Using Technology to Facilitate Church Minsitry

• John Henry
• May 8, 2006
• Series: Technology

There is no question that the Internet has transformed the way people communicate. Surely then, the potential must exist for the Church to transform the way it communicates the good news of Christ. The promise of building community via the web is compelling, but realizing your online potential can be difficult. You have worked hard to create a vision for your church and now you want to determine how new technology can facilitate that vision. The following are some examples of how this might be achieved.

Build an Informational Website
Certainly the most fundamental thing a church can do is to put up an informational web site that lets the curious know the basics of the church. You don't have to blow the budget or win the web site of the year award to successfully deploy a church website. A clean and simple design that reflects your style of worship and lets people know when and where to meet is a good place to begin. This way you won't have to scrap the site once more complex tasks like publishing sermons and setting up chat rooms are desired.

E-Mail Your Congregation Regularly
The one web technology that has undoubtedly had more impact on modern society in recent years than any other is quite simply, email. People everywhere rely on email to keep in touch with family, friends, and colleagues. Many people wake up in the morning to a fresh pot of coffee and a quick look at their latest email. Of all the ways you may implement technology, email is the fastest and least expensive. People want to stay connected and email from the pastor and between the congregants is a great way for the church to create a sense of community spirit.

E-mail Etiquette
It is a good idea to only e-mail people who have asked to be added to your list. Simply place a clipboard on the back table to collect e-mail addresses. You may also collect e-mail addresses on visitor cards, but you may want to create a check box on the card indicating an invitation to be added to your list.

Be consistent. Decide a day to e-mail prayer requests and another to e-mail announcements, but try not to crowd people's e-mail boxes. Urgent prayer requests are understood and even appreciated, but sending out short blurbs is usually not appreciated.

Keep your e-mails brief. Nobody has time (or will take the time) to read more than a few paragraphs.

Collect Data via the Net
So, while your initial web site and email is good, let's step away from the obvious for a moment. Many potential ministries exist throughout the church that could be augmented or automated via the web. Automation consists of replacing steps a human would normally take with the computational equivalent. Anytime someone fills out a form or questionnaire, the web could be used. The advantage to using the Internet rather than paper is that the data collected won't be lost and can be called upon for later study.

An example of how data that would normally be written down can be migrated to the Internet is the deacon's "Benevolence Fund" at Spanish River Church in Boca Raton. This fund is used to assist those within and outside of the church during times of need. Currently, every request made for help is put into a central database via a secure web site that can be accessed from anywhere on the web. As progress on the request is made, the deacons are able to update the request with the pertinent details from wherever they are over the Internet. This information is never lost and is easily accessible. By tracking the requests over time, lasting relationships and long term needs can be documented and met, while those abusing the system are easily detected. In this case a web-based form and database accomplishes what a manual system could not.

Based on your comfort levels, you and your staff can choose the type and extent of information you collect, but the potential is unlimited. Imagine if after taking a seminar to discover your spiritual gifts, everyone participating entered their information into a central database via the web. Now, someone trying to staff Sunday school can search the church database to find who likes working with kids and give them a call. Not only can you ensure that volunteers can be readily discovered, but those who want to get involved will have a better chance of getting plugged in.

Ask for Volunteer Programmers to Build a Web Team
Once you have an idea of what you want to do, the next step is getting the right people involved who can make it happen. It is a good idea to identify those in your congregation who are either professional software developers or hobby programmers; people who get really excited about using their technical gifts to accomplish meaningful tasks. Even if they are not ultimately the ones who do the work, they will offer valuable insight and unique ideas.

What to Expect from your Web Team
There are different theories on how software should be developed. One theory attempts to collect and document all the requirements up front before doing any development work. After gathering requirements the software team disappears for some time and then reappears with a product that may or may not be exactly what you asked for or what you thought you were getting. At this point it may be too late to change very much and the amount of money already invested may mean no further development can be justified. In this scenario very few options are left other than to abandon the project or start over.

Another theory of software development allows you as the customer to be involved throughout the development process. This process attempts to create numerous versions of the system over many small iterations of the development cycle so that the users of the system can try out new features as they arrive. Using this methodology you will be able to use the system before it is complete, thereby receiving a return on your investment very early in the process. As the customer, you will be expected to change your requirements often, many times building something very different than initially envisioned, but proven by its use throughout the process.

Once your project begins, remember to communicate often with your developers. Most software fails to meet the project requirements because of a lack of communication between developers and customers. Developers tend to enjoy being left alone to "do their thing"; however, without proper accountability, the risk of failure increases dramatically. Stay informed of progress as much as possible and reiterate your needs often. Ask to see examples, screen shots, and prototypes and don't be shy to ask for and suggest changes.

Remember to keep things simple. There is a thing called "feature creep" that occurs when features that seem cool are introduced but ultimately are not very useful or are too complicated. Feature creep can extend deadlines unnecessarily and tend to bog down the process as the vision and reality of the project diverge. If you can focus on what actually needs to be done and limit the scope of the project to only those areas, you will have a much better chance of developing something useful that accomplishes its mission.

In reality, how far you allow technology to infiltrate your church is up to you. Use your imagination. Any time you find yourself writing something down that needs to be remembered, think about how that information is going to be used and if it would be useful to have that data easily accessible via the web. From small group and volunteer organization, event sign-up, to chat rooms and email communications, the Internet can do much to facilitate what we do. The Internet has revolutionized the way people communicate and as we are ultimately in the business of communicating the truth of Christ, it is only right the Church join this revolution.

Some Practical First Steps
Create a list of all the things you would like to see on your churches website. Browse other ministry and business websites to find ideas. Place an announcement in the bulletin and ask the congregation from the pulpit for volunteers. You may need to buy a pizza or two and meet at your place to discuss what you would like to see in a website. Let the team know that you desire to give them credit and a link on your site that will help promote their design business. Your website can cost you as little as $7 per month (servernetworkcentral.com) or as much as $50 depending on how large the site is. Most sites are relatively small, so don't expect to have to pay too much.

You cannot overestimate the importance of your website. To the next generation, it is of the strongest statements you will make about your church.