How-To
 |
Posted on January 31, 2011, 7:14 pm | 2 comments
If you have any doubts that technology is helping people and communities in ways that haven't been done before, check out this story. A preacher cancelled the Sunday worship service because of inclement weather. However this didn't stop him from having a service since he streamed the service from his house onto the church's website via Ustream.
Read more » |
 |
Posted on January 3, 2011, 9:45 pm
My previous blog post focused on using Google Voice at your church to minimize costs, and provide important features, especially in small churches. Now we'll talk about ways to save money and provide functionality usually only found in large telephone switches (PBXs).
Read more » |
 |
Posted on December 21, 2010, 4:33 am
If you are part of a small church or even run one, there's many ways that you can leverage technology to save money, be more efficient and provide consistent service at the church. This is part one of a two part blog post focusing on telephones and telephone service to help your church. This first part provides tips to using Google Voice at your church.
Read more » |
 |
Posted on October 25, 2010, 10:29 pm
One of the most common reasons to visit a church's website is to find the church's address, worship times, or phone number. In fact, it is probably on the home page of your website so that it is easy and quick to find. It should not only be listed on your website but on Bing Local Listings, Google Places and Yahoo! Local as well.
Read more » |
|
|
Posted on October 6, 2010, 6:42 am
Even if your church doesn't have a website or will never start using Twitter or Facebook, I'm sure your church records sermons. With tape players obsolete and CD players common, it would be good to make the switch to recording your service digitally if you haven't yet. Not only will this be more compatible with your church listeners, but will allow you to easily podcast your sermon.
Read more » |
|
|
Posted on September 13, 2010, 8:34 pm | 1 comment
Topics: Getting Started, How-To
More and more software programs are becoming available online or 'in the cloud'. Currently, there are several popular services like Google Docs or now Microsoft Office Web Apps that make working in the cloud advantageous. Recently, Intuit unveiled Quickbooks Online which allows an organization to manage their books, run reports and more online. Now those who keep track of the church's finances and books can do so in the cloud.
Read more » |
 |
Posted on August 19, 2010, 5:45 pm | 10 comments
Let me explain right away: This article is not about how to use Salesforce to sell anything. Sounds kind of like those telemarketers, doesn't it? "I'm not trying to sell you anything, I'm just taking a survey." Right. Salesforce, like Google Apps, is available to non-profits for free, so I truly am not selling anything. I am writing this article to tell you about how I've set up Salesforce for our church to track membership and our offerings. This is part two of a two part series on Salesforce. To read part I, click here.
Read more » |
|
|
Posted on August 17, 2010, 12:01 am
Look up; at the top of the window. Up in the address bar is the URL of this website. Have you looked at the addresses that your website is using? Your church is probably using a system (CMS) that automatically creates the URL for a page based on a template. Usually the default is for ugly unusable URLs. However, with most of the popular CMSs there are options to change the way URLs are structured.
Read more » |
 |
Posted on August 10, 2010, 10:29 pm | 3 comments
Let me explain right away: This article is not about how to use Salesforce to sell anything. Sounds kind of like those telemarketers, doesn't it? "I'm not trying to sell you anything, I'm just taking a survey." Right. Salesforce, like Google Apps, is available to non-profits for free. I am writing this article to tell you about how I've set up Salesforce for our church to track membership and our offerings. This is part one of a two part series on Salesforce.
Read more » |
|
|
Posted on July 12, 2010, 12:17 pm
The Christian Reformed Church wants to assist your smaller church in utilizing technology effectively and efficiently so that you can focus your energy on growing your church instead of figuring out how to operate equipment. To do this the Sustaining Congregational Excellence (SCE) program established two grants, the first provides up to $1,000 US for equipment in your church. The second provides up to $500 US for training on equipment in your church.
Read more » |
|
|
Posted on June 14, 2010, 9:58 pm
Endless solutions exists to make your church run better, faster, and more efficient. As with any solution, there's a trade off between using a new technology since it's faster or cheaper, and the usefulness of it. Dan Hotchkiss explores the difficulties associated with new technologies and the shift to digital in an article from The Alban Institute, titled When to Adopt New Technology
Read more » |
|
|
Posted on June 5, 2010, 10:25 am | 2 comments
Ever wonder what operating system other churches are running on their servers? What they use for email? What solution other churches use for their staff intranet? What their IT budget is? The Church IT Survey is a survey that provides responses for these questions and forty others from over 150 churches.
Read more » |
|
|
Posted on June 1, 2010, 6:17 pm | 2 comments
This white paper by Church Juice explains 7 key areas to consider when starting or revamping your website.
Read more » |
 |
Posted on May 25, 2010, 7:24 pm | 5 comments
Topics: Communication, How-To
Two aspects of the web that are driving innovation are collaboration and lowering costs, of which almost any new web service or site provides. Recently Microsoft started the
Technical Preview of Microsoft Office Web Apps
which includes both of these. Office Web Apps (OWA) enable the editing, sharing, and storing of Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote files online, through most browsers and any operating system.
Read more » |
 |
Posted on April 12, 2010, 11:19 pm | 3 comments
Location, location, location. Everyone knows that choosing a great location is crucial when buying real estate. The same is true in the digital world: choosing a domain name is an important choice for a church's online presence. If your church is just starting a website, this is one of the first decisions that you will need to make.
Read more » |
