News & Updates

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?

In today’s world we are inundated by sales pitches that over promise and over simplify. In response to this, we as ministry leaders, become skeptical of anything that even remotely smells of a sales pitch. Because of our skepticism, we have fallen into the temptation of making things harder than they need to be. Guest follow-up has been a casualty of this battle for far too long in churches and ministries across the country.

As we roll into the new year and close out 2015, we look ahead to make improvements and growth for the upcoming year. Because technology is constantly changing and updating, our church website may not be up to current design and functionality standards. If you are missing any of the features mentioned below, you should seriously consider upgrading to a more modern design and content management system (CMS). Here is a set of features you should include in your church website's New Year’s resolution list.

In a recent post for ChurchTechToday, I discussed four of the primary financial benefits that effective recurring giving programs can provide for churches. Increased giving, stabilized revenue, and automated workflows were all discussed at length. Today, I want to focus on another demographic that will benefit greatly from a fast and flexible recurring giving option: your givers! It’s no surprise that a giving tool that will benefit your church’s staff will benefit your givers as well. (How’s that old proverb go? “What’s good for the goose is good for the giver as well?” Yes, I think that’s it. Intuitive though it may be, let’s dig a bit deeper and look at four specific things recurring giving can do for the givers in your congregation.

Personal requests for special prayers are not uncommon for churches, but with larger congregations, it can be difficult to reach out and make sure that all members prayer requests are heard. To save you time in tracking down church goers who may be looking for a private prayer, and to make it easier for them to do so, you can employ some modern technology that will help ensure that everyone’s prayers are being met.

The use of passwords dates all the way back to ancient times. The Roman military used watchwords, as they called them, to authenticate the rotation of soldiers on guard duty. Computer passwords have been around since the 1960's. They were first used to secure access to files on a large computer system at MIT.

As your younger parishioners begin to approach puberty, you may notice that their interest in Sunday school, mass and even church activities begins to waver. This is a normal rite of passage, as they begin on those final steps towards adulthood, and discovering who they want to be when they get there.

Congrats – you’ve implemented a live streaming solution within your church! This feat normally comes with some hiccups along the way, and it’s taken research, time, and resources to get there. Ok... now what?