our under- I invite you to explore other Stephanie Large, Seth Rankin, Dan Whitfield, Barbara standing of what it takes to steward great articles in this month’s edi- (McDonald) Wolfe a church well has grown. tion: Russ McGuire opens a two- Account Associates Jonathan Smith’s article provides part series on The Purpose Pyramid; Pamela Burton, Megan Foster, Alice Gifford, Trish Hughes, Gabriel a pastor’s perspective on the uses of Yvon Prehn challenges us to listen McKinsey, Bethany Payne, Lara ChMS. It’s a detailed look into the to our congregations; and Nick Whelan intersection of pastoral care and Nicholaou provides user tips nearly Administrative Director Rebecca Meyer technological innovation. Steven anyone can use. (And why, I won-
Publisher Sundermeier reminds us of the der, are user tips more and more stakes involved in keeping our called “hacks”? Hacks are bad, ChMS secure: We are dealing with right?) Finally, our trusted business
Outreach Inc. people’s lives! Just this month partners also provide a variety of 5550 Tech Center Dr. Equifax revealed a security breach useful input, but I especially recom- Colorado Springs, CO 80919 (800) 991-6011 that affected half of America—and mend this month’s piece from
Ministry Tech® is a registered that was only their financial profile: eChurchGiving, “How to Prepare trademark of Outreach, Inc. Written materials submitted to Ministry Imagine the potential danger of a Your Church for Disaster Response.” Tech® Magazine become the property of Outreach, Inc. upon ChMS security breach that would receipt and may not necessarily be returned. Ministry Tech® Magazine reveal the intimate details of a reserves the right to make any changes to materials submitted for family attending your church. publication that are deemed necessary for editorial purposes. The content of this publication may not be copied in any way, shape or form without the express permission of Outreach, Inc. Views expressed in the Ray Hollenbach is the Editor of Ministry Tech magazine. He has previously served as the articles and reviews printed within are not necessarily the views of the editor of Outreach’s Better Preaching Update, and as the editor of the Pastor channel at editor, publisher, or employees of Ministry Tech® magazine, or Churchleaders.com. You can reach him at [email protected]. Outreach, Inc. © Copyright 2017 Outreach, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
October 2017 | 3 DO PASTORS REALLY USE CHMS? Are You Kidding Me–Yes! by Jonathan Smith
certainly hope so! Otherwise it No matter what size the church is ChMS platforms available today seems a wasted resource. I’ve setup there are definite benefits to using most all of them provide the same I many Church Management Systems a ChMS for the pastors and other core functionality. Here are some in my day: A lot of work goes into ministry leaders. Not using a ChMS in practical ways for ministry staff to getting them up and running! Days ministry is like not using accounting use their ChMS. and even weeks of planning and data software but instead keeping track Current Information migrations go into setting up a ChMS. of your church finances using ledger It always baffles me how people Then there’s the ongoing aspect sheets and slide rules. Or like mowing 1 sit around discussing things and of maintaining the software. If you the grass using a scythe instead of a wondering about the details. When host the ChMS yourself, hopefully lawn mower. did the Cubs last win the World someone is patching that server Many times ministry staff feel Series? Who was the MVP? What and keeping it secure. Whether intimidated by software and don’t was their record last year? All of this self-hosted or not you also have to want or have the time to take to stop information is instantly available maintain user accounts, permissions, and learn how to use it. Taking the in our pockets. When discussing security settings, the list goes on time to learn how to use financial whether or not someone has moved and on. That’s why I certainly hope software or learning how to use a or when the last time he or she came pastors and church leaders are lawn mower will save you time in to church was, there’s no need to taking advantage of what a ChMS the long run. I’m not sure a pastor guess. All that information is readily has to offer and using the power of can afford not to take the time to be available to help ministry leaders the software for greater ministry a good steward of ChMS software. make effective ministry decisions. effectiveness. While there are numerous
4 | MinistryTech.com They just have to know how to get to and who is not attending so outreach ACCOUNTABILITY it by learning the ChMS. can be targeted. It is easy for folks 4 As churches grow and become The same is true for budget to slip through the cracks that want more complex it becomes difficult to decisions. No need to wait for a report. to, but many folks are faithful and ensure soul care is taking place. Using Most church financial packages wonder if anyone will notice if they a ChMS, workflows can be automated allow for real-time access to budget stop being faithful. Do you know and ministry staff held accountable and spending information so God’s how to use your ChMS to prevent for reaching out. It is one thing to say resources can be properly accounted. that? Whether large or small it is you’ve called everyone on a prayer Communication personal communication that ensures list. It is another thing to click a button your ministry heart is connected We all know that address lists as you do that so the team knows 2 with people. age. People move, change cell phone what’s transpired. This accountability providers and change email addresses frequently. The only constant is change. Using a ChMS, you can maintain contact with your flock as Available Fall 2017 everyone is using the most current contact information. Gone are the days of asking who has the email Social Media for Teenagers address or latest cell phone number. No more waiting around for that staffer who is on vacation and has an email list in their private email account. Now everyone can email and call using the latest information. In addition, those emails and phone calls can be logged so everyone on the ministry team knows who has called and emailed a person. CLOSING THE BACK DOOR 3 Churches of all sizes struggle with folks slipping through the A resource for teens cracks. ChMS can help you track and people who care about them folks to avoid them being missed or not being served well when a need Written by arises. The ministry team can see Jonathan Smith trends based on attendance and MinistryTech Contributing Editor giving to help with decision making. & National Speaker Prayer requests can be tracked and quickly accessed. Communication can be individualized so those attending your church know the staff cares about them and views them www.TRISTANPublishing.com as more than just a number. Pastors should want to see who is attending
October 2017 | 5 When discussing whether or not someone has equip your ministry to serve a person or family and the more information moved or when the last time they came to they have, the better. With the scope of many ministries it’s not possible to church WAS, there’s no need to guess. have a meeting to discuss each person, but using a ChMS allows each person on the ministry team access to the can also be spread out to lay leaders ChMS is the key. Pastors who don’t use same information so they can serve who assist in the ministry load. Lay the ChMS, or rely on assistants to look well those people God has entrusted leaders can be given access to contact data up, are missing out on potential to their ministries. MT information and communication tools ministry. There is also the loss of and then be held accountable for how helping others with their ministry as Jonathan Smith is the they help the ministry close the back you enter data that helps make any Director of Technology at door. church feel more intimate. Faith Ministries in Lafayette, While it can be easy for a ChMS to The first hurdle is taking time to Indiana. You can reach Jonathan at turn people into numbers, the goal learn how to use it. The second is [email protected] is just the opposite. The ChMS can taking the time to actually use it and and follow him on Twitter @JonathanESmith. help ministry staff keep people from log your phone calls, hospital visits, becoming numbers. The larger the visitation calls and other ministry ministry, the harder this is, and the tasks. Remember, the goal is to better
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6 | MinistryTech.com tech check What’s MUO? Not ready to re-enroll at a university for that IT degree? Too busy to take webinars or online tutorials? Not to worry—there are plenty of ways sharpen your tech skills in a targeted, timesaving way. The web is bursting with tricks and tips, hacks and jailbreaks 10.17 for all things tech. One of the most useful sites we’ve seen is “Make Use Of,” a hodge-podge of posts covering everything from 7 Odd Windows Features That Will Make You Wonder, to Too Busy for Video Today Only: Amazon Has a Bunch of Gaming PCs On Sale, to our Announcements? current favorite, The 6 Best Hoverboards, E-Skateboards and Other Rideables. Be sure to check out their Internet Editor, Saikat Basu, Here’s help: who catches every cool thing that comes down the pike. n Honestly, how many churches have a TV studio? I know, right? And who has the time to shoot high-quality video How Can Public Radio Revolutionize Your announcements. But wait: What Ministry? about outsourcing? Tim and It’s an odd question, we’ll admit. But for several years there’s been Ginger Holm have a great niche a quiet revolution among documentary makers, and the epicenter business designed to serve small of that revolution is Transom.org. Transom is an online community of churches: They produce video storytellers who share their work and their production secrets with announcements and send you one another—and you! Every aspect of audio production is available the file. for inspection and encouragement at Transom. It has a crazy-mad following among public broadcasting, where you can learn from some of the best storytellers working in America today. Check out their 2-minute information video. n
Check out samples and the details on this one-of-a-kind church service. n
EDITOR’S NOTE: Who can possibly keep up with all the tech options available these days? TECH CHECK highlights tech news and new gadgets that save you time, energy, money—and keep you from re-inventing the wheel. Have a hot tech tip or news item? Email [email protected].
October 2017 | 7 COMMUNICATIONS
Listen to Your Congregation
Digital surveys—your guide to tech tools for dialogue & involvement | by Yvon Prehn
hen Solari Communications published a white paper Surveys are a tried and true way to get feedback earlier this year on how to communicate effectively and interaction Win the social media world, they listed the following In most churches today, people are using a variety of attributes as part of the new rules of the road. They said social media, so if you only survey through one form people want: or another you will miss many. Surveys can be sent out • To have a say. through a variety of media and through email. In this way • Meaningful dialogue. you’ll most likely involve more members. • To be engaged and involved in the process. Though the following resource is not a digital survey, • Personal interactions with others. this list from the Small Church Leadership Network is an • To be listened to. online source for a lengthy church survey/evaluation. In my experience many leaders and communicators You can print it out if you want, but even if you choose in the church would agree with the goals of current some other digital survey tool, I included this resource communications, but the question is: How do you as a great inspiration for the questions you might want accomplish them? Fortunately, the digital world that has to ask. heightened our expectations of interaction also provides the tools to make it happen.
8 | MinistryTech.com COMMUNICATIONS
Online survey resources—digital tools Not only do digital formats provide a new way to create surveys, but also they automatically tabulate them, which is one of the greatest benefits to already overworked church staffs. All the companies below do more than create surveys; don’t be overwhelmed when you visit their sites. They also have free options so you can try them, and depending on how many surveys you send, that may serve your church well without having to buy a service. Try various ones before you decide on a system; some of the set-ups are easier to use than others or may fit the style of your church better. List and links to online survey forms Jot forms—They have some very nice themes in addition Don’t worry about the limits on responses to hundreds of templates. They are also a WordPress Almost all the programs are free until you get more than plugin and you can add forms to individual posts. 100 responses. That doesn’t sound like many, but try them PollDaddy—This system is available as a separate tool as a few times before you sign up for a service. Particularly the rest are, but it is also available as a WordPress plugin, if you are a small or medium church, you'll most likely be which makes it great for short surveys if you use this for surprised (and not happily) by how few responses you’ll your website. get when you send out a survey to your congregation. One hundred responses doesn’t seem like many and we SurveyMonkey—Has been around forever and is fairly all assume that every person we send a survey to will easy to use. respond. Sadly, they don’t. Right now, you are probably Typeform—Some very innovative, fun and interesting wondering what percentage you can expect. Here is one forms, not sure how well they will fit many churches, but example: check them out, just to see some of the creative things they If the survey is sent out digitally, you will get an initial do. drop off of the people who open the email. Of those who Wufoo—Lots of simple templates and forms you can use. open the email, not all of them will take the survey. The Easy to view what they have. research is all over the map on that, but a standard “good” open email rate is 15-20 percent. You'll most likely get more Google Forms—To me a little harder to put together from your church, so let’s assume a 30 percent open rate. than some, but since for most it would be free always, To make it easy, let’s assume a church of a little over 300, definitely worth checking out. so approximately 100 open the email (this is not a math quiz, so don’t get picky). Online statistics then show 20-40 percent Three tips for survey questions: will take the survey. Those numbers are consistent, with 1. Don’t create viewpoint slanted questions Try to be totally honest with why you are creating the the higher number being engaged employees, members of a survey. Many church surveys are obviously created to group, etc. With that high number in mind, you may get 40 support a certain viewpoint. For example, please don’t responses. create ones with questions like: As you can see with a medium-size church, you could do Mark what you prefer: two surveys a month and stay on the free plans. • Old-fashioned, boring hymns? The only way to know what will happen for your church • Upbeat, contemporary worship? is to do some test surveys. That may not be a realistic example, but I’ve filled out church surveys that weren’t very different. After you
October 2017 | 9 COMMUNICATIONS
create your survey, have some 3. The following articles have objective, non-staff people read additional tips for creating What’s most important it to see if a hidden agenda bias is church surveys is how genuine your showing. The power of surveys: Discover desire is to truly interact needs and opportunities 2. Allow one or two open- with your congregation. ended questions 13 Sample Questions for a Church Yes, these are hard to tabulate, but Survey takes your requests for response to a I’ve found they often totally change After the survey survey, and if they will respond to a the objective data in ways you don’t What you do after the survey will request next year for information. Be imagine. determine how seriously your church sure to do these things: • Thank people—Thank them for their time in taking the survey and for their thoughtful answers. Do this to the congregation overall as well as in an automatic response after the survey. • Share results—Some surveys have instant results that post immediately after a survey is taken and that’s useful. In addition, after you close out the survey and tally the results, take time to make a slide to share on Sunday morning and on the website. • Share actions taken because of the survey The software, the questions, the structure all are useful, but what’s most important is how genuine your desire is to truly interact with your congregation, to discover their needs, dreams and ideas for how as a church you can better serve the Kingdom of God. If you approach surveys in that way, no matter what you use, you’ll do well. MT
AN UPDATE: Yvon Prehn’s ministry to church communicators now has two parts: http://www. effectivechurchcom.com, now a training, template and resource site, and http://www.yvonprehn.com, a church communication blog. 10 | MinistryTech.com PROTECTED WITH PURPOSE
ChMS Security Highlight Simple practices can make a world of difference [ by Steven Sundermeier ]
y family lives in a kid-friendly, understanding of ChMS combined Database security quiet neighborhood (except with having a finger on the pulse of If you have younger children like Mwhen I am outside throwing software vulnerabilities, I have noted me, every time you attend your home long football passes to my kids and a few risks posed by these software church or visit a new church you’re whooping it up with them). However, applications. likely running late and rushing to the the relative serenity and safety of our Choose wisely check-in stations getting your kids surburban neighborhood has been signed into their children’s ministry This first security tip may seem challenged lately in relation to a recent classes as fast as possible. However, simple but it can also be overlooked. string of vehicle break-ins at night. each time you checkin, there are a lot A quick Google search for ChMS At one point, vandals stole items out of technical things happening behind packages displayed well over 50 of five neighbors' cars/trucks on our the scenes. Information is entered, products! And while the market may street within a week. Tools, money collected and eventually organized. be dominated by a select few software and even a wedding ring were (sadly) Your kids get a nice colorful sticker offerings, oftentimes these ”popular” some of the items stolen. In each case, for identification purposes and programs are geared toward large however, the car doors were unlocked, parents get the corresponding claim congregations and can be very pricey, or the stolen goods/tools were laying ticket. However, information such forcing smaller churches to look for in the bed of a truck. It’s one thing to as your child’s name, your name, more cost-effective solutions (and be trusting, it’s another to be smart and birthdates, contact numbers, email remember: bigger doesn’t always mean trusting. Are you locking your vehicles addresses, etc. is also getting stored better!). If you research and locate a at night? into a backend database. What I’ve package that meets your objectives Each month the Protected With personally found in volunteering and is a financial fit for your church a Purpose feature addresses issues at my church (assisting people at budget, ask the organization for a trial of cyber security. My disclaimer the check-in stations), is that while license and customer referrals prior to here is that I am no expert in multiple volunteers have access to the purchasing. ChMS software, but given my basic front end of the ChMS, maybe only
October 2017 | 11 PROTECTED WITH PURPOSE
supporting the software? Is this person (or team) internal to our church or will they be external (e.g., an outside consultant/company/volunteer)? Have you put in place a launch team to work through all the aspects of setting up your ChMS? This might mean dialoging and assigning user privilege-levels, such as, “Who can see what data?” (Again: All staff may have access to basic contact info, but only a couple of people have access to things like financial data). A troubleshooting team is a necessary and valuable piece of the ChMS implementation. Trial- and-error and Application of Human Tendencies can be simulated to ease the process, then both of these areas will naturally occur during your set-up and implementation of the system. A dedicated launch team will assist in maneuvering through the initial bumps and troubleshooting to avoid future ones. People will always be one of our best resources, and although technology is furthering our ministries, people and personal connections will always be what furthers the Gospel. Our task is uniting the two in productive measures! As far as vulnerabilities, ChMS is no different than any other database- one or two trusted staff members will cybercriminals. The use of insecure driven software solutions out there have complete access to the backend (or poorly maintained) databases can on the market, where databases can database. This is a good practice, in lead to data leaks that would result in be exploited based on vulnerabilities that in streamlines the gatekeepers the exposure of sensitive congregation known and zero days (unknown) of the church family’s personal information. A ChMS database could exploits. The simplest attack on a web information. However, in my opinion, be deemed insecure based on multiple database would be a SQL injection the backend database is also one giant factors including: implementation, attack. Other type of attack would risk if not managed and protected vulnerabilities, group policies or use of be unauthorized access of data to well. weak/default credentials. a cybercrimal, based on the weak The more data collected via I believe a great first question to ask privileges/passwords/roles/policies set the ChMS the more valuable the prior to implementing a new ChMS by the Database Administrator. For database becomes not only to the would be, do we have an IT person anyone who believes organizations, local church but potentially to (or staff) who can be dedicated to and their most valuable assets (your
12 | MinistryTech.com PROTECTED WITH PURPOSE
collected data), aren’t under continual as this can result in unauthorized reputable provider, database security, assault by cyber thugs may want to access to the ChMS and be a huge secure transactions and proper check out the following link detailing potential security problem point (like security measures at check-in stations. publicly known data breaches in the leaving your keys in your car in the Putting a check in each of these areas past: https://haveibeenpwned.com/ driveway!). will get your church management PwnedWebsites. system off on the right foot, or if you Secure transactions The best database you can have is a have already established one, it can If you are utilizing your ChMS for secure one. A couple suggestions for steady your footing. banking, bill paying, tithe collecting securing your database and avoiding Whether it’s breaking into cars at purposes, you need to make sure these falling victim to a data breach: night for drug money or breaking into financial transactions are shared over a church via their ChMS package, it’s 1. Maintain software patches. a secure channel (https), as not doing all vandalism where critical, sensitive This is not only true for your ChMS so could also be a big security risk. My data of yours can be stolen. In the car package but also for other software assumption here is that since payment it is your wallet, and at church via the applications running alongside your gateways are mostly third party sites, ChMS, it is your personal information. ChMS (i.e., Adobe, Java, etc.). It is also they may tend to have a lot of security Crime is crime. However, taking basic critical that you keep your Operating including an SSL based communication security procedures like AV software, System patches up-to-date. which secures the link, etc. However, it software updates and complex is still worth verifying. 2. Install strong security passwords can prevent such attacks, software on your system And more: just like taking a moment at night to hosting your ChMS. As always Another possible security breach lock your cars or secure your tools can (and I know I am biased) but I would would be backdoor type operations, make the difference of still owning recommend Thirtyseven4 Endpoint and that refers to properly locking them in the morning. Security. We not only offer strong down the check-in stations available We all like happy endings. The AntiVirus/AntiMalware protection to the public, which is very important. wedding ring mentioned earlier that but also many other great features Of course in a church “family” was stolen from an unlocked car at such as Intrusion Detection/Intrusion we want to trust our members and night was found! The woman that lost Prevention (to thwart direct cyber attenders. And in my own driveway, I it tracked it down herself at a local attacks), Patch Management (to would like to believe that my vehicles pawn shop. Spare yourself the drama, automatically check, disperse and are safe. But I still lock my doors, however, and keep your valuables (car install the critical software patches and we did not have any valuables or church!) well-secured. MT noted above), Firewall, etc. Our stolen during that rash of break-ins, product is customized for churches of which I attribute to locked vehicles. Steven Sundermeier is the owner of all sizes. Thirtyseven4, LLC, a leading Like clockwork, you can listen for the 3. When installing your ChMS provider of antivirus/ “beep-beep” of my clicking the locked- security software. With 17 and configuring your backend door alarm on our cars every night years of experience in the databases, use complex before I go to bed, but then I ensure cybersecurity field, he is one of the nation’s leading passwords that can’t be easily that they are secure. It’s up to us to guessed/cracked. Recent ChMS experts in virus, malware and other threats. take the measures to keep ourselves, Before founding Thirtyseven4 in 2009, developments now allow for the our families, our churches and our Steven worked in a number of roles in the option of a cloud-based solution as personal information safe. Why antivirus industry dating back to 1999. well (the ChMS can be accessed from wouldn’t we go through those motions anywhere), and so our basic security at church, as well as at home? recommendations stand firm–do As a refresher, my basic tips for not store passwords in browsers ChMS security include choosing a October 2017 | 13 ANNUAL church management software GUIDE (chms)
Choosing a new Church Management Software (ChMS) can be a daunting task. Today there are more than 200 software providers in the marketplace, offering cloud-based subscription service or fee for license solutions. How can you find the right ChMS for your ministry? Features alone don’t tell the story: In fact, it’s possible for a ChMS to contain too many features (the dreaded “software bloat” so common in many markets) or features so complicated it would require an IT degree in order to use them effectively.
14 | MinistryTech.com acs technologies
When ACS Technologies set out to build Realm several years ago, it was not because churches lacked church management software options. Church software technology was at a crossroads, and as one of the early originators of the church management software space, ACS has always felt the responsibility to lead. They recently felt it was time to reevaluate their approach, and set out to create something that would connect church staff to their ministry in new and innovative ways. Without intentional bridges to real life, software can feel impersonal. It’s often seen according to its function, not impact. ACS attempts to change that approach: Its product, Realm, impacts real ministry in three ways: spiritually, operationally and relationally. First, Realm equips churches to disciple their church family. The ACS approach believes that discipleship requires effective administration. It involves knowing more about the people who are involved and coordinating the multiple moving parts of ministry. Realm covers all the ChMS bases like small groups, check-in, events, giving and member management, but doesn’t stop there. For example, it created a feature called Pathways to help churches manage the touchpoints and workflows of key processes like membership or leadership training. Secondly, Realm elegantly handles the operational aspects of ministry. It provides a full spectrum of modern giving tools to congregants and equips the week church-wide and among small groups. Realm’s business administrators to process contributions efficiently. mobile app engages people and makes it easy to stay Last summer, they introduced integrated accounting into involved. Realm, and it quickly became a popular fund accounting Realm is the result of 40 years of serving church option for churches. ACS believes that integrated online ministries. ACS Technologies has learned by experience. accounting is a clear point of differentiation, and they are Their website states that no other church management excited about their plans to expand its capabilities over the solution available today integrates administration, next several quarters. accounting and community into one web and mobile The third core element of Realm is its ability to system. foster, grow and strengthen relationships among a church community. Communication is a key part of building relationships, and with the introduction of direct messaging in its mobile app this past summer; it visit the website became easier than ever for people to connect throughout
October 2017 | 15 APLOS
Tim Goetz, the founder and CEO of Aplos Software, developed as desktop products, and they came with worked as a financial statement auditor at Deloitte and hefty price tags. The situation was intolerable. In 2009 Touché as an internal control specialist. Growing up in he began to create that solution on his own and launched California’s Central Valley he earned an accounting degree Aplos (Greek for “simple”). His strategy was, indeed, from nearby Fresno State. He’s always been good with simple: let other developers compete in the numbers. high-end market while he concentrated on a product more affordable for the vast number of churches out there. Aplos serves organizations with budgets of $500,000 or less a year in gross receipts, which is the vast majority: 90 percent of churches or parachurch/nonprofit organizations. A simple, straightforward fund accounting system serves these entities well, as most have fewer than a dozen employees. Their needs differ from larger churches. Recently Aplos announced their Aplos Advanced Accounting solution for larger organizations which may require more detailed functionality (such as reporting). As more and more churches provide community services (thus leveraging their facilities during the week) the Aplos By 2007, his entrepreneurial mindset caused him to Advanced Accounting program helps manage special move on: Goetz had changed industries and became the programs like daycare, multiple campuses or any number executive pastor at one of Fresno’s largest churches, The of other departments. Well. He quickly saw the lack inherent in accounting Churches interested in learning more about fund programs available to churches at that time: namely, accounting solutions can visit Aplos.com. fund accounting. His attempts to locate fund accounting software led him to discover that there were only a few market offerings, and these products were outdated, visit the website overpriced or both. Most solutions were originally
16 | MinistryTech.com church community builder
Church Community Builder is an all-in-one Cloud- Once someone has moved through all the steps, they can based software featuring what you may need to facilitate be added to a group, event or next steps to facilitate even engagement in the church, including People Profiles, deeper engagement in the church. Children’s Check-in, Event and Group Management, Since mobile technology is already the largest access Volunteer Scheduling, Online Giving, Dashboard Metrics, point to ChMS software, Church Community Builder is and Mobile Apps. Church Community Builder currently working aggressively to provide the tools people need serves around 4,500 churches. to do their ministry wherever they are, on whatever Church Community Builder was founded with the device makes sense. For example, they’ve introduced a mission to create a solution that was more than just new mobile app that gives easy access to key tools and a database for church administration: to empower information needed for engagement and discipleship. Also, leaders in all areas of the church to be more their check-in system is touchscreen compatible, with a effective in their ministry. Their website points to check-in app available for iPads. their passion for providing tools to equip church leaders in the work of ministry, whether that’s staff, volunteers or engaged members of the church. Their focus on engagement and discipleship makes this software drive their standout features. Each ministry tool fully integrates with the next, creating a software ecosystem that provides a complete picture of someone’s involvement in the church, so they Church Community Builder is designed to can be targeted for deeper engagement opportunities—or empower your church to be more effective and followed up with if they’re slipping through the cracks. grow disciples, to increase connection between Church Community Builder has a feature for promoting church members, and provide the tools at every discipleship: Process Queues. This feature aids in tracking level of ministry for deeper engagement. people for follow-up in any key process or life event in the church. With detailed involvement information and notes, the leader of each step has a comprehensive understanding visit the website of who each person is and where they are on their journey.
October 2017 | 17 churchteams
As the name implies, Churchteams was designed In 2017 Churchteams built out and released a fully for churches that have groups or teams central integrated texting suite. With a single, local 10-digit to everything they do. This organizational approach number people can donate, register for anything, mark is key to their simplified database structure. A second attendance and securely check in their children. This distinctive is that it’s built on a web-based platform, complements their feature for texting content, and their optimized for use on any device. This means you have full email-marketing platform that allows you to create and access to everything the software does on your desktop, save templates, schedule and track emails. laptop, tablet or phone equally. Users are not limited to the Next up, in the near feature, will be an upgrade in capabilities of Google or Apple apps. the user Interface. This will include an updated look, A third distinctive is what is called “responsive access.” streamlining many processes, and doing much more The first part of responsive access is that church members, to integrate business intelligence tools into reporting. attenders, volunteers and even volunteer leaders access Churchteams’ goal is to combine the best the database from links the software puts in an email or ministry practices with the latest technology text sent to them for everything they need to do. Response ideas for everything that has to do with people rates using this approach dwarf those that ask people to log data for your church. By building these into a single, in, create an account or download an app. The second part unified ChMS, churches will not need to worry about of responsive access is the registration form-builder. You linking data silos together. This simple consolidation can create forms for anything. They can include payment approach to data management is foundational to the next options, limited number of spots, secondary registrations “intelligent” revolution everyone anticipates seeing in the for childcare, texting keywords and much more. When upcoming decade. respondents complete the form, the software matches them based on that information so that they don’t have to log in, but you have all their information in your database. visit the website
18 | MinistryTech.com church windows
Church Windows has been around since 1987 and has This unique blend of experience and accumulated grown to include over 12,000 churches. This firm (and feedback (listening to their users) has helped Church their products) know the church office. Windows meet changing needs in a growing marketplace. Over the years they have developed, tested and rolled Their 30-year history has provided a sense of security for out membership packages (including attendance and users who are looking for a long-term relationship. visits), scheduling packages, donation management, Church Windows prides itself in staying along with accounting and payroll functions. Each can aware of the workings of a church office. Among be purchased separately or can be an integrated package. their programming, administrative and support staff, they have current and former church treasurers, office assistants and music ministers. This allows them to know the challenges facing administrative staff and develop programs that are as easy-to-use as possible. With the advent of Version 20 (releasing this fall) their entire program has reached new heights of flexibility. Church staff people often say things like, “We do things a little differently around here.” Church Windows’ flexibility allows them to help churches achieve their goals. Each module is modifiable to meet your individual needs. You know how important it is to have a helpful, friendly person to assist with completing tasks so that the business of ministry is more effective. The support techs at Church Windows currently have an average of 14 years of experience in assisting church personnel and volunteers. They can speak to all levels of computer experience –from the novice volunteer to the IT professional. You have other needs as well. Church Windows keeps up with growing trends in the industry and knows how to choose the best business partners to enhance the scope of your tools. Church Windows data can easily be exported to programs like Word and Excel. In addition, their product provides seamless integration with Vanco to support your online giving, and KidCheck to protect children with secure children’s check-in software for their safety. Other Church Windows partners include Steeple Accounting Services, Constant Contact, Nelco, Postage Saver and Lorton Data. visit the website
October 2017 | 19 diakonia
Over 23 years ago Diakonia saw that churches needed email addresses, and generate an updated photo directory. an affordable way to easily manage their records. Today Follow up with absentees so they don’t fall through the Diakonia offers both desktop and web/mobile solutions cracks. And use groups to create an unlimited number of of Faithful Steward starting at only $20 monthly. They custom fields for your members. continue in the tradition of ensuring that only features Faithful Steward’s donor management helps you get most churches find essential are included. This makes it your deposit to the bank fast with check readers. It can also easier to navigate and use Faithful Steward rather than create the electronic deposit in your accounting software other unwieldy, large solutions that many users never if you’d prefer (including QuickBooks, Peachtree, FirstEdge seem to grasp. This solution saves time, helping or their own Faithful Steward Fund Accounting). It makes you complete your daily church tasks in an it easy to remind your donors that are past due on their approachable way. pledges. Eliminate end of year stress by requesting all your The Diakonia browser-based solution lets many people donor receipts be emailed. in your church securely collaborate from any location The optional fund accounting doesn’t require a using any number of Windows or Mac PCs, smartphones background in accounting to use. Set up budgets and or tablets. It eliminates the need for IT staff to set up your compare against actual expenses. View the audit trail at network so you can share data. And if you leave the office any time. Manage restricted funds properly by releasing and need to do something, you’re as close to your church’s them first. This makes it easy to be ready for end of year data as the opening of an Internet browser. Faithful financial reports. Diakonia is adjusting its existing fund Steward Web is resilient enough to withstand complete accounting to be ready for the recent changes in nonprofit computer failures without the need for you to remember GAAP guidance. to create and store offsite backups. Learn more at http://faithfulsteward.com. Using Faithful Steward’s mobile app it’s easy to contact people from the palm of your hand via phone, texting or email. Send people messages about upcoming events or visit the website changes in planned events. Adjust a person’s primary or alternative address, or any number of phone numbers or
20 | MinistryTech.com For more than 25 years, Icon Systems has been developing software for churches and nonprofit organizations. Icon Systems offers multiple church management software packages that will meet the needs of any religious organization, from church plants all the way up to multi-site campuses and denominational offices. ICON Product History 1981 1992 1998 2003 2005 2008 2016
Icon Systems A double-entry fund Rubix is released, creates a web- Robert “Bob” accounting system, bringing the based interactive Gifford serves as complete with General cutting edge of dashboard the Senior VP Ledger, Accounts technology to the that works in of Great Plains. Receivable, Accounts church software conjunction with His work is key Payable and Banking market. Revelations. to the Dynamics modules, is added to Accounting IconCMO. Software product line, After retiring from Great Payroll is which later sells Plains, Bob is approached released as to Microsoft for by church leaders to IconCMO, the first an add-on $1.1 billion. develop a high quality fully cloud-based module to church management ChMS, is released. IconCMO’s system—Revelations. fund accounting software. why icon systems? Every church has different needs and processes. Icon carefully designs products to be flexible so you can adapt them to your church’s unique requirements. IconCMO, an all-in-one web-based church management system, seamlessly integrates membership, contributions, accounting, and a mobile app for members. It even accommodates multi-site campuses and roll-up reporting for districts and dioceses. customer quotes “I like being able to work “[I was] able to sign up “I have had to call customer support for a few things over from my office or at home. for a free trial before the years and they have been AWESOME!!! They have been It is very convenient with I made the purchase able to help me in a short amount of time using language I my busy schedule.” decision. With other can understand.” Kimberly, Zion Evangelical vendors, I’d have to rely Wendy, First Lutheran Church Lutheran Church on slick marketing and then find out later it’s It beats the socks off of QuickBooks when it comes to [I] love having “ “ not what [I] expected.” nonprofit/fund accounting.” everything in one place.” Markus, Neshoba Church Bob, Mt. Olive June, Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer find out more You can contact Icon at (800) 596-4266 or [email protected]. visit the website Get a free trial of the church management software.
October 2017 | 21 nuverb (donarius) visit the website
Church management software is a church. It keeps track of your but without any monthly fees. With tool that should make your life easier members, contributions and Donarius you can print your own and help you get tasks done faster. pledges. Donarius has individual offering envelopes rather than buy You also want a company that will and family pictures of each member pre-printed ones from a church be there to help you. And, of course, and prints a photo directory. It will envelope company. The format of the you want this at a reasonable cost. print or email your statements and envelopes can be customized at no Donarius has all these elements: year-end tax receipts. extra cost. A recently added feature is functionality, support and Donarius can send personalized exporting members, contributions and pricing. emails and text messages. You can bank deposits to QuickBooks. Donarius’ functionality is best even access your data from any PC When it comes to support, you are suited to a small or medium sized or Mac, just like web-based software, covered for one year. During that year you get free updates. Importing data from your previous software is included at no extra cost. They will even modify the software for you, if necessary. Finally, Donarius is priced so you pay only for the features you need. There is a base version for member/ contribution tracking and reporting. Modules for additional tasks are optional. For example, if you don’t want to print a photo directory, you can omit that module. Some of the other modules are for tracking pledges, automatically entering ACH transactions, and sending personalized emails and text messages. Small churches of under 100 members get a 25 percent discount. Over 2,200 churches and nonprofits in the USA and Canada use Donarius. Download a trial version or sign up for an online demo at: www.donarius.com or call 1-888- 479-4636.
22 | MinistryTech.com announcements and reminders can have a positive my church place impact on support and attendance. But it’s equally important for church members to have their own voice. For churches that value unity and fellowship, My Every church member should have the ability to convey Church Place provides an instant messaging solution good news or prayer requests at any time with their that promotes unity through an easy-to-use mobile church family. app and website. In order to meet these needs, My Church Place has We are called as Christians to live in a state of harmony incorporated several features, including: and togetherness with fellow believers. Churches today • Option of using the website or mobile app are faced with the challenge of fostering a strong sense • Push notifications for mobile app users of fellowship and unity within their congregation. Every • Unlimited number of messages church should have a plan for achieving this important • Approval system to ensure all messages are wholesome goal. An instant messaging system can be an important • Church teams for more private messaging part of that plan. • Free and friendly support Church leaders need the ability to communicate Learn more about how My Church Place can serve your effectively with church members not only on Sundays, church at www.mychurchplace.com. but between services as well. Sending frequent
PowerChurch Software is committed to church administrators to provide software that increases their efficiency, improves outreach to the church community, and streamlines the various powerchurch bookkeeping tasks. It offers integrated software solutions These products integrate with many other third party to manage church members and visitors, group participation products and services, such as online giving from Vanco and attendance history, schedule church events, track giving Payment Solutions, Google Calendar sync, background records and trends, prepare donation or pledge statements, checks for volunteers and staff from Protect My Ministry, account for the church’s finances, and process staff payroll. bulk email via Constant Contact, electronic filing of W2, PowerChurch Software offers solutions for churches with 941 and 1099-MISC forms, and much more. various needs. For users that prefer a traditional desktop PowerChurch continues to support and develop their application or do not have reliable Internet access at the software products, adding features that existing and church, there’s PowerChurch Plus. This all-in-one software is prospective users have requested. User suggestions drive installed on Windows computers, and is fully networkable continuing improvement and growth of PowerChurch for multiple user access at no additional cost. Software products. For those wanting to access their church management Later this year PowerChurch will release Version 12 of software from any location, they offer PowerChurch Online. PowerChurch Plus, which promises to be one of the largest This is an installation of PowerChurch Plus, which resides on updates they have ever produced. PowerChurch Software servers accessed remotely from across the Internet. This gives products are an excellent value, offering functionality for users of Windows, Mac, and Linux computers secure access large churches, but at a price even the smallest churches from virtually any computer with broadband Internet. A can afford. This pricing is straightforward and easy to mobile web app is also available, giving access to membership understand with no hidden upcharges. information from phones and tablets. For more pricing, information, and free demos of For the nursery and children’s events, there’s the PowerChurch Plus and PowerChurch Online, visit www. PowerChurch Check In System. This installs on Windows powerchurch.com or give them a call at (800) 486-1800. computers and integrates with your PowerChurch Plus or PowerChurch Online data. It supports Dymo label printers, bar code scanners and web cams for capturing pictures of visit the website those new to your membership.
October 2017 | 23 seraphim
visit the website
Seraphim can help your church do amazing things. Seraphim lets you run your entire church simultaneously without the need for additional software. It allows you to connect your people, back office and other ministry teams together in a way no other system offers. And it all happens in the cloud so you can use Seraphim from any location. Member Management. Ministry Planning. Financial Tools. Reporting & Analytics. Giving Tools. Check Scanning. Safe Check-in. Gift/Skill-based Volunteer Matching. Attendance Tracking. Mobile App. Seraphim offers all these innovative features and more, but the cornerstone of Seraphim is not about any single tool, but how they all work together to complement your church’s core mission. By integrating all of these features, Seraphim enriches the work of your church by simplifying day-to-day processes and creating ways to get congregants and ministry more engaged. INNOVATING THE TOOLS Co-founders Sam Batterman, CTO, and Chris Caldwell, CFO, continue to grow this forward-thinking organization, serving hundreds of churches nationwide. Coming to Seraphim from Microsoft (where he worked on SQL Server and Business Intelligence Tools), Batterman brings a unique perspective, marrying the concept of process with a relationship- based model like church management. And the innovations keep coming! In the past four years, Seraphim has created: • A fully-branded mobile church app, included in every suite (Seraphim ChurchApp) • A completely new, integrated church management software suite (Seraphim Office) • A unique remote deposit system, complete with check scanning (Seraphim Teller) • The first-ever heterogeneous commercial church data warehouse (Seraphim Insight) In 2016 alone Seraphim had 100+ platform updates, and it continues to deliver feature-rich updates to every customer four times a year. investing in people Not only does Seraphim invest time and research in processes that will simplify and enhance ministry, but also they have invested in the most important tool any church has: people. Seraphim made their customer service team a number one priority and it is obvious, according to their customers:
“Powerful resource for any size “This company truly “Great customer service! It is also accessible church. Constantly improving and cares about customers.” from any computer. I love that I can find upgrading, support is excellent to Mark Boyer everything I need in one place instead of respond and help with issues.” Church Administrator searching through different databases or files.” Community Baptist Church Scott Wright, Pastor Cherri Abner, Office Administrator Redeemed Bible Fellowship Church Cascades Baptist Church
24 | MinistryTech.com Do Ministry Anywhere! Whether it’s at home, the coffee shop, visiting someone in the hospital or meeting youth at the local skate park, ministry today is more about building and managing servant pc relationships and less about clocking hours in the church Servant Keeper and the top five reasons are ease-of-use, office. automation, customization, data accessibility and price It’s because of this that Servant Keeper has made it a (most churches are looking at a 50-90 percent savings with priority to enable doing ministry anywhere. Through Servant Keeper). the wildly successful ServantPC Cloud, church staff and None of this would mean much without incredible volunteers are able to work offsite using web, mobile and customer support. A quick glance at online reviews shows desktop apps to help them build and manage relationships how much people love and appreciate the Help Desk regardless of their physical location. agents supporting Servant Keeper. One of the contributing Unlike most overly simple ‘web-based’ solutions, Servant factors is that, unlike other companies, Servant PC does Keeper follows the model set by Google and Facebook not outsource support services. With the Help Desk where your data lives in the cloud, and you can access that working under the same roof as the developers and sales data using powerful locally installed applications on Mac, departments there is great synergy and team spirit. All of PC, Android and iOS devices as well as web apps that use a these factors add up to award winning service. regular browser. Servant Keeper is available as an on-premises or These apps help accomplish many aspects of ministry cloud solution and also plays well with a continuously from child check-in to visitor follow- up. Robust features include everything from mass communication tools for mail, voice, email to donor management and pledge tracking. Scheduled appointments, confidential notes, important dates, contact information and more are always on hand so that opportunities are not lost or overlooked. Free church-wide tools for church members are also an important part of the solution. The free online church directory and self-managed member profiles reduce administrative work while helping to connect members. Members can update their information, register for classes expanding list of services and programs including Vanco, and events, and volunteer online without having to Quickbooks, Eventbrite, Mailchimp, Verified Volunteers complete numerous cumbersome forms. and Ministry Scheduler Pro. Stay tuned for more solutions, If you’ve ever used church software you know that apps and integrations as Servant Keeper continues features don’t matter much if a program is not easy to use, to expand, adapt and grow to help folks do ministry which is the number one reason people give for switching anywhere! to Servant Keeper from another program and have posted more five-star reviews than any other program. Ease-of-use isn’t the only thing when it comes to visit the website Servant Keeper. Over 30,000 churches have switched to
October 2017 | 25 Suran (cdm+) “There’s an app for that.” That seems to be a Looking for a watchword for the early part of the 21st century. For almost any function or task you can imagine, there’s TOTALLY Integrated an app for it. It’s true in the church as well. Whether the task is tracking visitors, offering new opportunities Church Management to give and serve, communicating with members or Solution? groups, keeping up with attendance, or just having reliable, searchable and usable information for church members, there’s an app for that. CDM+ from Suran Systems integrates all of those functions into one system, providing a single source for your church information management. With CDM+, there is no need for isolated apps to manage individual functions. Your church’s important information—members, visitors, facilities, contributions, events and more—is available in a single, integrated database that works in the cloud, on your desktop and on your mobile devices. Within churches and organizations, the network of relationships extends well beyond the relationships within a household. In version 10.0, CDM+ introduced Connections, a powerful tool that helps churches manage and understand that network of relationships. With Connections, any information in your database can be connected to any other information, painting a clearer picture of the network that makes up your church. You carry out your ministry on the go, and with powerful cloud-based and mobile tools, CDM+ is on In today’s rapidly-changing computing environment, the go with you, providing access to ministry data you need a tightly integrated system to keep your whenever and wherever you need it. Using CDM+ church healthy and your people connected. CDM+ offers TOTAL integration in both devices and design. Whether Mobile, ministers and small group leaders can look you access CDM+ from your desktop, the web or your up member data, record visits and share information. mobile device, you’re using a powerful solution that’s Engage provides a member portal and online giving complete in itself. from desktop computers, phones and mobile devices. Later this fall, both CDM+ Mobile and Engage will allow There’s no need to import or export data between programs to keep up with members and visitors, track updating CDM+ data from phones and mobile devices. interests and attendance, honor stewardship, manage CDM+ integrates all of your church’s vital church finances, handle clergy and staff payroll . . . information, making it available wherever your and more. ministry takes you, in the cloud, on your desktop and on the move. www.cdmplus.com • 877-891-4236 Try out a full working demo: visit the website www.cdmplus.com/demo
26 | MinistryTech.com web church connect
When choosing church management software it’s important to remember that a big name doesn’t always guarantee better quality. There may be databases out there that are popular because they have great branding, they know how to market their product, or they’ve been around a while. But the real question to ask is: What is the quality or value of the product? What services are you actually getting for the amount of money you are spending? Web Church Connect has found that most people are looking for something that is user-friendly, easy to customize and affordable. More than anything, you want simplicity. A lot of the eye-catching databases out there offer simplicity, yes, but with simplicity there is little room for customization. All churches are diverse, so having the ability to create and customize options that fit right for each individual church is a must. The beauty that Web Church Connect has isn’t only a What makes Web Church Connect stand out beautiful interface, it is a cloud-based software that from other ChMS is their willingness to help out empowers your organization by allowing you to access and listen to the needs of churches. They keep it from anywhere with Internet connection, meaning Web Church Connect affordable, with a flat rate that will you can have an unlimited amount of users in the not increase based on the number of members. One great database at one time. Web Church Connect provides need is online donation integrations. Web Church Connect you with the tools you need to design and handcraft has integration features that allow for multiple sources of your database to accommodate your specific church online donations to be integrated directly into the church’s needs without sacrificing simplicity or functionality. database, making member donation tracking simple. Tools such as communications that allow you to Bottom line: If you’re looking for something functional schedule emails or text messages to be sent at a later that gives you the freedom to invent and customize a date and time to specific groups, customizable member program that fits your church, and still have the simplicity fields that allow you to create member fields unique to and speed of a ‘powerful’ ChMS, then you connect with your church, and unlimited customer support for any Web Church Connect. questions you may have. visit the website
October 2017 | 27 Maybe you're a spreadsheet person. You know: comparing, contrasting and evaluating features; finding the chms features differences in every detail. We've got your back with this comparison tool. (AND you can check out an even more extensive feature list at: a quick comparison https://ministrytech.com/church-software/.
ogies Please click on each company name to read the review.
acs technolaplos church communitychurch builder teamschurch windowsdiakonia (faithfulelexio steward)icon systemsnuverb (donarius)power churchseraphim softwareservant pc suran (cdm+)shepherd’s staffweb church connect
Tracks Attendance Task Management and Assignment for Staff Accessed via web browser
general Runs on Ministry’s Local / Internal Server Hosted on Off-Site Multi-Homed Servers provides secure check-in and check-out includes picture verification for nursery/
check-in children pickup can send group specific broadcast text messages can send individually-addressed bulk emails
communication includes small group management features Provides complete web solution Unique Permission/Security Levels
website Calendar can connect to Ministry’s Website Provides Accounting Adheres to accounting standards for non profit financial reporting Tracks Gifts in Kind
finance Statements Can Be Automaticaly Sent via Email Government Forms (W2, 1099, etc) Time Clock Interface for Staff $$$$ $$$ $$ price range $
visit website to learn more >
28 | MinistryTech.com 5 key takeaways for building a more effective church website Check Your Website Against These Solid Ideas by Outreach Team
n today’s tech-savvy culture an online presence is so that people will feel comfortable attending. Here vital—and you may need help optimizing your church are two quick tips for making sure your website makes I website to help your visitors find you, get to know the right first impression: you and make the decision to come to your church. At • Don’t overload your main page with images and Outreach, we’ve discovered that everyone can use at content—you wouldn’t put every item you own on least some help figuring how to get their website started. the front porch, right? In a recent webinar (one of our most popular ever), • Put your service times front and center. It’s really “Learn the Basics: Build an Effective Church Website,” one of the first things people look for once they’ve church website specialist Becky shared her insights into found their way to your site. You can display it in what works best for a welcoming and informative site. the header, in special buttons, in an event block You can catch the whole webinar at the bottom of this or in a callout box. You can also include an inter- page, but we’ve broken out five key takeaways you can active calendar that showcases even more events use to get started in optimizing your church website. than just your services. Include your Bible studies, teen outreach nights or small groups. The main 1. Get found! point is to let everyone know when you’re holding Since you’re reading this article, you’ve proba- events, with services being the most important. bly been thinking about creating a website for your church, or wondering how to make your existing one 3. The quality of your images is vital. more effective. You’re on the right track! Years ago, In the recent website webinar, attendees noted that when people looked for a church, they relied on the images were incredibly important in building an ap- phone book, word of mouth or driving around the pealing website. Low resolution, blurry images make a neighborhood. In many ways, the Internet has made church look unprofessional and that can drive poten- it easier than ever to find a church. People can now tial visitors away. Pick images that are clear, bright search by ZIP code, denomination, amenities and and high resolution. Make sure they reflect the cul- more. A website is the first place most people look to ture and demographics of your church so that visitors learn about churches in their area, and if you don’t will get an idea of who your members and staff are— have one, you’re missing out on a lot of potential new and if they will feel comfortable attending. Showcase members. You may have a minor online listing or a your most popular events or any special features your mention in a Google search, but without an actual church offers. Share your thriving children’s ministry, website, you’re basically invisible. engaging mission trips or community service projects. When including graphics such as charts, graphs and 2. Your homepage is the front door of your church. infographics, they should look clean, be grammatically Since your website is likely the first way that peo- correct and easy to understand, with correct numbers ple will “meet” your church, it’s important that you and statistics (when used). Note: Always ensure you think of it as the virtual front door to your church. have the right to use images that you display. Don’t just Like your home, you want it to look inviting and warm
October 2017 | 29 pull randomly from Google images—it could cause legal troubles for you! 4. Make your visitors feel welcome. A COMPLETE ADVENT & Create an environment that encour- CHRISTMAS EVE SERIES ages your visitors to get to know your church and lets them know you’re excited that they’re considering your church. You can create a “welcome statement” on your homepage with a few words about your church. Alternatively, you can create an “I’m New” button that takes them to a page created just for new visitors. Fill it with all the information a new person might want to know about your church. This includes general attire expected, an overview of the average service, special Download your FREE Ministry Bundle notices and more. 5. Include your location and directions. Your church’s location is a critical fac- tor for people choosing a place to worship, and making sure it’s easy to find can go a long way in optimizing your church website. Place a map on your website so Exclusive offer only available when you they can easily find out if you’re in the download the FREE Ministry Bundle area they desire. Some people may choose
Free Ministry Bundle 500 FREE 10 FREE Advent to worship in a place close to their job. with social media graphics, Engager Invitations Devotional Books Best Practices Guide (with kit purchase) Others may pick a church near relatives and more! so that everyone can attend in a group. A clear location will help your visitors know Take your members and visitors on an unforgettable journey of hope, love, joy, and peace with this new 5-week advent series that features stories of people if you’re right for them. Additionally, in- in the Bible, as well as people today, whom God visits in unexpected ways clude any special instructions, not just for filling their journeys with hope just as He did that first Christmas. getting to your church, but also for navi- gating your property. For example, if your Coming Soon! Invitation tools, banners, and a kids’ 4-week advent series based on the parking lot is quite far from the doors, upcoming Sony AFFIRM animated film,The Star. make sure visitors know to drop off those who need assistance at the entrance. Or, if your church has multiple doors, let
Visit Outreach.com/Star-Bundle to Get Started! them know the proper ones to enter. This way, they aren’t stuck wandering all over
trying to find their way in. MT
For more tips, visit Outreach Learning Center: https://learningcenter.outreach.com.
30 | MinistryTech.com “The LORD is in his holy Temple. can technology calm the All the earth— be quiet in his presence.” storm around you? Habakkuk 2:20 Seraphim Software says yes.
od asks us to be still and focus on His message. After electronic Rolodex you might not be engaging with to- all, isn’t the message of God the reason why we all do day’s congregants in the most meaningful way, let alone G what we do? A resounding “YES,” answers tech guru empowering them in the process. Sam Batterman, CEO and founder of Seraphim Software. “We took a look at what church software was out “Most churches do not have the time to regularly research there and the industry seemed mired in decades old new technology trends to best serve their ministry, nor technology that had lost site of the true point of ChMS. should they have to! It is our job (church software) to inno- It was time to focus on the core,” said Seraphim CFO vate and anticipate, making ministry easier.” Chris Caldwell. “With the onset of cloud and big data, why do we THE EVOLUTION OF CHMS let the church sit behind the times?” asked Batterman. Thirty years ago, you bought a ChMS to serve as “Those of us in the ChMS industry should, and can, do your electronic membership directory. Twenty years better.” ago you bought a ChMS to improve communications. In 2013, Seraphim set out to fix the void left by Most recently, church software seemed to be about the church management systems launched over three bells and whistles that can often distract us. Today, decades ago. This founding vision (to build the most the focus is back to basics with an emphasis on mem- innovative church management software focused bership. The time has come to truly connect with your around the essential message of the church) is what sets church community. If your ChMS still feels like an
“The features of the program have transformed the way we do ministry and we are still adding aspects of Seraphim to our daily lives every week. They are at the cutting edge of church technology and are adding and adapting features all the time. You can tell they are serious about getting this right and staying on the front lines.” mark boyer |church admin, community baptist church
October 2017 | 31 Seraphim apart. The core for Seraphim is the content of but how all can work together to complement the your worship service. They began by looking at the real church’s core mission. Specific features include: reason today’s churches need a ChMS—and it wasn’t to • Member Management be the best electronic Rolodex ever. • Ministry Planner • Finance Tools BUILDING A CHMS FROM THE INSIDE OUT • Reporting & Analytics In the past, church software began with a feature • Giving Tools like online giving or safe check-in, but Seraphim was • Check Scanning founded on the belief that you must first look at the core • Cherub Safe Check-in of your church—spreading the Word of God—and build • Gift/Skill-Based Volunteer Matching all components from there. By keeping their mission • Attendance Tracking focused on serving the most integral part of the church, • Mobile Church App Seraphim has built a technology platform that caters to what matters most. Seraphim uses technology to make WHO CAN REMEMBER LAST MONTH’S SERMON? your church’s mission better in two simple ways. When church content is at the core of a fully in- • Assisting with all the preparation before tegrated church software suite, it’s OK if you don’t the service, like organizing volunteers and remember exact sermons. You can find whatever implementing safe check-in. content you want, whenever you want! When staff or • Recording everything that happens after the a congregant wants to reference something the pastor service, such as attendance, donations, servers, talked about three weeks ago, it is easy to find. Within security, visitors and analysis Seraphim’s premiere production software known as All of these pieces work together to provide a total Airstream, not only can you watch services but also church solution that satisfies every stakeholder. The any member can access complete texts of sermons. cornerstone of Seraphim is not about one single feature, Video can be indexed so you can search for exact words
32 | MinistryTech.com your pastor said, not just images. AirStream is the only automatically does your management for you, maxi- presentation software that can present, capture, stream, mizing your computer’s hardware while leveraging the transcode, package and put it all on your website. Cloud as centralized storage. Similar to powerful apps like Office 365, Adobe Connect or Spotify, Seraphim IS THERE AN APP FOR THAT? continuously updates users. Users are perpetually To encourage engagement, the Seraphim ChurchApp pushed new capabilities, all from the same system. was recently added into the structure of every Seraphim suite. Now congregants can donate, volunteer, update INNOVATE AND ANTICIPATE an event or join a small group on an app that is fully Constant innovation should be at the heart of any branded to your church, helping them identify with ChMS. Social tools, analytics and mobile devices are your community every time they use the app. With pushing technology in the church like never before. more than three quarters of Americans now using Seraphim meets this need with hundreds of new fea- smartphones, this constantly evolving tool can truly tures introduced in four updates every year. In 2016 broaden your church’s reach. alone Seraphim had over a hundred platform updates. An option like the Seraphim ChurchApp automati- Four times a year we deliver feature-rich updates to cally publishes live content from your database to the every customer. app. For instance, put a couple’s anniversary in your In the past four years, Seraphim has created: database and it can instantly be seen in the ChurchApp • A Completely New, Integrated Church Management by your pastor who might just happen to be with that Software Suite (Seraphim Office) couple and can now offer them a prayer for their mar- • A Fully Branded Mobile Church App (Seraphim riage then and there. ChurchApp) • A Unique Remote Deposit System, Complete With CAN I BRING MY PHONE? Check Scanning (Seraphim Teller) Over 40 percent of young people bring a phone • The First Ever Commercial Church Data (instead of a Bible) to church. Let’s make it even easier Warehouse (Seraphim Insight) for them to access the Word of God. With just the click of a button in the Seraphim ChurchApp, the sermon or WHAT COULD BE NEXT? a chosen Bible verse appears. A mobile app gains a role • The ability to “like” a song live as it is being played in worship not by simply pushing info to congregants, during Worship? but by engaging members and encouraging interaction • Facial recognition to supply true attendance during the service as well as after. records? By offering people the tools they need to stay con- • A Church Alexa to answer all inquiries? nected where they will actually use them, you can Is it farfetched? Maybe, but according to Batterman, demonstrate a true understanding of your congregants “If your ChMS isn’t supporting outside-the-box think- and a real willingness to attend to their needs anytime, ing, you aren’t with a visionary. That means you might anyplace. Your mobile app must not provide only one- just be paying for a glorified Rolodex.” way communication or serve as a static billboard; rather, “In the rush and noise of life, as you have intervals, it should provide a fully dynamic approach to interact- step home within yourselves and be still. Wait upon ing with and empowering your members. God, and feel His good presence; this will carry you evenly through your day’s business.” ~ William Penn CAN ANYONE UPDATE ANYWHERE ANYTIME? Still all the noise by finding the right ChMS for your Let your ChMS do your updates for you! With a church and get back to what matters most. To find out comprehensive church management software sys- more, visit SeraphimSoftware.com. MT tem, no need to buy servers or network equipment or even worry about backing up your database. Seraphim
October 2017 | 33 Hacks You Can Use Simple tricks everyone should know | by Nick Nicholaou
grew up in an age when a ‘hack’ was someone who was incompetent. In those days there were no personal computers or mobile devices. Now everyone has access to multiple computers and various mobile devices. And I wouldn’t you know it—‘hack’ has a new meaning! Today a hack can be a clever way to get things done well. Following are some hacks that can really help improve your efficiency on a computer!
HACKS FOR COMPUTER USERS The following hacks are especially helpful for computer users.
Keyboard shortcuts. In today’s world in the middle is where I do most of my response!), put a flag (due date) of of Windows and Mac operating systems my work, and the one on my right when I want to respond by and drag we have become dependent on pointing is for research references (browser, it to a subfolder based on the type of devices. Granted, those devices are database, etc.). I also find it helpful email it is (personal, business, etc.), or very helpful. But before these current when opening large spreadsheets to delete it if it’s one I don’t care about operating systems, we used keyboard stretch them across my middle and (like an ad). combinations to do some of what we right displays! • Sent Items. Once I send an email I delete it unless I need a reminder now do with a mouse or track pad. Recurring Tasks. We all have them: Those keyboard shortcuts are still recurring deadlines that are due every that I’m waiting for a response or available to use, and they can save time! Wednesday, once a month, quarterly, it was a topic that could have legal Here are six I still use often: etc. I use Outlook’s tasks functionality ramifications (if it was, I make a PDF to set the reminders I need to help copy and store it). function windows mac me hit my deadlines. This is one of • Trash. I empty my trash at the end Print Ctrl + p z + p the most helpful and least used tools of every day. In the rare case that I Copy Ctrl + c z + c available. I also use Outlook tasks to need to find something I deleted, I Cut Ctrl + x z + x remind me to do things I’ve promised log into our email server via browser Paste Ctrl + v z + v to do, helping me avoid them falling (using Outlook Web Access), search deleted files and restore it. Italics Ctrl + i z + i through the cracks of my active Automatic Backup. I always feel Bold Ctrl + b z + b schedule. bad for someone who says a hard Email consumes Managing Email. drive crashed and they lost all of Multiple Monitors/Displays. a larger part of our days than most of their files, including photos that were For those who’ve always used one us want. I have three email hacks that irreplaceable. Losing important files monitor or display, having two or help me stay focused and efficient, is painful. There are many cloud three may seem excessive. But even though my average daily email services available to consumers the increase in productivity with count is well over 100. that will automatically back up files two or three is surprising! I always • Inbox. I keep my Inbox as empty to their cloud servers. There are recommend at least two now; the as possible so I don’t waste time also utilities in the Windows and cost is minimal and the benefits are reading the same emails over and Mac operating systems that will significant! My desk is configured over. When an email comes in I automatically back up files to an with three: the one on my left always either respond and then delete the external drive. has Outlook running on it, the one original (a copy of the original is in
34 | MinistryTech.com HACKS FOR IT PROFESSIONALS The following hacks are especially helpful for IT professionals.
System setup checklists. As IT A good test is to restore a file or folder pros, we often set up new systems. structure and then open the file(s) to If the process isn’t automated, I verify the backups you’re relying on recommend creating a checklist are good. to help achieve standardization. Those are some hacks that can really
In addition to improving setup help! MT consistency, checklists save time
because you don’t need to review Nick Nicholaou is your work to determine what you’ve president of MBS, already done after an interruption. an IT consulting firm specializing in church church and ministry IT is The Church Professional Relationships. and ministry computer It’s so helpful to build friendships IT Network (http://churchitnetwork. networks, VoIP and private with people you can turn to when com). They have a low-cost annual cloud hosted services. You can reach Nick at [email protected], and a challenge comes up that stumps gathering in the Fall, and low-cost may want to check out his firm’s website, regional gatherings in the Spring. you! Those ‘lifeline’ calls can save www.mbsinc.com, and his blog at ministry- so much time! The best professional Monthly Backup Test. Set a task in it.blogspot.com. organization I’ve found for those in Outlook to test your backup monthly.
October 2017 | 35 STARTUP Telechoice’s Purpose Pyramid Move From Message to Purpose | by Russ McGuire
ach month for the past couple of So lately, I’ve started calling it the years I’ve profiled a Christian en- Purpose Pyramid. Specifically, I’ve Etrepreneur and his or her startup found that this tool can help or- business, and I’m not done yet. I hope ganizations at three stages in their these articles have been inspiring and development: helpful as you seek to innovate to the 1. When an organization or initiative glory of God within your ministry and is brand new, this tool can help a beyond. This month I’m taking a break team collaborate and coalesce on from those profiles to introduce you to an overarching mission. Why do a tool that I’ve found very useful as I they exist? What are they hoping work with teams and individuals. It’s to accomplish? we have to understand the core of been especially helpful for startups as 2. Once an organization understands why our organization exists, and, they are forming their initial purpose, their purpose, the tool can help as Christians, that purpose should prioritizing their activities, and figur- them deeply understand what bring glory to God. The top level of ing out how to describe what they do. they need to do to accomplish that the Purpose Pyramid captures that goal. essence of what we stand for. The More Than Messaging 3. Finally, as they begin to execute way that I think about it is this: If I learned this tool when I joined against that plan, the tool can help someone were to ask anyone who TeleChoice, a management consult- them communicate to any audi- has come in contact with your ing firm. We regularly used it when ence, internal or external, what organization, how would you hope working with clients on how to talk they are doing, why they will be that they describe you? For example, about their innovation. TeleChoice successful and why it matters. a couple of years ago I told you called it the Messaging Pyramid about CXfriends. I was pleased to because that’s how they used it, and Introducing the hear a mom ask another mom what even after I left the firm, (with their Purpose Pyramid CXfriends was and get the response, “They’re the Facebook alternative for permission) I continued to use the Below is a diagram representing Christian families.” That is exactly tool when I was helping an organ- the Purpose Pyramid. As you can see, what we wanted her to say. ization to develop how they would there are three main layers to the pyr- The middle level of the pyramid talk about themselves or a specific amid. The top layer is the overarching consists of three pillars that support product or initiative. It worked real- Purpose. The middle layer is made the purpose. If you’re going to be ly well for that purpose. up of the Pillars that support that successful in achieving your purpose, But, over the years, I’ve found Purpose. The bottom layer is a founda- what are the three most important it’s super helpful for more than just tion of Proof that grounds the Pillars things that have to be true about talking about what we’re doing. It can and Purpose in reality. Let’s talk about your organization? I always force really help define what we should be each of these in turn. organizations I’m working with to doing in the first place. In my mind, The Bible tells us, “So, whether name exactly three. In the Bible, the it was still the Messaging Pyramid, you eat or drink, or whatever you number three is frequently used, but when I called it that, and used it do, do all to the glory of God” (1 often representing completion. In for more, people became confused. Cor 10:31). Whatever we’re doing,
36 | MinistryTech.com STARTUP
is a earthly terms, a purpose supported in more detail, but I trust that you Russ McGuire trusted advisor with only by two pillars would seem can begin to figure it out. For a team proven strategic weak and unstable, while trying to that hasn’t yet reached consensus on insights. He has been blessed by remember and execute against more their Purpose, discussing aspects of God in many ways than three can be overwhelming. Pillars and Proofs that everyone can including serving as a corporate executive, co-founding Continuing with the CXfriends agree on may help to bring clarity to technology startups and writing a example, our three pillars - the three the top level message. For a project technology/business book. More importantly, he’s a husband and things that had to be true about our with a clear purpose, focusing on father who cares about people, service to accomplish our purpose crisply defining the Pillars and and he’s a committed Christian - were “Provide common social then the Proofs can crystalize an who seeks to honor God in all that he does. His newest venture is networking features,” “Provide a execution plan for accomplishing the as Entrepreneur in Residence at wholesome environment honoring Purpose. MT Oklahoma Christian University. to God,” and “Recognize God-given parental authority and family structure.” The bottom level of the pyramid provides a strong foundation for the entire structure. For each of the three pillars, what are three very specific proof points that will indicate that pillar is well established and can be trusted as sound? In Matthew 7, Jesus uses the image of a house built on a solid rock foundation in contrast to one built on shifting sand as an analogy for saving faith. Similarly, if we don’t have a rock-solid foundation to accomplish our purpose, we won’t withstand the storms that are sure to come. I won’t bore you with all nine of the Proofs for CXfriends, but for the social networking features, we For the scholar, the knew we needed to provide, as a bare minimum, personal profiles, status seeker, the servant. sharing and private messaging. If we lacked any of those features, OC is home. no one would seriously consider · Recognized as one of the best universities in the west by U.S. News and World Report and The Princeton Review. CXfriends to be a social network and no Christian families would consider · More than 80 areas of study. it an alternative to Facebook. · More than 40 current National Merit Finalists. The real magic is in using the · Named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. www.oc.edu/tech Purpose Pyramid. I’ll come back next month and walk through the process
October 2017 | 37 walking the fine line between art & science And How to Know the Difference by Bob Langlois wish I could take credit for coining the two on your head do not match. truth. Truth is simple. There must the term the “Art/ Science Line” but, There has to be a standard of meas- be a distinction between the art and I alas, I cannot. My years at Meyer urement that is only measured by science. Sound Labs lodged it into my brain. science and not opinion. Now, starting with a “Linear” It is a concept so important though, What does linear mean? Basically system is only half the equation. that if taken to heart by churches it means whatever comes out You must have that energy pointing and performance venues across the through your system should repre- to where the people actually are. nation and around the world, they sent in some shape, form or fashion You can’t have a system pointed to could tell the wheat from the chaff. what you put into it. I don’t care the back of a room and expect it to It would stop half the fraud that is about someone’s opinion until it cover the folks in front just because so rampant in our industry among comes to the art side of this equa- you think it looks better there. You churches, theaters and places that tion. We will get to that shortly. also cannot take a speaker and know use sound reinforcement. I no longer Understanding that there is a right its useable range is 40’ and have it work at Meyer but what I’ve learned and wrong way to design an audio 50’ from the seats that the cabinet is from being there and working for the system is critical. Opinions are just trying to cover. These are all issues legends who have built this industry that continue no matter how many will echo in my mind as long as I am Opinions are just opinions. If articles are written and how many in this business. The art of designing times the science doesn’t work. Here a sound system is really very simple. the science is not right, there is also a good rule of thumb when Does it meet and conform to God’s can be no art to be created. it comes to sound systems: If you laws of physics, or not? (Uh-oh: can’t see it, you probably can’t hear math!) There is no such thing as it. There are some instances where “Magic Ears.” Feelings do not count. opinions. If the science is not right things can be hidden and focused Describing sound through colors there can be no art to be created. electronically, but that’s for another does not cut it and, yes, I have heard Imagine a painter who is told to create day. Let’s just say for the most part that conversation more than a time his best work on canvas but is also it is not always applicable. or two. My favorite is, “I read it on told that he will have to start with There is no such thing as tuning the Internet.” That is also the favorite someone else’s work and fix it first. I a room. There is just direct energy. saying of every 22-year-old ever put heard someone speak at a reputable You can, however, tune a system in charge of an audio system. convention once and tell his class that and physically correct a room. This Either a system is linear or it mixing is subjective. It is like baking might roll around in your brain a is not. End of story. If it does not cookies: However you do it is just fine. bit, but think about it. I can’t tell you have a linear response then it must I left the room before I lost my cook- how many times engineers try to be subjective. If it is a subjective ies. What passes for knowledge in this correct the low end in a room with response then it is subjective to one industry and what is being taught EQ and all they manage is to remove person. All ears are different. Even is keeping people from learning the the left hand of the piano. Why does
October 2017 | 39 any of this even matter? The person behind the mixing desk will know why it matters. You want the The “ART” side freedom to Where is the delineation for the art/science line? It is at the output of … reach out the mixing console. The artist is the … minister to people person mixing and the palette is the desk. This is where you apply your … create fellowship craft. No one should have to worry whether what is being created will … contribute to be properly represented as it is being your community amplified in the speaker system. PowerChurch Plus was What comes out should represent created for just that! what goes in. It can be a string quar- tet. It can be jazz and it can be rock and roll. A linear system does not care. The format becomes irrelevant. Membership The limitations are now in the hands We provide you with the tools to increase of the artist, not the system. administrative efficiency and streamline Are there any drawbacks to a line- Accounting accounting tasks, freeing you up to perform ar system? The one drawback to a lin- the work that matters. ear system is it shows everything. It is Contributions transparent. If your singers are out of tune they will now really be noticed. Install on your PC or network, or access online. Every flaw in the input now has to be Events Choose which fits your needs. corrected. For example, I was doing Calendar a system tuning at a church not too long ago. The system was beautiful. Check In The response was accurate. I received a call the next day from the staff after spending the day before in training. Completely They wanted me to come back and Integrated We provide software tools, correct the system. Apparently I freeing you up to fulfill your mission. did not know what I was doing. The engineer was playing back one of his www.PowerChurch.com • 800.486.1800 prized recordings from their studio and well, they were right: It sound- flaws in their mix down. They were Bob Langlois is the ed horrific. I then put in a properly not happy and they did not want to Founder of Second produced CD of note and it sounded hear it. Even after I showed them the Opinions Audio. While under the Audio Analysts beautiful and correct. I proceeded response through the diagnostics and banner working for to ask them what was the variable? the system trace they were not inter- Albert Leccese and Bert Their studio. They have a studio that ested in the truth. Oh well, that seems Pare, he was VP of Worship design, was subjectively tuned that they had to be the case a lot after someone is provided design support for clients spent a lot of money on and thought faced with the reality of wasting a across the United States, Bob also it sounded great. Well it wasn’t at all good percentage of their church’s worked as senior technical support at Meyer Sound. He worked with clients close to linear and exposed all the budget. MT around the world helping them with creative solutions for their projects.
40 | MinistryTech.com
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR CHURCH FOR DISASTER RESPONSE ...And Create a Holy Refuge
hen disaster strikes your local community, your with wildfires or floods, but your geography could pose church is in a unique position to provide relief. You other not-so-obvious hazards. These departments can W have a group of people who are willing to help; your show your church what disaster response looks like in building and resources can offer a lifeline to the people your area. who need it most. 2. Learn Evacuation Routes In Your Community Depending on where you live, your community could During a crisis, lack of information (or misinforma- be at risk for a wide range of crises. If you want your tion) can increase the damage inflicted on your com- church to be a valuable resource and refuge in times munity. When you talk to your local authorities, find of need, here are five things you can do to prepare for out what an ideal evacuation looks like. Where should disaster response: people go? How should they get there? These routes 1. Contact Local Authorities Before Disaster Strikes will vary depending on the location of the disaster, but When it comes to disaster relief, the last thing you if your church staff knows the evacuation routes in want to do is reinvent the wheel or develop your own advance, it can be one of the most helpful ways you can response strategy in a bubble. You want to maximize respond to disaster. the impact of your church, which means supporting the You don’t have to announce disaster evacuation routes response systems that are already in place. from the pulpit each weekend, but in times of disaster, Police, fire departments and other local organizations your church should be poised to spread the word. are already well aware of what disasters could befall 3. Keep Necessary Supplies On Hand your community and how to prepare for them. Your Your church isn’t trying to replace the fire depart- neighborhood may have well-known seasonal battles ment. But once you know what disasters you’re at risk for, you can stock up on some basic supplies to help out. Imagine the impact your church could have if you You should always have first aid equipment, but de- were prepared to serve the most vulnerable and pending on your level of risk for natural disasters, you may want more. hurting members of your community. Hurricanes and tornados knock down trees, block roadways and can even trap people inside their homes.
42 | MinistryTech.com Chainsaws, axes and other landscaping equipment give your church more ways to help clean up after a crisis. 4. Identify Places Where Your FREE Congregation Can Find Shelter ...And Create a Holy Refuge Not everyone has time to evacuate before a natural disaster. Your congre- EBOOK gation needs to know where they can go when their home isn’t safe. It might How to Use Targeted Facebook mean high ground if you’re at risk for Ads to Grow Your Church flooding or far from trees if there’s a tendency for wildfires. Your church might have an architecturally sound sanctuary that would be a perfect shel- ter during a disaster, but it’s possible that a local gym or a library could be a more secure location. Whatever it is, the important thing is that your con- gregation knows where to go, and you share that information with them. 5. Host Training Seminars There are probably people in your church who would like to know basic first-aid and CPR but just haven’t got around to getting trained. Find out how many people are interested and work with local organizations to host a train- ing seminar. This could even be a great way to engage your community if you open the seminar to the public. Be Prepared Imagine the impact your church could have if you were prepared to serve the most vulnerable and hurting members of your community. What would it be like if people saw your church as a valuable resource—whether they’re believers or not? DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY If you’re prepared, God could use your church to minister to your neigh-
bors in times of need. MT
October 2017 | 43 THE LAST WORD
A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.
ISAIAH 42:3