Tim Postuma
I serve the CRC in two operational roles - co-director of Ministry Support Services, and Operations Team Leader for Thrive. Both roles are dedicated to supporting CRC staff as they equip you and your church!
I grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba - go, Jets - but now live in Grand Rapids, MI (much to my surprise). My wife is a CRC chaplain and we have three grown kids. We spend most of our vacations visiting family members spread across the continent - Calgary, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, St Catharines, Montreal, and Washington DC.
Posted in: When to Reopen Church? (And When to Re-Close)
Thanks for sharing that helpful perspective, Ken. For many like you, at-home is the way they normally experience worship. So important for us to remember that!
I've really enjoyed my church's new way of at-home worship, and have found it to be enriching in different ways. Sure, I look forward to worshipping in person again. But I certainly don't feel the need to push the envelope or take any unnecessary risks to do it soon.
Posted in: When to Reopen Church? (And When to Re-Close)
I can imagine a lot of issues with that approach, and real potential for hurt relationships and harm to health. Do we pass the offering plate? Do we invite the kids up for the blessing? Will nursery be offered? What happens if someone is wanting to keep distance and someone else sits right behind them and sings down their neck? What if one person is wearing a mask and keeping distance and another church member comes right up to them to chat without a mask? Do we have coffee time after the service, and will the servers take any precautions? Etc.
Even assuming all members are trying to stay fully informed, it may be from different sources and some of it might conflict. The church in the article linked above agreed upon significant precautions, and still ended up with more than half the people attending their event getting the virus and two church members dying.
Communal worship is, well, communal. And like any community, we rely on many social norms that we typically take for granted. Right now, those norms are upended. Before opening for worship, it seems wise for church leaders to help establish what the new norms will be and communicate those so people know what to expect and can decide, for themselves, whether to participate. That's the topic of this thread.
Posted in: When to Reopen Church? (And When to Re-Close)
From Restrictions to Precautions: A Classis Letter On Churches Gathering Again (from Classis Georgetown)
Posted in: When to Reopen Church? (And When to Re-Close)
Just Because the Economy is Reopening Doesn't Mean Churches Should (from The Banner)
Posted in: When to Reopen Church? (And When to Re-Close)
More news stories are appearing about churches that caused COVID-19 spread. Today the CDC issued this detailed study of one such incident:
High COVID-19 Attack Rate Among Attendees at Events at a Church (from the CDC)
Posted in: How Does Your Church Do Photo Directories?
Good topic! Here's what we do...for a few weeks each year, we announce that we'll be taking directory photos after the service. Those photos are taken in a prominent location, so even those that miss the announcement see what's happening and join the line. One of the staff just takes photos on her phone, but it could also be a good volunteer task for someone. A few people choose to email their own photo to the church office.
The rest of the directory info comes from our church management system (ChMS), and then the photos are added as part of the page layout. But this year, with our new ChMS, I believe they'll be adding photos directly into the ChMS so they're available there as part of the online/app directory as well. And then everything - photos and text - are dumped out from the ChMS to build the print directory.
I know some other churches use Instant Church Directory with success, so might want to check that out as well. Especially if you aren't currently using a ChMS.
So that's roughly how we do it....but I'm really curious to hear how other churches do it. Others???
Posted in: How Does Your Church Do Photo Directories?
I think our church recently switched from PowerChurch to Realm. But from an online search it appears that ServantKeeper can store photos and create print directories as well.
Posted in: How Does Your Church Do Photo Directories?
Hi Bob - I wasn't involved in my church's evaluation of systems, but in the past I think I've seen some online comparisons of different tools. Hopefully some online searches will reveal those, but I'm sorry I don't have anything specific to point you to. One thing I'd suggest...only looking at web-based tools (as opposed to installing a program onto a computer in the church office). I think nearly all of the serious tools have moved online.
Posted in: How Does Your Church Do Photo Directories?
Yes, I think most churches will need/want both a print directory and online (whether through their ChMS or a separate tool like the Bridge app, InstantChurchDirectory, etc). And I agree that instead of wrangling with whatever print directory template comes with your ChMS it might be easier/cheaper to simply export the raw data (photos and text) and give it to a designer to lay out. Professional tools like InDesign can even do directory layouts from a data file (basically a fancy mail-merge). Which means that, once the directory template is set, doing next year's version might be as easy as having the designer hit 'refresh' from an updated data file.
Posted in: Payment Solution to Accept Recurring Donations?
Hi. Are you using a church management system (ChMS)? If so, I'd first look at what electronic donation systems integrate with it, and how their fees compare. The big advantage is then it's all tied together, no duplicate entry, etc (see my comment in this other thread).
If you aren't using a ChMS, then you might want to consider that first, or at the same time. Or at least consider a solution that you know can integrate to some of the main ChMS tools at whatever point you decide you need one. Hope this helps!
Posted in: Recommendations for an Online Church Directory Service
I've heard good things about Instant Church Directory as well (from a colleague who uses it in his church). Also, check if your Church Management System (ChMS) offers this (or has plans to). My own church is moving to a web-based ChMS that apparently has a free app with directory functionality. That way you don't have to maintain directory details across two systems.
Posted in: What Is a Good Web Host for Churches?
James offers some great advice there. I agree that WordPress is the best choice for most churches, especially if they've got someone in the congregation that builds sites in Wordpress, or can hire someone to do so. Can't go wrong with Wordpress.
We use Drupal for most CRCNA ministry sites, but I wouldn't use it for my local church. It's very powerful, but overkill for a church website. And even though the CRCNA has pretty much standardized on Drupal, we still use Wordpress in some situations.
But actually lately we've spun up a couple of product sites using Weebly (similar to Wix and Squarespace). Examples:
dwell.faithaliveresources.org
librosdesafio.org
Tools like that are incredibly easy (mostly drag and drop) with nice prebuilt templates. But you need to be content with their featureset because there's no ability to extend beyond it. So look at the list of features carefully, and especially compare that to some of the church-specific tools that James mentions. They all fall into the 'limited technical expertise required' category, it's just a question of what features you'd want/need.
Wordpress.com is probably between those two options. You get most of the functionality of Wordpress, but avoid some of the more technical aspects (and trade off some customizability).