Software

Church management software is a valuable tool for effectively organizing and overseeing operational and institutional projects, including registration for special events, camps, conferences, and classes. There are full-service full church management software solutions like ACS Technologies' Realm and Church Community Builder that offer robust solutions that can handle all church management needs, yet online church registration tends to be one of the more popular standalone areas that many churches need help with.

While Apple doesn't exactly rule the world, it is king in the business of mobile apps, or so many mobile app developers will tell you. Church apps have been at the forefront of church technology for the past few years. Many churches are wondering if they should have an app, and if so, what should it do and how should it integrate with the other technology they're using as an organization. Those who develop mobile technology for the church and faith-based markets are working hard to stay on top of things in order to provide the best solutions.

Sermonary from Ministry Pass recently finished its crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter and now everyone can get it. Justin Trapp, the creator of Sermonary, offers this online sermon preparation tool to help simplify the process of preparing and preaching sermons using an online tool instead of Microsoft Word or some other installed writing tool. Few preachers need all the tools available in complex word processors like Microsoft Word or even the simpler Apple Pages or Google Docs. What if we had a tool created with writing sermons and Bible studies in mind? That's what you get with Sermonary.

Mobile technology has revolutionized how we do everything these days, even ministry. Administrative tasks and the management of personnel that were once arduous and labor-intensive are now quick, easy and accessible from anywhere at any time.

Speak to any parent and they will tell you how it seems their teens are so distant. They see them but interaction is a different story. In some of these cases, those teens are just individuating and going through natural adolescent changes. This is a normal process, or so I hear. I'm not a parent myself but I do like paying attention to the all-consuming trends around me some teens create. These trends are created by their use of various technologies, music styles, and language shifts. Because of this, it's always quite interesting to me to ask them, "what are your top three apps?" The answers often lead me to insights into their world and what they are discovering. 

I have to admit, buying a smartphone is not what I call fun. If you have piles of cash hanging around, perhaps you enjoy this process, but for the rest of us, figuring out what device to invest in is well, not a walk in the park. If you have a large mobile carrier such as AT&T, Verizon, or some other big name carrier that charges a few dollars shy of a mortgage payment for phone service, you might be able to get the latest and greatest phone, or amortize it over several years so that you aren't really aware of how much it's costing you. Once you know what plan, you can take a look at the battery life, operating system, storage size, and other features that help define your smartphone experience. 

You know the scene. You succumb to your elementary-aged child begging to play Candy Crush on your phone. Ten minutes later, your phone is down to 50% and it's only 11:00 am. You're rushing to a lunch meeting and as you hand your child back to your spouse to take an urgent call from a church member in need on the way there, you discover that your phone is suddenly down to 25% by the time you get to Panera. It's only lunchtime and you have visits and errands before making it back to your desk where you can plug in. You could join a support group for pastors with old smartphones that don't hold a charge well, or you could employ some of these helpful smartphone battery-saving tips:

'Tis the time of year for churches far and wide to facilitate Vacation Bible School, commonly know in 'churchese' as VBS. VBS can have a huge impact both within your church community and in your larger community. Because there are so many different sized churches, and so many different styles, formats, and sizes of VBS, we polled about 15 churches to take a closer look at the facilities costs related to VBS programs.