Ccmag2010 08

Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com
VP of Operations
Michael Hewitt - mike@ccmag.com
Contributing Editors
Applying Tomorrow’s Technology to Today’s Ministry Dr. J.D. “Doc” Watson
Terry Wilhite
Volume 22 August 2010 No. 8
Yvon Prehn
4 cover story
Nick Nicholaou
Kevin A. Purcell
C. Brian Smith
The State of Mobile Computing Russ McGuire
by Steve Hewitt Drew Goodmanson
Bradley Miller
Michael Curylo
Copy Editor
3 editorial Gina Hewitt
Our New ChMS Online Feature Comparison Chart is UP!
Corporate Home Office
By Steve Hewitt Mailing address: PO Box 319
Belton MO 64012
Delivery address: 311 Manor Dr.
11 Special Feature Belton, MO 64012
Phone: (816) 331-8142 FAX: 800-456-1868
7 Ways Technology Helps Churches Win at Making Disciples
By Lauren Hunter and Ben Stroup © Copyright 2010 by Christian Computing®, Inc.
14 ACS ideas to impact
All Rights Reserved
Five Sundays: The Power of Online Giving
from ACS Technologies Christian Computing® is a registered
16 accelerating the dynamic church trademark of Christian Computing,
Dynamic Churches Focus on Equipping Inc. Written materials submitted to
Christian Computing® Magazine be-
from Fellowship Technologies
come the property of Christian Com-
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Google Chrome Redux not necessarily be returned. Christian
By Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson Computing® Magazine reserves the
right to make any changes to materi-
20 higher power with kevin
als submitted for publication that are
Setting Up a WordPress Blog deemed necessary for editorial pur-
By Kevin A. Purcell poses. The content of this publication
25 nick at church may not be copied in any way, shape
Getting the Most Out of Your Church Management Software
or form without the express permis-
sion of Christian Computing®, Inc.
By Nick Nicholaou
Views expressed in the articles and re-
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Client-Side Programming ily the views of the editor, publisher,
By Russ McGuire or employees of Christian Comput-
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Christian Computing® Magazine August 2010 2

editorial
Our New ChMS Online Feature

Comparison Chart is UP!
Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com
O
ur newly designed Church Management Software (ChMS) chart is up on our site with around 30 different
products and services for you to view. While it looks similar to our previous chart, it is actually very dif-
ferent. What makes it different? We have designed the chart to allow each company listed to have control
over editing their portion of the chart. This means the chart will be constantly updated! As a ChMS company adds
a new feature, they can simply come back to our site, log in, and update the chart on their own. This also means
it will be very easy to allow new companies to join the chart as they enter the marketplace or launch new ChMS
products.
But wait, there’s more (I have always wanted to say that!) Now that we have created the template for this chart, we
are moving forward to provide others. Kevin Purcell is almost finished with the list of features for our Bible Study
Software Chart, as well as one for Mobile App Bible Study Software. I expect within the month we will be contact-
ing representatives from Logos, WordSearch, Biblesoft, etc., to register and edit their portion of the chart. We also
have charts in the works for companies that provide Web site solutions for churches as well as one to help our
readers compare the features between those companies that provide facilities management and event registrations!
It is our desire that by providing these charts with our editorial content (interviews, articles and reviews of specific
products and services) and our Webinars, our readers will have an abundant amount of information to help them
find the right product or service when they are ready to make a new purchase!
Don’t forget to register!
If you haven’t visited our site recently, be sure to visit us and click on the word register (upper left side of the home
page). When you register at our site, you will be able to access back issues, leave comments in our articles, AND
will be in our upcoming drawing for a $500 gift card for Apple products! Do it today if you haven’t already!
Together We Serve Him,
Steve Hewitt
Editor-in-Chief
steve@ccmag.com

cover story
The State of
Mobile Computing
E
by Steve Hewitt
veryone seems to agree that the fastest growing sector in computing today is in the
area of mobile devices. Smart phone sales and use have grown at such an alarm-
ing rate that they have swamped wireless networks, created new markets for apps
(instead of programs), and have created new and exciting ways to compute; leaving many
of the former technology leaders in the dust, trying to catch up in an industry
that is advancing at break-neck speed. And, the innovation
that Apple has brought to the market with the iPhone
has drawn consumers into an awareness of what
mobile computing can do, as well as push the en-
tire wireless industry far past the simple ability to
place a phone call on a mobile device.
Just as there are never ending debates on which brand
of computer is the best to buy, or what virus protection program
does the best job, opinions vary as to the best direction to go
when it comes to purchasing a mobile device. What are the most
important features when deciding which direction to go? Is the ac-
tual hardware the most important thing to consider when you make
your purchase, or is the operating system? Or, should the wireless
carrier be the determining factor or should it be specific applications
that might run on one device but might not be available on another?
No one can give you a definitive answer to these questions, since
as soon as they do, the marketplace will change with the introduction
of a new device, app, or growing connection speed of each wireless
network. There are some exciting events in the news that might impact
your decision, and, since I get paid for my opinions, I will give you my
two cents worth on what I purchased, what I am using, and why!

First, realize that computing, as
we know it, is turning upside down!
It was September of 2008 that I wrote
an article titled, “Something Impor-
tant Is About to Happen!” I not only
published it in Christian Computing
Magazine, but I sent a very special
email to over 450 companies that cre-
ate programs and computer services
for the church and Christian market.
What was so important? Mobile
computing! Some companies caught
a vision and began to prepare, while
others have probably missed the mark
and might not be able to catch up!
Even some of the major computer
technology companies in America
have found themselves trying to
play catch up. Intel has only recently
realized that the growing market for
computer devices is smart phones and
not desktop computers. They don’t
make the chips that have been used in
the mobile devices we are purchasing,
such as the iPhone, Android phones,
Blackberry’s, etc. So, since it was
too late to start retooling for this fast
growing market, they are buying the
companies that have been making
the chips for these new devices. They
recently purchased Infineon Technol-
ogy AG, a company out of Germany
that makes such chips for the iPhone
and other devices. So, in the near
future we will probably see marketing
encouraging us to purchase specific
phones because the now have “In-
tel Inside”, but frankly, they almost
missed the boat and had to pay a
grand price to jump into this market. you don’t know the answer to this question, then you
Microsoft has also been left in the dust. Yes, they are probably a VP at Microsoft.
have a smart phone OS, but it isn’t very popular. They So, what IS hot in mobile computing? There are
missed the boat when it came to encouraging the devel- several important things to note. And, if you are an
opment of applications, which everyone now knows is Apple fan, pour yourself a new cup of coffee and try
key to the success of a mobile OS. I am not sure Micro- to find your happy space, because all of it is not par-
soft “gets it” even now. Watching the popularity of the roted praise for Apple and their iPhone. The fact is,
iPad, they have announced they are going to strike back once again, Apple led the way and they SHOULD
with an exciting tablet computer of their own that will be the standard for mobile computing, but that isn’t
run Windows 7. Really? Is that what makes the iPad what Steve Jobs really was after. He wants to create
such a popular device, the fact that it is a tablet? Or is it cool devices that are used by a minority. This was true
that it turns on instantly, and you have access to 100’s when he made computers, and it is true now with the
of thousands of cool applications at your finger tips. If iPhone. Look at Google and their Android OS. You can

walk into any major wireless carrier’s store (T-Mobile, two hands. After he handed it to me, he looked breath-
AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, etc.) and you can get a variety less as he asked me, “So, how do you feel?” Really?
of cool mobile devices that run the Android OS. Yes, I felt like I just paid too much to upgrade my previous
they are playing catch up, just like Microsoft did after iPhone to the new version!
Apple came out with those cool WYSIWYG Macintosh Apple really blew it with the iPhone 4. Before it
computers that came out long before Microsoft had was released, they allowed one to be pilfered by the
a version of Windows. Apple fans that get upset that press, so much of the surprise was gone when Job’s had
everyone doesn’t buy Apple products and help them the opportunity to show it off to his followers. There
dominate the marketplace simply don’t understand is little doubt that it was impressive to see the crowds
Steve Jobs or two decades of Apple history. If Jobs real- line up to purchase the new phone, but the circus that
ly wanted everyone to use the iPhone, why did he lock followed with the dropped signal problems due to the
it up with AT&T and a wireless network that doesn’t exposed antenna was a greater fiasco then I can ever
provide decent phone connections once you leave a remember with any of Microsoft’s problems with their
major city? past releases of Windows. When it was first reported ,
So, do I like the iPhone? Yes, I have had several, that holding the phone in a certain fashion would cause
and I have an iPad and love it (more on this coming the signal to drop, Apples response was, “Don’t hold
up!) However, I haven’t been shown the secret Apple it that way!” Apple didn’t provide any real solutions
handshake and I haven’t taken the pledge. Loving to the problem until Consumer Reports came out with
Apple for Apple’s sake is an interesting phenomenon. their own study and recommendation that people NOT
There was an interesting article on how Apple is buy the iPhone 4. I think we have seen our last of the
similar to a religion. Fox news published it, and you Apple commercials with the cool young Apple user
can read it for yourself at http://www.foxnews.com/ making fun of the frumpy PC guy because his products
scitech/2010/07/28/new-religion-apple-say-academics/ were buggy.
I can tell you that I found it very amusing when I However, again, my hat’s off to Apple for showing
purchased my last iPhone. The salesman (not a genius, everyone else the way. I loved my iPhones, and, for the
granted, just a salesman) brought it to me cradling it in last two years, they were the way to go. However, once

again, they refused to become the stan-
dard, allowing others to provide better
solutions, products, and services. They
made several mistakes that are unfor-
giveable for me, and, while they will al-
ways have loyal followers, I have made
the move away from the iPhone and
love my new smart phone! So, what do
I use now? I purchased the Sprint EVO
4G, which is an Android OS phone. I
still have the iPhone (my wife is using
it now), and, as I stated before, I pur-
chased an iPad, so, I am not missing my
cool Apple applications (I finally did
get bored with Angry Birds though.)
But, in my opinion, the EVO 4G, and
many other Android phones computing
out through AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizion,
etc., are far better than the iPhone. With
the Android OS, you have a choice.
You can decide which wireless carrier
YOU like, and works for you. It makes
a big difference if you travel or stay put.
You may have great AT&T coverage in
your city and you are very happy with
the coverage you get with your iPhone.
But, for me, frankly, the coverage
AT&T provides across the nation was one of the leading button Apple provides. With Android phones, such as
reasons I had to leave them. I actually opened an ac- the EVO, there are four buttons physically on the phone
count with Verizon and purchased a MiFi (an additional below the screen. One of these is Menu while the other
monthly charge of around $40) so that I could connect is Back. This means, with any and all applications you
to the Internet with my iPhone as I traveled across the are using on an Android phone, you always know how
country. This didn’t help with phone calls, and on a road to pull up the Menu, or either go back to the previous
trip to the NACBA conference a couple of months ago, screen, or back out of the app to get to the main screen.
the inability to keep phone connections while on the road Frankly this is easier, and a much simpler method since
became the straw that broke this editor’s back. there is a standard way to find your way around ALL
Besides coverage (much better with Sprint now that apps.
I have the EVO), many of the features of the EVO are I know that Apple has more apps than the Android
better than the iPhone. I like the larger screen, higher OS, and I love particular apps that, so far, I have only
resolution, better camera and video and, in my opinion, found for the iPhone. I think their use of the iTunes store
the Android OS (paired with the hardware with Android rocks and hope everyone soon clones their approach to
based phones) is easier to use. Let me explain. Apple marketing applications. However, I have found all of the
prided itself on making the iPhone easy to use by giv- main applications I love on the EVO, and, while some
ing it one simple button. However, this meant that each have different names or come from different companies,
application could decide how to present functions of the some are better than the ones I used on the iPhone.
app—like the menu or “back” ability—as they pleased. With that in mind, let’s remember who is behind
Granted, most are not that hard to fine, but the fact is, the Android, Google! Why is that important? Google is
each application can handle this differently. In some the leader in searching and mapping. Frankly, they have
apps, you simply swipe your finger across the screen to stacked the deck in favor of the Android OS, and it is just
go back to the previous screen, but in others you must a matter of time before Apple will either find themselves
find a “back” icon to touch. And, in a few, there is no behind in these two areas, or they will have to either get
actual way to exit the app other than clicking the one busy in development or find some new partners.

As I have crossed the nation speaking on this subject,
I suggested it was just a matter of time before Google
would begin saving their best for their own OS. Now
that I have an EVO and an iPhone, and can compare the
apps side-by-side, I can tell you the Google apps they
provide for the Android are FAR superior to what they
are providing the iPhone. The mapping programs for
the EVO offer many features not found in their iPhone
mapping apps, and Google’s Goggle for the Android is
really exciting, while the one they provide for the iP-
hone is very limited. Using Goggle on the Android one
can snap pictures (on a high megapixel camera) on the
EVO of a large variety of objects and gain instant search
results. They are not making these features available for
the iPhone app. Google has become a major player in
today’s present technology and Internet use, and I see
their influence growing in the near future. Their support
for Android OS phones will have an impact.
The fact is iPhone sales have been incredible. But,
all reports are showing that the fastest growth in mobile
devices is occurring with those running the Android
OS. This doesn’t mean more people are buying Android
phones than the iPhone. iPhone sales with the release
of the iPhone 4 were fantastic. However, for the percent
of growth in the market, according to Nielsen, CNN
and others who are checking the figures, Android is the
fastest rising. The fact is, the Android OS has matured,
the apps are now in place, and the price and power is
there. Not only can you use an Android phone and pick and their encryption of data. They are in deep discussions
the wireless carrier you like, you can pick the phone that with many countries right now, and at least one country
has the physical features you want. If you want an actual has banned the use of their smart phones within their
keyboard, you can get an Android phone with a slide out country.
keyboard. If you want more screen space, you can get Church and Christian applications for mobile devices
one with the keyboard on screen. Options and variety are continue to pop onto the marketplace. However, since
going to be a large part of Android’s success. we have such a division of OS use and applications, the
What about BlackBerry? They have had a dominate smart money might be on developing online services that
place in the mobile computing/smart phone market, but can be accessed by all smart phones. I know in a recent
they have had a steady decline in numbers. They are Webinar we held here at CCMag with Tim Whitehorn of
making some fantastic attempts to turn that around and ServiceU, he shared that they have recently revised their
their new OS offers some cool features, and several of online giving experience so that their donation pages
the wireless carriers are offering new devices with real render automatically in a format better suited to mobile
Internet access, larger screens, etc. However, it is all browsers. This means their site is designed to be ac-
about applications, and I think their efforts might be cessed by all smart phones, since it is Internet based and
too little too late. And, while BlackBerry was seeking to designed specifically for smart phone access, yet is not
provide a unique feature in their encryption abilities, they an app specifically designed, and limited, to one mo-
have now opened a door that is causing them tremendous bile OS. Since we do not have a standard, churches and
problems. Many companies do not like the fact that they ministries should work to provide their content, services,
can’t access the information that people are sending out information, promotions, etc., in a format that can be
of their countries while using a BlackBerry. BlackBerry viewed by smart phones of all types.
(RIM - Research in Motion) is based in Canada, and, I This article is long, but I must say a word about
don’t think they thought through the international issues the iPad. I love it. But, I can’t recommend it due to its
when they established their system of communications limitations and price. For the price you can purchase two

netbooks. In addition, when it comes to Internet access, devices and the Blackberry Tablet. Once again, I don’t
you are limited to the AT&T network unless you are near think Microsoft’s tablet will be that big of a hit if they are
a WiFi spot (or carry your own like I do with the Verizon just trying to offer a new way to do old computing. It is
MiFi.) However, there is little doubt that, once again, all about quick, fast, apps!
Apple is showing us the way. I am sure they will offer a Let me know what you think! I would love to hear
newer one in a year, with more features (like the camera how our readers are using mobile computing, what apps
they left out) and a better price. However, they will have they think are the best, why they love THEIR smart
some competition! iPad copy cats will be popping up ev- phone and mobile OS. There are many variables, and I
erywhere. BlackBerry has announced they plan to offer have shared my purchase decisions based upon my expe-
a tablet that uses their operating system. Microsoft has riences and opinions. What do you use, and why?
announced their version of the iPad, running Windows 7,
expected to ship this fall. And Motorola has announced
they will come out with a tablet
computer that will run Google’s
Droid OS. HP and others are also
working on tablets. This may
mean that the iPad, and the popu-
larity of the iPad, will impact the
way we compute for many years
to come. The big question is if
we want to access just Web con-
tent, such as would be possible
with the Microsoft tablet, or do
we want to download apps to run
on these devices, such as is avail-
able with the iPad, and would be
available with the Google Droid

special feature
7 Ways Technology Helps

Churches Win at Making Disciples
This article is a condensed version of a free e-book made available in
full here: http://www.churchcommunitybuilder.com/ebook
I
By Lauren Hunter and Ben Stroup
t’s tough to break a cycle. You know this, and I know this. The cycle of not
paying attention to the ministry data available through current church man-
agement software (ChMS) technology is one that you need to change, like
yesterday. No longer can you close your eyes and hope to make disciples within
your church without focusing, planning, evaluating, and realizing that church
membership software data can work to your advantage by giving you a snapshot
of how new members are really becoming disciples within your church.
Ministry is about people, relationships, ideas, and commu- 1) Technology helps you build a system.
nication, not data analysis and complex algorithms. When I say Engaging with any organization is a process. In some
“church technology,” you cringe and wonder how this pertains respects everyone knows this except the church leader. We
to what you do on a daily basis. Let’s face it. Those of us who just assume that people will proactively come, find their place,
raised our hand years ago and said we felt God calling us into plug in, grow (and grow and grow with no setbacks or special
ministry, are probably not naturally drawn to numbers. That’s attention needed), and then leave when “Jesus calls them
part of what makes us feel like ministry “fits” our personality home.”
and natural inclinations. Instead of approaching disciple making haphazardly,
We spend a great deal of time preparing for such things as review the membership process in four stages: 1) expansion
pastoral counseling, preaching, education strategy, and effective through outreach and evangelism 2) assimilation as a member
leadership. The last time I checked there were very few starts attending events 3) cultivation when an individual
seminary classes on technology, especially how to use church commits to God and to your church and 4) evaluation after a
management software to make better ministry decisions. break up has occurred.
It’s a tough cycle to break. And most will never “do By building an offline system to evaluate your membership
church” differently than what is described above. Many who and disciple making process, you can tailor your church
fill positions of ministry leadership in local churches will serve management system to fit the specific needs of your church and
their entire careers resting solely upon intuition and simply monitor individual and church-wide growth.
hope for the best.
One way we can do that is by mining the depths of your 2) Technology helps you define and measure engagement.
ChMS. I’m sure you’ve assigned that responsibility to the IT The great lie of church ministry says that if you get more
staff or maybe even the education ministry. I want to challenge people in the door (and keep more people than you lose)
you to consider bringing it into the executive staff meeting then you will, by default, make more disciples—wrong!
room and see how this can be a tool to increase your Kingdom This is where many churches miss the boat when it comes to
footprint in the lives of those God has entrusted to you. technology. It’s not just about tracking attendance, mailing

information, and contribution records. It’s about managing your 4) Technology helps you track human interaction.
relationship with the member. If ministry is about people, then the church HAS to be
Technology allows leaders to find ways to measure what’s intentional about dealing with people as donors, learners,
working and what isn’t. participants, activists, and evangelists. I’m sure you want to do
If 80% of the people who have attended a new membership this, but you just aren’t sure how.
class aren’t giving, serving, and connected to a small group Do you know who has enrolled in three consecutive Bible
within six months of completing the new membership program, studies, but never volunteered to lead one? What happens when
that should concern you. It’s time to evaluate the content and a new member gives money for the first time? What happens
structure of the program because you didn’t accomplish your in your church when someone is actively involved and then
goal. suddenly absent?
Church leaders expect people with problems to recognize
3) Technology helps you uncover giftedness. the “signs” and seek the leader out for help. Most often, the
Assimilation is a somewhat awkward word that leaves person doesn’t even know when the “problem” began or
many of us thinking about the Borg from Star Trek, but really that God might be calling them to something greater unless
it’s the best way to describe how a new member gets plugged in someone encourages them.
to the disciple making process. Finding out the members’ areas Technology allows us to see what we didn’t even know
of giftedness, personal communication preferences, family was there.
nuances, and more enable you (the church) to better meet them
where they are at and walk them through the disciple making 5) Technology helps you uncover growth patterns.
process to grow, serve, and lead others to Christ (this should be Very, very few people are going to push themselves to
the goal). grow spiritually all by themselves. Most of us need someone to
“The secret” to winning at assimilation is to use technology challenge us to take the next step.
to profile the person, capture their interests and unique gifts, People are busy. They often find themselves overwhelmed,
and find ways to build a relationship around their unique trying to balance church, work, parenting, marriage, and a
interests, skills, and desires. million other things and people tugging at their attention and
eating away at each day.

It’s the job of the church leader to cultivate the resources God has already
provided in the membership to accomplish the vision He has given the leader.
Technology gives the leader the information he or she needs to challenge others to
take the next step of commitment.
6) Technology helps you evaluate history and plan for the future.
Operating a church is little different from the local nonprofit. You’re responsible
for program management, volunteer recruitment, leadership development, and that
nasty “f” word...fund-raising! Through all these responsibilities, communication is
absolutely critical to building community and fostering a sense of connection.
The trick is not to focus on efficiency but impact. It’s not about the leader’s
personal preferences but what motivates people to do something. There is only one
way to know this. You’ll have to ask, record, implement, test, measure, and do it all
over again.
Trends aren’t just for an economic conversation. Understanding what has
happened in the past is an excellent indicator of what will happen. Your ChMS can
help you watch for trends and uncover valuable data that will help steer the ship of
your church – determining what programs you run and how to best meet your church
members, thereby drawing them closer to their church family.
7) Technology helps you evaluate the results and plan the future.
In order for us to preserve the trust needed to build and foster relationships with
our membership, churches must embrace this “new normal” and voluntarily hold
themselves accountable to measuring impact and reporting the good news...and the
bad.
People don’t need your church as much as you need them to be the church God has
called you to become.
Technology gives us a tool to demonstrate a ministry “return on investment” to the member who decided to “invest” in your
church.
When you can trace the dollar given through the disciple making system that resulted in true life change, you achieve three
things:
1. You build trust by doing what you said you were going to do.
2. You pave the way for future investments.
3. You discipline yourself through self-imposed systems of evaluation that ensure “your gut” is matched with data to
validate your intuition.
Can you run reports over membership, giving, service, etc. and determine if your church is making more disciples and moving
people to deeper levels of engagement?
If you can’t, you risk losing the people God intended to be part of accomplishing the vision in your church.
This article is a condensed version of the e-book, “Get Disciple Making Right: 7 Full-Proof Ways Technology Helps Church-
es Win at Making Disciples,” made available for free download from Church Community Builder here: http://www.churchcom-
munitybuilder.com/ebook.
Church Community Builder (http://www.churchcommunitybuilder.com) provides powerful, easy-to-use, web-based church software

tools to empower church leaders and staff to manage ministries and help build community. Our enterprise-level, web-based church
software solution saves time and money by unifying core church needs and information into one right place.
Lauren Hunter is a writer, blogger, and church technology public relations consultant in Roseville, CA [http://www.laurenhunter.
net; http://churchtechtoday.com]. She is a contributing editor for CCMag.
Ben Stroup is a writer, consultant, and blogger on the subjects of church funding, stewardship, and generosity. [http://www.ben-
stroup.com; http://churchgivingmatters.com].

ACS
ACS ideas to impact
Five Sundays:
The Power Of Online Giving
from ACS Technologies
O
nline Giving has been compared to having five Sundays every month –
that’s the equivalent of 64 revenue weeks each year. What would that
kind of extra revenue mean to a church’s ministries? Would they be able
to send more funds to relief organizations or missionaries throughout the world?
Help more people in the community?
Online Giving can help churches reach their goals the church overcome the “summer giving slump” and meet
more quickly and efficiently, so harnessing the strength year-end giving goals.
of this solution is ideal for ministry maximization. This
article has been excerpted from the ACS Technologies Why People Give Online
white paper Five Sundays: The Power Of Online Giving. Churches often find that the congregation is ready
to change how they give to the church. In the past, most
Online Giving: A Stronger Spiritual Walk people give to their church once or twice a month based on
Online giving includes all of the money flowing from their payroll schedule. Giving electronically allows people
the church Web site to the church. This includes recurring to be more consistent in their commitment to give. Some of
and one-time online gifts, contributions from members and the benefits of online giving include:
non-members, and event payments. The individual organi- • Convenience
zation can decide between accepting just Credit Cards, just
o Online giving is much faster than writing a check.
ACH payments, or both depending on their preferences.
Plus, giving online allows the user to choose if they
Some churches are still on the fence about the feasibil- want to give a one-time gift, set up recurring gifts,
ity of online giving. They question its safety and stabil- or make event payments.
ity compared to weekly offerings. Some feel that giving
• Immediate Crisis Response
electronically takes away from the spirituality of tithing in
the traditional manner. Others worry that online giving is o Being able to immediately respond to crisis
impulsive, which may cause their members to financially situations provides a sense of connection. Users feel
like they can make a difference in someone else’s
over-extend themselves. But many people feel that being
time of need without delay.
able to give online actually strengthens their spiritual walk
because it allows them to give whenever they choose or • Consistency
feel compelled to do so. If contributors want to give, why o People love being able to give even when not
not accept their money how they choose to give it? physically in attendance at the church, which can
Online giving is also beneficial to the church because a help improve the consistency of giving during the
person’s funds can be received even if they are sick, on va- ‘summer slump’ months.
cation, or live elsewhere. Those that don’t attend the church • Year-End Generosity
can give as well. Having an Online Giving system can help o Studies show that giving levels increase during the

holiday season each year. Online
giving helps ensure people have
met the contribution levels they
pledged during the year before
this time period ends.
• Manage & Track Contributions
In One Place
o Donors can contribute to several
different funds or ministry needs
in a single transaction, plus enjoy
the added convenience of having
all their contribution records sent
to them for tax purposes.
Getting Started With Online Giving

With a solid implementation plan,
any church can make online giving a
successful element of their contribution
strategy, and truly achieve the equivalent
of five Sundays of giving each month.
The timing to launch Online Giving
is crucial. Since the majority of churches
experience a “summer slump” in giving
and attendance, online giving launched
early in the year should be in place - and
in use - before the summer season starts.
Likewise, since most donors tend to
contribute more at year-end, churches
might want to consider launching in the
fall so that the users are comfortable
with the system by the time the holiday
season rolls around.
The Power Of Five Sundays

The “Five Sundays” giving concept
is a compelling one for many reasons.
Organizations ready to make even more
of a positive difference in their con-
gregation, community, and around the
world need to harness the power of On-
line Giving to make those ministry goals
a reality. For more about the benefits of
online giving plus information on setup,
Web site maximization, and a detailed
implementation timeline; download Five
Sundays: The Power Of Online Giv-
ing today.

accelerating the dynamic church
Dynamic Churches Focus on Equipping
H
from Fellowship Technologies
elping people move from casual attendees to fully devoted followers of Christ is ¸
!CCELERATING4HE$YNAMIC#HURCH
the unending work of every church leader. It is because of this continuous need
that these leaders place a high priority on creating repeatable, measurable pro-
cesses for equipping people.
Quite a few churches have built entire buildings dedi- the proper tools and continually refine the process to promote
cated to Sunday school classrooms while others offer weekly healthy growth.
evening studies and ministry training. Others put their efforts Equipping people is more than another class or small
into creating as many small groups as possible. All of these group; it is a purposeful, focused effort to create, measure,
are viable methods for educating and building relationships, modify and take part in the shaping the lives of every per-
but equipping goes beyond offering Bible studies or volunteer son in the church. As a result, dynamic churches focus on
training. Equipping is preparing people for approaching vari- equipping disciples to face the challenges of life with godly
ous situations with Biblical confidence, selfless humility and confidence and conviction.
service in the Kingdom.
Church leaders to need to measure the results of
these offerings to ensure that the equipping is effective
and determine how (and how often) they will evaluate
the results of countless hours of staff and lay leaders
pouring into people’s lives.
Good leaders know that you must “inspect what
you expect” and therefore need a consistent, unified
method for ensuring that all ministries are updating
and sharing information about their equipping efforts.
To support the processes for equipping people, church
leaders, staff and lay leaders need to build the habit
of following up with their volunteers and attendees to
encourage and ensure that the equipping opportuni-
ties are meeting the needs of individuals. Therefore,
setting realistic expectations and measuring results go
hand-in-hand.
It is important to note that this is not an attempt to
measure the “faith” or “spiritual maturity” of people.
Instead, the goal is to better understand how people
need to be equipped, encouraged and enabled to plug
into the life of the church through study, training,
outreach and discipleship. When a church places a pri-
ority on gaining this insight, they will naturally need

tech talk
Google Chrome Redux
Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson - docwatson3228@qwest.net
B
ack in November of last year I did a review and rec-
ommendation of the Google Chrome web browser
(you really might want to review it: http://www.ccmag.
com/2009_11/ccmag2009_11.pdf). While I did not actually
switch to it exclusively then, I since have. I
honestly never thought I would ever switch from my beloved
Firefox, but I did. Why? Because not only is it simple, sleek,
secure, and speedy, but it’s getting more supercharged by the
day, and we’ll look at how in this two-part article.
Plug In Some Plug-Ins Your might want to define profiles for multiple users or
Let’s be honest. One of the main reasons for using different ones for your self (such as one for work and
Firefox (other than “anything is better than Internet one for play). By default, Chrome does not make creat-
Explorer”) is because of the huge number of plug-ins ing profiles as easy as Firefox does, but this extension
(add-ons, extensions) available for it. While this has solves the problem. Check out this plug-in at: http://
not been true of Chrome, that has changed. It now has www.mychromeaddons.com/chrome-addon-google-
extension support, enabling third-party developers to
have a blast. Here are just a few of the add-ons that are
available for Chrome.
First, there is AdSweep, which blocks almost all
ads in websites. While it is still in developmental and
will let some ads slip through, it’s a work in progress.
Just go to http://adsweep.org/ and click on the “Ad-
Sweep.crx” link to install it.
Second, Google Chrome Backup (Fig. 1) enables
you to create, backup, and restore, and manage Chrome
profiles in case of system problems. Each profile holds
personal data such as history, bookmarks, browsing
history and cookies, among other personal elements.
Fig. 1 – Google Chrome Backup.

handy pull-down menu, you can select,
close, rearrange, find, and more. (https://
chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/gal-
fofdpepkcahkfobimileafiobdplb) .
Want more? Of course you do. Visit
a few other places to find more Chrome
plug-ins: https://chrome.google.com/
Fig. 2 – ChromePass password recovery tool. extensions, https://chrome.google.com/
extensions/?hl=en, etc.; http://www.chrome-
plugins.org/category/plugins/; http://www.
chrome-backup/. chromeplugins.net/. Do your own search and you’ll find
Third, Session Saver is a little gem that enables you more.
to save, manage, and reload multiple sessions. Just open
the tabs you want and save that session with its own The Keys to Chrome
name, and then do it all again to additional sessions. Take As I have written in this column many times
a look at: http://www.computingunleashed.com/down- (and used to nag my students about), keyboard short-
load-google-chrome-session-saver.html. cuts are the true separator of rookie and pro. While
Fourth, Dual View enables you to view two different many of the shortcut keys in Chrome are the same
web pages in a single tab. In other words, the current tab as in Firefox (and IE for that matter), some are not.
will split to two equal halves. Why not just switch be- Here is a list of the most used shortcuts. If you want
tween tabs? Because this way you could compare search to be a super-duper power user, go to: http://www.
results on both Google and some other engine, or do side google.com/support/chrome/bin/static.py?page=guide.
by side comparisons of products, or reference something cs&guide=25799&topic=28650.
in the left panel and then type about it in the right. Find
out more and download it from: http://www.chromeplu- General Shortcuts
gins.org/plugins/google-chrome-dual-view/. To use it, F1: Opens the Help Center in a new tab
simply drag and drop the “Chrome Dual View” link into Alt+Home loads your homepage.
your bookmarks. When you click this new bookmark, a Backspace: Goes to the previous page in your browsing
pop-up box asks for the first URL, which will be the left history for the tab.
panel, or leave the current one as the default. You will Shift+Backspace Goes to the next page in your brows-
then be prompted for the second URL, which will be ing history for the tab.
displayed in the right panel. Ctrl+N: Open a new window
Fifth, assuming you use Gmail, once installed, Ctrl+T: Open a new tab
ChromeMailer enables you to click on a “mail:to” link Ctrl+Shift+N: Open a new window in incognito
to directly open Google Mail or Gmail to send mail. This (private) mode
doesn’t happen by default. Learn more and install it at: Ctrl+O, then select file: Open a file from our PC in
http://skaelede.hu/?e=chromemailer&lg=en. Chrome
Sixth, ChromePass (Fig. 2) is a small password re- Ctrl+click a link to open link in new tab
covery tool that enables you to view the user names and Ctrl+Shift and click a link to open a link in a new tab
passwords stored by Chrome. No more having to click and switch to it
the “forgot the password” link while logging into web- Ctrl+Shift+T: Reopens the last tab you’ve closed, up to
sites for which you don’t remember the password. Take a 10 tabs
look at: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/chromepass.html. Ctrl+1 [through] 8: Switches to the tab at the specified
Seventh, IE Tab is for those times when a site can position
only be displayed correctly in Internet Explorer. Instead Ctrl+B: Toggles the bookmarks bar on and off
of having to actually open IE, just use this plug-in to Ctrl+Shift+B: Opens the Bookmark manager
display the page in a Chrome tab (https://chrome.google. Ctrl+H: Opens the History page
com/extensions/detail/hehijbfgiekmjfkfjpbkbammjb- Ctrl+Shift+J: Opens Developer tools
denadd). Ctrl+J opens the Downloads tab.
Eighth, Tab Menu is for users like me who load Shift+Escape opens Chrome’s Task Manager.
more than ten tabs at a time. In fact, the more tabs you
open, the more useful this plug-in becomes. Using a

Address Bar Shortcuts
Ctrl+Enter: Adds www. and “How to have more time for ministry!”
.com to your input and then Do you want to save time, get more done and
opens the resulting URL have fewer headaches? Then Donarius Church
Ctrl+K or Ctrl+E: Places a “?” Management Software will make it easy for you
in the address bar Starting at $63.97 to track your members, contributions, pledges
for the base version with and more. Imagine what you can do with the
Ctrl + left or right arrow: 25% off for small churches extra time! Donarius will also:
Moves the cursor to the pre-
ceding or next key term in the Download a free demo at: • Print your tax receipts
address bar www.donarius.com • Show the giving pattern of your members
• Print your church directories
Ctrl+L to move your cursor to 1-888-479-4636 • Send personalized letters, emails and text
Nuverb Systems Inc.
the address bar. “Software tailored for you”
messages to keep your members informed
Webpage Shortcuts
Ctrl+R refreshes the current page.
Ctrl+W closes the current tab.
Ctrl+F5 or Shift +F5: Reloads current page and ignores cached content
Ctrl +D: Bookmarks current page
Ctrl+U: Opens the source of your current page
Ctrl+0: Returns page to its normal size
Ctrl++, Ctrl+-, Ctrl+0 Enlarges, reduces, and restores default text sizes, respectively.
Ctrl+Tab cycles through open tabs (Ctrl+Shift+Tab reverse cycles)
Ctrl+Shift+T opens the last closed tab.
Mousing Around
While the keyboard is great, your rodent can do some tricky stuff in Chrome. For example, if you are several
links deep on a web page, you don’t have to keep clicking that silly “Back” button until you stumble onto the right
page. Instead, just right-click on the “Back” button to see a list of links you’ve navigated.
A unique feature in Chrome is the ability to paste a link and go directly to it without hitting Enter. Copy a link to
the Clipboard and then just right-click anywhere in the address bar and select “Paste and go” from the pop-up menu
(Fig. 3).
If you’re a blogger, or post on forums, you’ll like the ability to resize a text area by just clicking and dragging the
lower right corner.
Use Ctrl+Mousewheel to zoom in or out on a page. To reset the page back to normal, either scroll back to the
appropriate size, or just press Ctrl+0.
Oh, and how about this one? You can drag-and-drop a Chrome tab out into a new window or back into an exist-
ing Chrome window to dock it there.
Finally, you can drag-and-drop a download from the status bar onto your desktop (or any Explorer window) to
save it there.
The Incredible Shrinking Tabs

The boys and girls on the Chrome team have been constantly tweak-
ing the interface and here is a good example. Instead of (or even in
conjunction with) the Tab Menu extension mentioned earlier, this little
Chrome trick is really cool. It shrinks a tab to a small thumbnail, which
frees up a huge amount of space across the tab bar. To use this, just right-
click on a tab and select “Pin Tab” from the menu. It will be moved to the
far left side of the tab bar and marked only by its thumbnail.
We’ll look at some more next time. Enjoy!
Fig. 3 – The “Paste and go” option.

higher power with kevin
Setting Up a WordPress Blog
Kevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.org
R
ecently Yvon Prehn shared that churches
should create their own blog or website (part
one: http://bit.ly/czlVyj and part two: http://bit.
ly/9MLRWv). One of the easiest solutions for doing so is
WordPress (WP), the content management system that I
use for my church’s web site (http://www.highpeakchurch.
com) and my personal site (http://www.kevinpurcell.org).
WordPress is simple enough for the average user but can scale to become a pow-
erful and advanced tool for the best web coders out there. Setting up a WordPress
site is a simple, three-step process.
STEP ONE: Setting Up the Software you can get discounts. They support MySQL and PHP
The things you will need to get started are 1) the and I haven’t had more than a few hours of down time
WordPress files, 2) a web hosting service that supports in almost eight years with them. You can get a site for a
PHP 4.3 or higher and MySQL 4.1.2 or higher (almost little as $6 per month.
all do so just ask that specifically when doing your Once you set things up by purchasing your hosting
search), and 3) a domain name. The easiest thing is to space and registering your domain, your host will send
find #2 and #3 together by finding a good host that sup- you instructions on how to upload files. The best way to
ports the necessary web technologies and then register do that is a dedicated FTP (file transfer protocol) client.
your domain there. One of the best is also free – FileZilla (http://filezilla-
One thing you could do is simply go to http://www. project.org). Download and install FileZilla and when
wordpress.com and set up your site there. That way you you run it plug in your ftp address, username and pass-
don’t have to download anything, tweak or edit any text word provided by the hosting company.
files, use an FTP client or worry about the backend of Now you will upload the WordPress files. But
your site. WP does it all for you. But, it can be expen- you have to download them first. Get them at http://
sive if your site gets large and you don’t want ads but wordpress.org/download. They will come in a ZIP file.
do want to be able to have a lot of users. So I think it is Windows can unzip them for you by right clicking and
best to do the hard work now of setting it up. choosing extract.
For hosting, I recommend to my friends ICDSoft Now go back to Filezilla and upload the files. It is a
(http://www.icdsoft.com). They are a inexpensive, but simple program to use even though it looks complicat-
dependable solution. If you own a number of domains ed. In the center are file and folder lists. The left hand

side represents what you see on your
computer. Navigate to the location
of the WordPress files you extracted
and then drag them to the root folder
of your web site on the right, which
will show up once you log into the
web site via the information your
host gave you. The address is placed
in the Host box at the top. It will look
like ftp.yourdomain.com. Add your
Username and Password. Don’t wor-
ry about the port unless your hosting
company tells you to use a special
port number. Click on Quickconnect
and from then on the address will be
stored in the drop down list next to
the Quickconnect button. Now you
can drag the files from the left to the
right.
At the top of Filezilla you will
see a bunch of messages telling you
what the program is doing. At the
bottom is the progress of each file.
It will take awhile to upload so get a
snack and then come back.

Once it finishes uploading the
files, you will have to configure
some things on your host’s control
panel and in a special file that comes
with the WordPress files. This is
a little complicated. It is easier to
just follow the instructions here
(http://codex.wordpress.org/Install-
ing_WordPress#Detailed_Instruc-
tions) than for me to regurgitate that
information here. You may need to
contact your host provider for help
on how to do some of the steps. But
if you can read, you can do this. For
ICDsoft’s control panel it is not that
hard. You click on MySQL Data-
bases and under Databases: in the
Database name: box enter a name for
your database, like wordpress and
then click create. Now add a new
user and give it a password. Keep
this screen open so that you can get
information when editing the file in
the next paragraph. Also remember
this password.
Now you will need to set up the
wp-config.php file. In the folder
where you extracted the WordPress files after down- Don’t use example.com, replace it with your domain
loading them, there is a special sample file called wp- name. So if your domain was mybaptistchurch.com,
config-sample.php that you can use as a template. then you would put that in the address instead of ex-
Open this file in Notepad and change the following ample.com. Follow the instructions on screen and you
using information from your MySQL control panel in are then ready to go.
the previous paragraph.
DB_NAME – the name you gave your database STEP TWO: Configuring Your WordPress Blog
name After you have set things up, it is time to configure
DB_USER – the user name you created your blog by logging into the dashboard. The dashboard
DB_PASSWORD – the password you created for is the interface that lets you choose how your WordPress
that user name blog will look and behave. You do so by going to http://
DB_HOST – this information is in your MySQL yourdomain.com/wp-admin. When you run the script at
control panel screen (if you use ICDsoft it is the fol- the end of the previous step you will get an email with
lowing: localhost:/tmp/mysql5.sock, but others just your password and username. Check your email to get that
use localhost) information and enter it here. Then you will immediately
The only reason to change anything else is if you want to go and change that password. You find that under
won’t be using English. For more information about Users along the lower left side of the screen. Also, I per-
how to create this file go here: http://codex.wordpress. sonally like to add a second account with my name. I use
org/Editing_wp-config.php. this second account to actually post articles to my blog.
Now, save this file with the following name: wp- We’ll talk about posting later.
config.php. Notepad wants to put the .txt ending on Now, just explore the dashboard and click on all the
it. If it does, remove it. Then using Filezilla, upload it links to familiarize yourself with it. There are three things
to the root directory of your web site just like you did you will want to do.
before. First, set things up to behave the way you want under
The last step is to run the simple installation script all the different Settings pages. This is where you give
by going to http://example.com/wp-admin/install.php. your web site a title and tagline. For my personal site I

use the site address as the title. My tagline
is “My brain explodes into cyberspace.”
You will also want to set the time zone and
other aspects. How do you want the site
to handle reading and writing of posts?
I strongly suggest you read through the
tutorial pages at WordPress.org found here:
http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_
Lessons.
The next thing you want to do is
customize your theme. This is the look of
the blog. You can use the default themes
at first, but later add some more colorful
themes that match your personality and
purpose.
In the dashboard you customize the
themes under Appearance. There are two
tabs under the appearance screen. One is to
manage the installed themes and the other
is to add new ones. Click Install Themes
and you will see a bunch of options to
choose from to search. If you want a
particular color scheme like a mostly blue
web site then click blue. If you want it to
be one, two, three or four columns, click
one of these. Maybe you want something
like a Photoblogging site, so select that at
the bottom. Then you can enter a keyword
to search, like church or pictures. Then
click Find Themes. The results are a grid of
the themes that match your criteria. If you
don’t enter a keyword in the search box it
will just find themes matching the criteria
you clicked.
If you are not sure what you want, just
choose one of the links below the tabs like
Featured or Newest. Then browse to see
the themes. If you see one you like, click
Preview to get a large screen preview.
Or just install it by clicking Install. The
detail links under each thumbnail tell more
about the theme. When you click Install, a
window pops up. Click Install Now and it
installs the theme automatically. But it has
not yet changed the look of the site. You
then have to click Activate to do that. Once
you do, your web site will then look like side of my web site. To find these go to Plugins and then
that theme. Add new. There are hundreds, so at the outset be careful.
The other customization you can do is to add plu- You may have some very specific things you want. Search
gins. A plugin is a little tool that will help you add special for that function and there is likely a plugin. But if you
functionality to your web site. I have a plugin that takes don’t know what you want, wait till you’ve gotten used to
all of my Twitter messages and displays them along the WordPress before adding too many.

Once a plug in is active, it will
either add a tap to the Settings list
or it will add a widget to the Ap-
pearance section. Widgets are tools
that can be added to the side bars
of your web site. As I said before,
I added a plugin to put my Twitter
feed on my site. But after adding
the plugin and configuring it with
my Twitter user name, I had to add
the widget to the side bar. To do
that, go back to Appearance and
then Widgets. Click the drop down
arrow next to the side bar you want
to customize and the drag the wid-
get from the center to the sidebar.
There may be some settings to
change or a place for a Title. Click
the drop down arrow next to your
widget to see.
STEP THREE: Adding Content
Last you will want to add things like categories, links,
There are two primary ways to add content. You can use
and Pages. A category is to help you categorize the kinds
the WordPress dashboard where you can go to either the Posts
of posts you may put on your site. For example, I have
or Pages tabs along the left. Click Add New to add new posts or
categories for my church site like Men, Women, Worship,
pages. You can use the WYSIWIG editor which is somewhat
News, etc. When I create a new post I give it a category so
like editing a word document. Or you can learn some HTML
that people can search our site based on those categories.
coding and use the HTML interface.
Next, add some links. There is a Links section along
The other way to update your page is use a program like
the left. To add one, click on Add New. These also have
Windows Live Writer. I don’t have the space to show you how
categories. The links will be to web sites that you think
to use Live Writer here. Just go to the web page at Microsoft
your readers might be interested in. For our church, I have
and download and install Live Writer (http://explore.live.com/
links to various sites related to our denomination, to ser-
windows-live-writer). In my opinion, this is the easiest way
vices that might be helpful to members like weather, and
to update your WordPress web site. You install it, insert your
to tools like Bible study sites. I place these along the sides
address and username/password and it configures itself. From
of the page using Widgets.
then on you can simply type the content into that program and it
Finally, you will want to add some pages. This takes
makes either pages or posts for you on your web site. It is very
some thought. What kinds of pages might people want
similar to using MS Word.
to use with your web site? Often these pages will be in
Just as an aside, if you own Word 2007 or Word 2010 you
tabs across the top of the home page or in a list along the
can also update WordPress sites using the new blog post feature.
side depending on the theme you chose. For our church
we have a page for Pictures, Downloads, Streaming (we
Conclusion
stream our worship services live via Ustream.tv) etc. A
There is a little more than what we have covered to getting
page is different from a post in that a page is static and
a really professional looking WordPress site. But you have the
remains in that spot all the time. A post is a news item that
basics to get started. WordPress.org is a great help in getting
will likely be time sensitive. For example, if you want
through the hurdles not covered here. The forums at that site
to describe your youth ministry, make a page that will
will have all the answers you need.
always be at the top or side of the web site. If you want to
If you need help getting going, my advice is to find a local
announce a youth activity, create a post that will show up
computer shop that also does web programming or find a volun-
near the top until you add more posts.
teer in your church who has experience creating web pages. I
It will take some time to learn WordPress. Use the
have a limited amount of time to help get web sites set up, but
tutorial pages from the previous link in this article. But
for a fee I will. So you can contact me at kevin@kevinpurcell.
once you have things setup the way you want, start adding
org.
content.

nick at church
Getting the Most Out of Your

Church Management Software
Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com
I
get to visit with churches and ministries around the
country throughout the year. Whether I’m serving in a
consulting role or speaking, I’ve noticed that most are
either somewhat dissatisfied with their church management
software system, or dislike it so much they are looking for
a replacement product. Why is the dissatisfaction level so high? And is there a
way to improve it?
The Dissatisfaction Reaction and have made their products’ interfaces consistent
If the complaints about church management soft- are challenging for their target users. This adds to
ware were limited to only certain products, it would be the feeling of the product being overly complex.
easy to say the solution is simply to change to a better
• The Nature of the Church Business Office. Dan
product. But because I have not yet found a system that Bishop (Executive Director of the Houston CO+OP)
is not highly complained about, the problem is either once observed that church offices are similar to
with all church management software (CMS) systems, publishing offices because of their many and
or the users, or both. I think both are at fault for less- constant deadlines. Add that church offices are
than-satisfactory user experiences. typically understaffed and under budgeted, and
the situation is ripe for user dissatisfaction due to
Why are there so few satisfied CMS users? Here’s too little time to train users and manage databases.
what I’ve seen: The result is that CMS users often find themselves
• Complication. The better CMS providers, hoping to looking for quick and easy approaches of data entry
meet the needs of many churches well, must include and reporting, which translates into barely usable
so many options that the use of their software often datasets that do little to help church leadership in the
feels too complex. The problem is that churches do long run.
so many of the same things differently that simple
software is easily outgrown, and the only acceptable There Is Hope!
solution becomes one that is complex in it’s myriad No wonder why churches— even those who are ba-
of options. sically satisfied with their CMS— always seem to have
an eye open to anything new that might serve them
• Unique Interfaces. Most users of CMS products better. But there is hope! Following are some steps
have never worked with complex databases before. that CMS providers and churches can take to improve
The result is that even those CMS providers that satisfaction.
have been careful to implement industry standards

Suggestions for CMS Providers
CMS providers can improve their
customers’ dissatisfaction and build greater
loyalty by serving their customers better.
That challenge is no different than how every
other business niche is challenged. Please
allow me to share a few thoughts that might
help based on my conversations with many
churches and church staff across the country.
• Complexity & Interface. You are doing a

great job in meeting the varied needs of
your customers by offering many ways
to use your products. The complexity that
results could be overcome by using some
of the programming tools available today
that allow a user to modify the screen they
use. Consider allowing them to set their
screen preferences, eliminating options
and fields they never use, renaming them
to match their business processes, and
reorganizing the layout of the fields to
best facilitate their processes.
• The Nature of the Church Business Office.

Training and technical support are the
keys to help in this area.
• Training needs to be a requirement

at the time of purchase to help those who have not some suggestions that can help you get the most out of your
worked with complex databases to become successful investment and data asset.
users; but it’s not enough. Look for ways to encourage
your customers to establish a regular training program. • Establish data entry standards to improve the quality of your
Because they have constant team turnover, they need data. Your CMS provider may have a document you can
training to help new team members. And because their edit to help you accomplish this, and should address such
ministry programs continually evolve, they need someone things as searching to ensure a record doesn’t already exist
who is an expert in the use of your products to look at before duplicating it, screen shots, etc.
their databases and help them understand ‘best’ ways to
facilitate their growing needs. (One possibility might • Make training a mandatory part of your annual budget. This
be to include a number of days on-site each year in the investment will save you much more money than it will
annual support. Once it’s in the budget, it’s more likely to cost— I guarantee it!
happen!) I hope this helps. It’s sad when we see so many churches
• Technical support is often uncomfortable for users. and ministries spend money to change systems unnecessarily,
Continually remind your team they need to not be and reduce productivity while their teams learn how to use the
defensive, and they always need to help users find ways new CMS.
to accomplish what is needed. Phrases that never help
the caller or the perception of your company (like, “No Nick Nicholaou is president of MBS, a consulting firm special-
izing in church and ministry computer networks, operational
one has ever asked for that,” “It can’t be done,” and “It
policies, and CPA services. You can reach Nick via email
must be your computer or network”) only increase user (nick@mbsinc.com) and may want to check out his firm’s
dissatisfaction. website (www.mbsinc.com) and his blog at http://ministry-it.
blogspot.com.
Suggestions for Churches
CMS data is one of your most valuable assets, and it
should be given the same level of care you would give to any
other highly valuable asset—like your buildings! Here are

launching online
Client-Side Programming
By Russ McGuire - russ.mcguire@gmail.com
U
p until now I’ve focused on server-side technologies
for our online social network. PHP and MySQL (es-
pecially leveraging many of the other platforms and
web services we’ve looked at) can deliver tremendous capabil-
ities. But today’s modern websites rely heavily on client-side
programming capabilities to deliver a pleasing user experience.
What is Client-Side Programming?
People accessing your website generally do so using What are Client-Side Programming Languages?
a web browser – this is the client – and your website sits The vast majority of client-side programming today is
on a server in the network. PHP is a powerful server-side either done in JavaScript or in Flash. Microsoft’s Sil-
programming language that can make your website dy- verlight is an emerging alternative to Flash, and HTML5
namic – showing the most up to date information. How- will introduce client-side programming capabilities as it
ever, for your users to see any new information; their cli- becomes standardized. But for now, if you want to pro-
ent (web browser) has to make a new request to the server gram in the client, you’ll probably be using either Flash or
and the entire page gets downloaded again and redrawn on JavaScript.
their screen. Flash is a very powerful tool for creating impressive
Client-side programming allows a program to run in- web interactivity. However, there are issues with Flash
side the web browser so that new information is presented that have caused me to steer clear of it. First, Flash is a
in a portion of the browser window without the entire web proprietary technology of Adobe, so to take full advantage
page having to be reloaded, and often without the user of Flash, I need to buy development tools from Adobe,
having to take an explicit action. and my users will generally need to have the Flash plugin
Let me give a very simple example. It is very easy installed in their browser, which leads to other challenges.
for me to write a PHP program on the server which will Flash plugins haven’t generally been available for mobile
embed the current time into a web page. I could even devices, and even if they are, Flash is a bit of a resource
get fancy and represent it as a clock face. However, the hog, so performance on lower end systems (and mobile
clock won’t update at all until the web browser requests devices) can be painful. Some security experts have even
an update and the server sends the whole web page again recommended that users disable Flash because “bad guys”
with an updated clock. Using client-side programming, could use Flash’s power to do “bad things”.
I can update the clock in the window every second if I JavaScript doesn’t perfectly overcome all of the
like, without impacting anything else on the web page and challenges of Flash. There are security concerns with
without sending any additional traffic over the network. JavaScript (although fewer than Flash), JavaScript does

require more processing power than just plain HTML Here are a few of the most popular JavaScript
(but generally less than Flash), and not all browsers frameworks:
support JavaScript, especially on non-smartphone
mobile devices. But, JavaScript doesn’t require a • jQuery
browser plugin, and there are many good JavaScript • Prototype
development tools available for free.
• YUI
Javascript’s Strengths are Its Weaknesses • Google Web Toolkit
Because JavaScript (unlike Flash) runs natively • Dojo
in the browser, it is susceptible to variances amongst
browsers in how the script is interpreted. I’m sure
this is nothing new to you since web developers How Do Frameworks Help?
already have to deal with differences in how Internet I’ve found that there are three basic concepts that demon-
Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, etc, interpret CSS strate the value of JavaScript frameworks.
or even some basic HTML tags. But it’s a pain, none The first concept is selectors. Everything on a web page
the less. can be considered an object that can be used by JavaScript.
Thankfully, open source developers have cre- That means every header, every paragraph, every list, every
ated JavaScript frameworks that not only handle the list element, every image, every link, every form element, and
cross-browser idiosyncrasies of JavaScript, but also every button – basically anything that has an HTML tag – can
make it much easier to tap into the full power of the be selected by JavaScript for action. The technical name for
language. This is where JavaScript’s second strength this is the Document Object Model (DOM). JavaScript can
becomes a challenge – unlike Flash (where you basi- respond to the user’s interaction with those elements – such
cally have to go to Adobe for good tools), there are as mousing over a header, clicking in a form field, or check-
so many JavaScript frameworks to choose between – ing a checkbox. However, from a programmer’s perspective,
how do you choose? being able to identify that element and set up the appropriate

actions for it, can be a real pain –
especially since it works slightly
differently in different browser
versions. JavaScript frameworks
generally make it simple to pull
out a single element. Frame-
works especially make a big
difference in the area of DOM
traversal –for example, being
able to easily identify the 3rd item
in the second ordered list on the
page.
The second concept is DOM
manipulation. Each element
on the page has attributes that
can be modified by JavaScript.
That includes visibility, color,
background color, border, loca-
tion, text, link, etc. JavaScript
frameworks make it easy to
modify these attributes in very
sophisticated ways. For ex-
ample, an element can gradually
change from one color to another
when the mouse is placed over
it. JavaScript frameworks even
provide a way to create new ele-
ments on the page. For example,
when you’re filling out a form,
each time you complete the last
text box in a list, another text
box can appear in case you have
another item to add to the list.
The third concept is user
interface elements, or widgets.
JavaScript frameworks, either
natively, or with plugins, make it
really easy to add sophisticated
user interface elements to your page. For example, when community of developers. To further explore the differences
the user clicks on a date field, a small calendar widget may between the framework options, I would recommend Wiki-
appear making it easy to select a date. This widget is easily pedia’s comparison table and IBM’s article titled “Compare
implemented using a JavaScript framework. JavaScript frameworks.”
As you go through your decision process, you very well
Choosing a Framework may reach a different conclusion, but I hope hearing our ap-
We’ve only tried two JavaScript frameworks. We proach has been helpful to you.
first used YUI and were hooked on the concept, but then
struggled with a particular implementation and searched for Russ McGuire is an executive for a Fortune 100 company and
an alternative. We came across jQuery and have been using the founder/co-founder of three technology start-ups. His lat-
it ever since. One difference between the two is that YUI is est entrepreneurial venture is Hschooler.net (http://hschooler.
net), a social network for Christian families (especially home-
focused on making Yahoo’s user interface elements available
schoolers) which is being built and run by three homeschooled
for other developers, while jQuery is a more typical open students under Russ’ direction.
source project focused on harnessing the innovation of a large

ministry communication
Clipart, Images, and Articles-If

it’s on the web, is it OK to
use it?
Yvon Prehn - yvon@effectivechurchcom.com
G
oogle can find anything you want—an image, a devo-
tion, an article, a sermon. One click and you can view
it; copy and paste and you capture it. But, just because
it’s that easy to do it, does that mean you should do it? If we
want our digital lives to match the beliefs of our analog lives, as
believers and servants of Jesus, the answer is no. Read on for
specific guidelines….
The old rules still apply more detail.

I’ve been astounded (and that strong word is used
intentionally) by the number of people lately who have Copyright laws
contacted me asking if it is OK to use anything they In very brief summary, since 1976, which is the
find for ministry purposes. The excuses are often the date of the most recent copyright revision in the U.S.,
same: “We don’t have money, time, whatever…..” to if you create something, you own the copyright to it.
do the right thing and find out if it is OK to use these You do not have to register it or even use the copyright
materials. symbol. If you create it, you own it. Because the creator
Just because budgets are tight, and we are stressed can grant use of it to someone else, that is why it is im-
out in our schedules, does not mean we can grab and portant to ask permission to use things that don’t belong
use anything we find. We need to be just as careful to you.
today that we are not using something that does not What this means in practice: You also own the
rightly belong to us, just as we did in junior high school rights to give it away or allow others to use it. It also
when we were taught not to plagiarize material for means if you don’t own it, it isn’t yours for the taking
school papers. with the exception of what is known as Fair Use.
To help us do that, a quick review of what con-
stitutes copyright, fair use and public domain may be Fair Use
helpful. Following this brief overview and some rec- The law recognizes the right and need for people
ommendations is a list of links to the U.S. government to be able to quote parts of a book, article or essay for
sites and additional articles that explain these issues in education, editorial, and review reasons.

It is easiest to apply Fair Use to
written material. Obviously if you
copy an entire piece of writing and
sell it to someone else or print it
on the web without permission—
that is stealing. If you just quoted
perhaps a passage, a paragraph, an
example or a statement, it would be
Fair Use.
The Fair Use guidelines are
much harder to apply to images
because you seldom take just part
of an image. One of the biggest
guidelines here is whether or not
you use the image in an education-
al setting or if you use it for com-
mercial purposes. To use an image
to illustrate a Sunday school lesson
is one thing; to download and use
it on a T-shirt that you sell is totally
different and a clear violation of
the law.
For images, for ministry uses,
the best thing to do is to either sign
up for a service that sells images
(usually these groups have very
reasonable prices), or use images
from some of the free to use, no more detail, but as always, this is an area, where if you
attribution required sources. Two resources of images are in doubt about whether something is legal for you to
that allow use for a low payment are: www.churchart. use or not, it is always best to contact the owner of the
com and www.faithclipart.com. On my website, http:// work or site where you found it.
www.effectivechurchcom.com/category/skills/clipart-
how-to/ I have videos and lists of copyright-free image Creative Commons
sources and other related resources. This is a newer system created by an international
Fair Use however, can get very tricky. It is NOT group of web-based individuals who have designed
OK to cite where you got something from and have ways for the creators of works to label their works in
it fall under the Fair Use rules if you copy the whole the ways they will allow them to be shared. The various
piece. That is simply telling people where you stole it ways include with and without attribution, for com-
from. If you tell people where you got it from or cite mercial purposes or not, and any combination of these
the reference, it is true that is not plagiarism because restrictions. You can read more about them at www.
you are not claiming it as your own, but it still not right creativecommons.org.
to do it. The website also has a very useful search feature
on the home page that allows you to find items that can
Public Domain be freely shared. The group has also developed a way
Many older materials (many of the writings of the to label materials that are legally in the public domain
church fathers, for example) or samples of Victorian art however it will probably be some time before this is
work, if they were not in a private collection or did not widely implemented.
have their copyright renewed are in the Public Domain
and this means that they can be used by anyone. Some practical advice
This however, is another extremely complex area. In addition to the Creative Commons listings, there
There are two articles below that explain this in much are a number of places on the web (click here for a

listing of them) that have copyright
free clipart and images you can use.
There are also some websites (such
as this one) that encourage you to
copy and pass on material and give
you permission to do it. Most of the
ones that do make it clear. If they
don’t, take the time to email and
ask.
In conclusion, back to the initial
question of whether or not you can
just grab something off the web.
Here is a three point checklist to
ask yourself from the article by
Goehner (the link is listed below):
• Would I perform this use

with print media in this
setting?
• Am I doing something to
prevent purchase, lease or
licensing?
• Do I hope that I will not get
caught?
I especially like the last question, “Do I hope that I Additional helpful links
will not get caught?” We often know (I do believe it is Overall U.S. government site on copyright, if you want
the Holy Spirit who speaks to our spirit) when we are to know the law and the history of it, this site has it. It is not
doing something we shouldn’t. If you have that nagging overly complex or hard to understand. http://www.copyright.
sense that you ought to be checking more carefully into gov/
whether or not it is OK to use something, don’t ignore A U.S. government site with an explanation of fair use:
that feeling. Check it out to see if you are doing what is http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
right or not. A very readable blog explaining public domain:http://
“As is often said, the devil is in the details — and blog.ebusinesslawgroup.com/2008/11/are-works-youre-using-
so is the angel. Signs of character are most visible when really-in-public.html
they are least visible — that is, demonstrated by what This site consists of a great chart on public domain that
people do when they think no one is watching, such contains the specifics about a wide variety of the dates and
as following the rules or taking the moral high ground types of materials and when they fall into public domain:
with no audience observing them. That’s why the http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm
signals of a leader’s judgment lies in the small things. An excellent summary of what is and isn’t correct on the
That’s why we don’t want to entrust national security, web as related to copyright: http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/
corporate finances, or leadership of a major enterprise copyright-internet.htm
to people who can’t put institutional interests above Good article about copyright for educators, but with ex-
personal indulgences.” From an article by Roabeth cellent comments on teaching morality: http://www.goehner.
Moss Kanter, in Harvard Business Review online 9-9- com/copyright.htm
2010 The site that explains creative commons and links to its
Yes, it always does take more time and care to search function: http://creativecommons.org/
make certain that it is legal to use the materials you Video tours of free image sources and online webinars
want to use on the web, but we serve the Lord and no of how to use and modify the images. http://www.effec-
matter if it takes more time or not, we should do it the tivechurchcom.com/category/skills/clipart-how-to/
correct way.

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