During Synod and at Inspire 2019 we used software is called Interactio.io. It was actually built for translating church services and it worked great. For it to work you do need to have good WiFi/internet access.
Earlier in the year, I started getting a daily email from the group called Faithbased-ISAO (Information Sharing and Analysis Organization) you can find them one line at faithbased-isao.org. Most of their resources are free and I have found them to be generally helpful.
In April they held a webinar on the topic of Active Shooter that I attended. In my estimation, it was well done. If they offer it again, I would recommend investing the hour.
Another resource they provide is a booklet called "Safe Worship Training to Safeguard Places of Worship". International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES.org) produced the booklet so there is a one-page "commercial" for them at the beginning (p. 4), other than that it has a good outline, is packed with information, and has a list of resources at the end that could also be helpful. You can find the booklet here on the Faithbased-ISAO site.
Google is great for this. In fact it is what is used at the denominational offices for conducting the business of Synod each year. Box.net and Dropbox are a couple of the many others.
When you select a cloud service, find out if your documents will be secure both while stored in the cloud (data "at rest") and while you are creating, editing, uploading,etc. (data "in transit"). The service should be providing security (encryption) for both. A second component of security relates to access. As council members change, someone will have to keep up with changing security and adding and deleting accounts/logins. Often you can set up "groups" that have access and then just move people in and out of groups. Deleting old accounts is an important component of security.
You state that keeping the hard copies has become tedious. I can imagine that is the case, however, keeping a single hard copy of the minutes is a very good idea. This is for two reasons 1) the format of electronic documents change significantly over time and often are not readable by the newer technology, 2) the storage medium (disks, CDs, flash/ drives) also change and can render the documents useless.
Calvin College provides archival services for all CRC congregations. When sending in your church's material--Calvin wants it in paper format. You can find details at http://www.calvin.edu/hh/crc_archives.htm. On this web page there is a file called "Keeping Congregational Records" that has great information about what, why, and how when it comes to record management.
You aren't the first person to ask the question about the denomination supplying something. The denomination has looked at this on and off since the mid 1990s. Every time we have looked at it we have decided it is not the best use of our resources. A couple of the challenges that haven't changed over the years are the following:
1) How to create a piece of software that would be attractive to a fair number of our churches.
2) How to support the software, upgrade it, help churches migrate to it, etc.
In the past few years we have had more than one vendor suggest to us that we should purchase software that all of our churches would use (meaning a single database). Those suggestions have two big issues--big dollars, and big brother....
I think that Allen Deters hits the nail on the head when he points out that there is a lot of good software already out there.
It is difficult to know what software to select. It is kind of like having a cold and going to a drug store, there are so many over the counter cold medicines, it is hard to know what you should buy.
This is what I suggest you do to reduce the complexity that choice brings.
1) Decide what it is that the software needs to do for you. You can keep a list of "essentials", "wants", and "potentially desirable" features.
2) Figure out who is going to need to use it and where they are going to be when they use it. For example, as the council clerk--do you want to be able to do this from home? Is there a church administrator that also needs to get to this same software? Will you both ever be in it at the same time? These questions will help you get at things like number of licenses, number of concurrent sessions, on-line (cloud/SaaS) software verses software on a PC or server at church.
3) Take an inventory of what you are working with hardware wise. Will all those that use this be on Windows operating systems, some Macs? What versions of these operating systems? If you might be looking at an on-line solution--do the people who need to use it have internet access in the location(s) that it will be used. This will help you recognize if there will be additional costs associated with any given selection.
4) Try to gauge the level of expertise that you have available to you. How computer savvy are the people who will need to use the software? What other resources might you have available? Perhaps a member of your congregation would be willing to help out in implementing this. Maybe there is a user group you could join. It might be worth considering having a consultant who has done this type of thing before help with the implementation.
5) If you can, find out what other churches that are the size of your church are using. A look in the Yearbook will help you with that. Other churches in your community can also be helpful sources--they don't have to be CRC or RCA--if they are about your size, talking with them might be helpful. They can tell you what kind of expertise it took for them to put in a system, what they wish they had done differently, what is the best thing about their system.
6) With all of the above in mind start looking at some software packages. At this point you are looking for two reasons. First you want to become a little familiar with prices. Second, you might find out that you could really use something that you never thought of. A good site to check is shareware.com--use search for church membership software.
7) Set a budget for the project (add 20% to what you think it is going to be).
8) Find a way to document your discoveries when doing the above steps. Documentation will help you when you start comparing options. It will also help you in three years when you wonder why you made the selection you did. It will also be a starting point when you have to do it again in a number of years--and with technology--you will have to do it again.
That should put you at a better than average starting spot to actually start shopping for software.
If you think about it, it isn't much different than buying a car--you have to know what it has to be used for, how many people have to fit in it, how far and frequently it has to go, who is going to be driving it, and how much money you have to spend. Once you know those things, you are more likely to drive off the lot with the car you need rather than just buying the red one because it looked good.
PowerChurch offers an on-line option as do many of church management systems. It may be worth taking a look at PowerChurch On-line rather than waiting on Google to be able to deliver a relational database.
Cloud computing definitely opens up opportunities for churches.
For readers that may not be certain what cloud computing is I thought it might be helpful to give a quick overview.
Cloud computing is not brand new but it is taking off in the tech world as a way for small to medium businesses to be able to take advantage of robust technology with less capital investment. Cloud computing can present some great opportunities for churches for the very same reasons.
There are a number of ways that cloud computing has been defined. SaaS (software as a service) is another term that is sometimes used inter-changeably with cloud computing. The difference between this and the "standard" way of computing is that in the SaaS or cloud model you are leasing the software vs buying the software. You are cloud computing when the data and application that you use are housed on servers that you don't have physical access to. A service provider hosts and maintains the equipment and the application.
In general, cloud computing provides a number of advantages.
-- It allows users to access the information whenever it is convenient for them.
-- Typically upgrades are on-going and less cumbersome to apply. Often upgrades are seamless.
-- The backup obligations are put on the provider, rather than on church staff.
-- Hardware becomes less of an issue--it is more about what browsers are supported than whether you are using a PC or a MAC or what version of operating system you are using.
-- Compliance/regulations are often handled better by outsourcing than they are by keeping the data in-house.
When considering cloud computing there are some things to look for:
1) A contract that states that the information (data) belongs to the church and that obligates the company to provide you with the data in csv or text delimited format in the event of the termination of the contract for any reason.
2) A contract that specifies the data backup obligations of the company.
3) Encrypted access. This can be achieved in a variety of ways. The most common is SSL meaning when you access the site you do so via a URL that starts with https:\\ instead of the usual http:\\. Another way encrypted access may be provided is via Citrix--a client that you put on your PC or Mac that allows access into a network.
4) In comparing costs of on-line systems vs. in-house systems I have found that it helpful to
--include all the costs of an in-house system (remember you have to be backing it up)
--map out the costs for 3 years--the first year costs can be significantly different but looking at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year costs will often show you a more accurate comparison.
5) Verify that the security of the provider and the system meet applicable privacy and data security laws. Data that is most critical center around bank account and credit card account numbers as well as social insurance/social security numbers. If you aren't keeping this type of data, and if you don't provide vendors with your mailing lists, your data compliance issues are greatly deminished. If you do keep bank/credit card numbers, ask providers about security compliance. Good things to look for are CICA 5970 certification (Canadian accounting), SAS 70 Type II certification (US accounting) and PCI DSS or PA DSS (these last two apply to credit card transactions).
Posted in: Any Churches Conducting Bilingual Worship Service?
During Synod and at Inspire 2019 we used software is called Interactio.io. It was actually built for translating church services and it worked great. For it to work you do need to have good WiFi/internet access.
Posted in: Policies for Responding to Active Shooter?
Earlier in the year, I started getting a daily email from the group called Faithbased-ISAO (Information Sharing and Analysis Organization) you can find them one line at faithbased-isao.org. Most of their resources are free and I have found them to be generally helpful.
In April they held a webinar on the topic of Active Shooter that I attended. In my estimation, it was well done. If they offer it again, I would recommend investing the hour.
Another resource they provide is a booklet called "Safe Worship Training to Safeguard Places of Worship". International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES.org) produced the booklet so there is a one-page "commercial" for them at the beginning (p. 4), other than that it has a good outline, is packed with information, and has a list of resources at the end that could also be helpful. You can find the booklet here on the Faithbased-ISAO site.
Posted in: Policies for Responding to Active Shooter?
Here is a resource page from the US Department of Homeland Security that you may find helpful:
https://www.dhs.gov/publication/active-shooter-emergency-action-plan-guide
Posted in: Cloud Storage of Council Minutes and Correspondence?
Google is great for this. In fact it is what is used at the denominational offices for conducting the business of Synod each year. Box.net and Dropbox are a couple of the many others.
When you select a cloud service, find out if your documents will be secure both while stored in the cloud (data "at rest") and while you are creating, editing, uploading,etc. (data "in transit"). The service should be providing security (encryption) for both. A second component of security relates to access. As council members change, someone will have to keep up with changing security and adding and deleting accounts/logins. Often you can set up "groups" that have access and then just move people in and out of groups. Deleting old accounts is an important component of security.
You state that keeping the hard copies has become tedious. I can imagine that is the case, however, keeping a single hard copy of the minutes is a very good idea. This is for two reasons 1) the format of electronic documents change significantly over time and often are not readable by the newer technology, 2) the storage medium (disks, CDs, flash/ drives) also change and can render the documents useless.
Calvin College provides archival services for all CRC congregations. When sending in your church's material--Calvin wants it in paper format. You can find details at http://www.calvin.edu/hh/crc_archives.htm. On this web page there is a file called "Keeping Congregational Records" that has great information about what, why, and how when it comes to record management.
Posted in: What software works for tracking church membership information?
Duane,
Selecting software is work.
You aren't the first person to ask the question about the denomination supplying something. The denomination has looked at this on and off since the mid 1990s. Every time we have looked at it we have decided it is not the best use of our resources. A couple of the challenges that haven't changed over the years are the following:
1) How to create a piece of software that would be attractive to a fair number of our churches.
2) How to support the software, upgrade it, help churches migrate to it, etc.
In the past few years we have had more than one vendor suggest to us that we should purchase software that all of our churches would use (meaning a single database). Those suggestions have two big issues--big dollars, and big brother....
I think that Allen Deters hits the nail on the head when he points out that there is a lot of good software already out there.
It is difficult to know what software to select. It is kind of like having a cold and going to a drug store, there are so many over the counter cold medicines, it is hard to know what you should buy.
This is what I suggest you do to reduce the complexity that choice brings.
1) Decide what it is that the software needs to do for you. You can keep a list of "essentials", "wants", and "potentially desirable" features.
2) Figure out who is going to need to use it and where they are going to be when they use it. For example, as the council clerk--do you want to be able to do this from home? Is there a church administrator that also needs to get to this same software? Will you both ever be in it at the same time? These questions will help you get at things like number of licenses, number of concurrent sessions, on-line (cloud/SaaS) software verses software on a PC or server at church.
3) Take an inventory of what you are working with hardware wise. Will all those that use this be on Windows operating systems, some Macs? What versions of these operating systems? If you might be looking at an on-line solution--do the people who need to use it have internet access in the location(s) that it will be used. This will help you recognize if there will be additional costs associated with any given selection.
4) Try to gauge the level of expertise that you have available to you. How computer savvy are the people who will need to use the software? What other resources might you have available? Perhaps a member of your congregation would be willing to help out in implementing this. Maybe there is a user group you could join. It might be worth considering having a consultant who has done this type of thing before help with the implementation.
5) If you can, find out what other churches that are the size of your church are using. A look in the Yearbook will help you with that. Other churches in your community can also be helpful sources--they don't have to be CRC or RCA--if they are about your size, talking with them might be helpful. They can tell you what kind of expertise it took for them to put in a system, what they wish they had done differently, what is the best thing about their system.
6) With all of the above in mind start looking at some software packages. At this point you are looking for two reasons. First you want to become a little familiar with prices. Second, you might find out that you could really use something that you never thought of. A good site to check is shareware.com--use search for church membership software.
7) Set a budget for the project (add 20% to what you think it is going to be).
8) Find a way to document your discoveries when doing the above steps. Documentation will help you when you start comparing options. It will also help you in three years when you wonder why you made the selection you did. It will also be a starting point when you have to do it again in a number of years--and with technology--you will have to do it again.
That should put you at a better than average starting spot to actually start shopping for software.
If you think about it, it isn't much different than buying a car--you have to know what it has to be used for, how many people have to fit in it, how far and frequently it has to go, who is going to be driving it, and how much money you have to spend. Once you know those things, you are more likely to drive off the lot with the car you need rather than just buying the red one because it looked good.
Posted in: What software works for tracking church membership information?
PowerChurch offers an on-line option as do many of church management systems. It may be worth taking a look at PowerChurch On-line rather than waiting on Google to be able to deliver a relational database.
Posted in: What software works for tracking church membership information?
Cloud computing definitely opens up opportunities for churches.
For readers that may not be certain what cloud computing is I thought it might be helpful to give a quick overview.
Cloud computing is not brand new but it is taking off in the tech world as a way for small to medium businesses to be able to take advantage of robust technology with less capital investment. Cloud computing can present some great opportunities for churches for the very same reasons.
There are a number of ways that cloud computing has been defined. SaaS (software as a service) is another term that is sometimes used inter-changeably with cloud computing. The difference between this and the "standard" way of computing is that in the SaaS or cloud model you are leasing the software vs buying the software. You are cloud computing when the data and application that you use are housed on servers that you don't have physical access to. A service provider hosts and maintains the equipment and the application.
In general, cloud computing provides a number of advantages.
-- It allows users to access the information whenever it is convenient for them.
-- Typically upgrades are on-going and less cumbersome to apply. Often upgrades are seamless.
-- The backup obligations are put on the provider, rather than on church staff.
-- Hardware becomes less of an issue--it is more about what browsers are supported than whether you are using a PC or a MAC or what version of operating system you are using.
-- Compliance/regulations are often handled better by outsourcing than they are by keeping the data in-house.
When considering cloud computing there are some things to look for:
1) A contract that states that the information (data) belongs to the church and that obligates the company to provide you with the data in csv or text delimited format in the event of the termination of the contract for any reason.
2) A contract that specifies the data backup obligations of the company.
3) Encrypted access. This can be achieved in a variety of ways. The most common is SSL meaning when you access the site you do so via a URL that starts with https:\\ instead of the usual http:\\. Another way encrypted access may be provided is via Citrix--a client that you put on your PC or Mac that allows access into a network.
4) In comparing costs of on-line systems vs. in-house systems I have found that it helpful to
--include all the costs of an in-house system (remember you have to be backing it up)
--map out the costs for 3 years--the first year costs can be significantly different but looking at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year costs will often show you a more accurate comparison.
5) Verify that the security of the provider and the system meet applicable privacy and data security laws. Data that is most critical center around bank account and credit card account numbers as well as social insurance/social security numbers. If you aren't keeping this type of data, and if you don't provide vendors with your mailing lists, your data compliance issues are greatly deminished. If you do keep bank/credit card numbers, ask providers about security compliance. Good things to look for are CICA 5970 certification (Canadian accounting), SAS 70 Type II certification (US accounting) and PCI DSS or PA DSS (these last two apply to credit card transactions).
Posted in: You Write the Caption!
Composure--it's a gift.
Posted in: You Write the Caption!
Some preachers are just cooler than others.
Posted in: You Write the Caption!
Never let them see you laugh.
Posted in: You Write the Caption!
God does have a sense of humor.