Do you still go down to the newsagent at the end of each year to pick up your copy of next year’s Collins Debden diary? Converting to an online calendar is (at least from where I’m standing) a no-brainer. Using an online calendar saves a huge amount of time, but also provides great tools for [...]
If your church burnt down tomorrow, would anyone in your community care, or even notice? It’s a blunt but poignant question.
I’ve been convicted of the need for me, and my church, and our churches to be actively, deliberately and passionately getting involved in our communities. Our communities need to hear about Jesus, and we are [...]
How many people walk past your church each day? What do they discover about your church? How are they inspired to visit your church, or check out your church’s activities, or even investigate Christianity as a result of wandering by?
Many people walk past my church each day – it’s close to the station, and on [...]
"Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends."
If you’re not a Mac user, I’m sorry – I try to keep this site as universal as possible.
If you are a Mac user, I’d like to point you to a helpful post I read today at AppStorm – “60 open source and free Mac apps“.
I’ve gone through the list, and these are the apps [...]
As discussed in “Search for the ideal church database“, below is a list of church database solutions that I’ve discovered in my research. To be honest, I can’t see the value of databases that aren’t web-based, but you’re welcome to try to persuade me otherwise.
Have you used any of these databases? What has been your experience?
Below are a list of other church databases that I’ve discovered in my travels. Most of these aren’t web-based, they’re software (i.e. to be installed on a computer or network). Most of these failed to impress or even mildly attract. Many seemed behind the times, lacking in most ‘modern’ functionality. For example, one database I checked out explained (and I kid you not) “This program is available on CD or 3 1/2″ diskettes.” I wouldn’t know where to get a computer that still uses 3 ½ diskettes!
I’m talking about a place where information about church members is kept, for the purpose of caring for people, contacting people, and facilitating church activities. Few churches (that I know of) are using a database that they like, or that they feel is a good solution for their church. Does this describe your church?
In the past, church databases had basic functionality, consisting primarily of contact details for people in the church perhaps with an option to email someone, or print out a church directory. Today, the possibilities have moved to a whole new level, and include features such as:
Attendance tracking (to aid follow up when people don’t turn up for a couple of weeks).
Grouping (assigning people to groups – Bible studies, areas of service so that these groups can be communicated with, or communicate with each other).
Assigning facilities and equipment (e.g. data projector for Simply Christianity).
Create events and enable people to RSVP to them.
Identify people who would be suited for particular areas of service.
Give congregation members a log-in to edit their information (e.g. update their contact details).
Track which people have completed child protection training.
Create reports (e.g. a list of people who have joined over past 3 months).
And of course, lots more.
Different databases have different features that will suit different churches. Smaller churches might get away with a well thought-through Excel spreadsheet. Larger churches will benefit from some of the functionality available in more detailed modern solutions.
The goal posts
So what should you be looking for in a church database? I suggest three technical boundaries that churches should stick within when selecting a database:
I’ve discovered that lots of churches use Macs. Not everyone in the staff team will use a Mac, but if there’s any chance anyone ever will, a PC-only, or Mac-only solution isn’t up to the cut.
Generally avoid offers for someone to build a database for you. This might sound harsh, but it saves a lot of trouble down the track. A congregation member might offer to build you an Access database, but what happens when they leave and something goes wrong with the database?
For these reasons, a web-based database is the only way forward. There are lots of benefits to this. These databases don’t rely on a particular operating system. They don’t require any server maintenance skills. They are (usually) regularly updated with new features. No in-house maintenance is required. You can access information on the go (e.g. from your phone).
Those are the boundaries. Unfortunately, there’s not a long list of options for web-based church databases. Here’s a list of web-based solutions I’ve come across, in alphabetical order (in case you’re wondering!). I’m sure there’s more – but I haven’t discovered them! Please let me know if you’re aware of others:
He Died. A simple site – a (very enthusiastic) gospel presentation on video.
Internet World Stats. “an International website featuring up to date world Internet Usage, Population Statistics and Internet Market Research Data, for over 233 individual countries and world regions”.
Re:Train. The Resurgence Training Centre opens its doors for students in 2010.
At Church by the Bridge on 31 July, we will be holding a worship night. It’s called Worthy.
Below is a short (simple) video I put together to promote the night at church, and on our website. It was created using Keynote and a stock image from iStockphoto. I then uploaded it to Vimeo, for simple distribution and embedding. The tools are out there to create useful (if not mindblowing) visuals to accompany or promote church activities. Give it a go, have a play, and share what you come up with!
If you’re in Sydney on 31 July, why not come along to Worthy. Let’s worship Jesus – he is worthy.
Loading ...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
6 Comments