chms

Since the dawn of web-based church management systems (ChMS), there hasn't been much change in this area of technology until recently. Although the shift to the "cloud" back in the late 90s' turned the church technology market on end (for the better), and shifted many churches to rely on the web instead of leaning on the power of their desktop software, after fifteen or so years, we now have another contender for change: open source church management systems.

Six years ago I've switched from PC to Mac and then back again last year. The first jump came after a friend gave me a second generation MacBook Air. More recently, due to my disappointment with Apple's latest update to their MacBook Pro line, I switched back to PC to get a fast seventh generation Intel Core processor and a touchscreen laptop. Apple offers neither as of early 2017.

There’s no denying that technology has introduced many cultural implications for the people who walk through our church doors every Sunday. On one hand, we are more networked than ever before. We go to work, interact with people we see at the gym, talk with other parents at our kids’ soccer practices, and probably even attend church most Sundays.

In the past several years, the church technology industry has undergone many changes that have encouraged some, while discouraging others. As technology advancements continue, new companies start up and newcomers to the church tech industry enter and acquire firms to consolidate and rebuild. More recently, private equity firms have entered the space getting involved in acquisitions and shifting resources to various technology firms in order to position for growth and financial gain. All these moves cause disruption - to tech companies as well as the churches they serve; change is never easy.

We've written many times here on ChurchTechToday about cloud computing, first known as SaaS or web-based software. While many church management software systems began as desktop, or installed software, most offer some kind of hybrid options these days, or have gone even completely cloud-based to be accessible anywhere, anytime via the internet.

Planting a church is hard work. In the early stages, a small group of people handles the brunt of the workload. Sunday set-up, child care, budgets, communications, you name it. Resources may be low, but solutions are still necessary. Thankfully, technology can help ease some of the burdens.

The core of a missional community is a group of believers who live and experience life together like a family. In a physical family, who live under one roof, keeping in contact amidst all the busyness can be a challenge. Extend that family beyond your household and keeping contact can prove problematic. Technology is a great way to unite the relational and organizational needs of a missional community. When applied strategically, it can deepen your relationships by keeping you informed about life issues and needs.

Monday morning starts, just like most mornings start. A cup of coffee, small chat with a few co-workers, and then head to your desk to get the day going. Most likely you do not even think about it. You push the power button on the desktop or tablet, wait a little bit, open a program or two and your church management software is up and running. There are profiles to update, events to create, emails to send, and a host of other responsibilities that you hope your ChMS can handle. You use this software every day, but do you really KNOW your church management software provider?