Initiatives

Holy Places Open House

2008-01-11T19:16:00Z

You are invited to help celebrate the release of Holy Places: Matching Sacred Space with Mission and Message...(read more)

Holy Places

2007-12-14T15:45:00Z

The new book Holy Places: Matching Sacred Space with Mission and Message is here! Written by Center for Congregations staffers ...(read more)

Sacred Space DVD

2007-12-12T15:50:00Z

The Sacred Space instructional DVD and study guide are available...(read more)

Questions to Ask

2007-02-26T22:14:00Z

These questions will help you decide which Congregational Management Software is right for you.

What do you want the software to do?

Use this list of 50 possibilities to help determine your needs.

Keep track of people with different kinds of relationships to your congregation (members, visitors, constituents, children and spouse of members, etc.)
Use different kinds of telephone numbers -- fax, cell, pager, etc.
Have more than one address for a family or have individual addresses
Keep email information and use it to communicate with members
Track life events for members and families
Track skills, gifts and talents and search for and use information based on this data
Track committee service with dates (i.e., when terms expire, number of terms, etc.)
Keep information about spiritual gifts identified and used
Store digital photos of individuals and/or families
Print church directories -- with or without photographs
Use mail merge for personalized communications to congregation
Use searches to define groups of people who meet certain criteria ( e.g. all married men who live in one zip code for a targeted mailing) and save frequently used searches
Allow individuals and families to choose their own label names and salutations
Retain information about people who die or leave the congregation, but keep that information from showing up on lists, reports and directories.
Allow different family members to have different last names
Import and export information to other software, such as Access, Excel, Word, and so on
Keep attendance for worship, communion, church school, classes or other events
Keep attendance for more than one kind of worship service and sometimes group services together
Promote church school or other classes as a group and print class rosters and attendance marking sheets
View or print attendance information about one person over a long period of time
Do contribution entry on site or from a remote location
Keep contribution information to more than one church fund (operating, building, mission, etc.)
Track pledges to a fund, and credit contributions against a pledge
Print contribution statements annually, quarterly, monthly
Use mail merge containing contribution information
Record check numbers for individual contributions
Use pledge or contribution information in data searches for labels, directories or other reports
Keep detailed contribution information for more than one year at a time
Keep money in more than one bank account, or separate funds in the same bank account
Track actual income and expenses by account
Use budgets for each account -- vary by month based upon history, manual entry
Create your own account number formats -- numerical, alpha, character
Print balance sheets, statements of revenue and expenses, detailed journals on demand
Maintain vendor and service provider information files
Enter vendor invoices -- detail by account, combining all entries for one vendor
Use cash accounting methods
Use accrual accounting methods
Reconcile bank statements
Have on-line inquiry, MTD, YTD, all years by vendor and account
Pay employees and automatically do tax calculations for employee payroll
Take care of special tax circumstance for clergy - FICA, Medicare, housing allowance
Account for deductions for insurance, extra tax, savings plan, other
Direct deposit to one or more bank accounts
Keep an employee information file
Allow for variable pay periods and salary -- monthly, semi-monthly, bi-weekly, weekly, hourly
Payroll check printing, gross pay, deductions to net
Tax reporting -- W-2, 1099, Form 941, Federal summaries, state and local reporting
Print payroll reports by individual, time period, accounts
Keep inventory of assets -- quantity, location, value, and description
Use on an individual computer or on a network with multiple workstations

Thirty Congregational Culture Questions

You want match software features to your congregation's practices. Individual congregational practices and culture vary greatly. You need to find software that meets your needs. Think about your congregation's "culture" - that is, how you do things. Knowing how your church's systems work -- how and why you do what you do -- will help you pick software that matches your needs, rather than making you fit your needs to a software's capabilities. For example: do you use offering envelopes? Some CMS requires envelope numbers to record a pledge or contribution. Or, when recording attendance, do you wish to keep track of who received communion? Some CMS offers this - others don't. Is your congregation large enough (or "family" enough) to have multiple people with the same first and last name (i.e. Joe Smith or Mary Jones)? Many software packages do a poor job of making distinctions between multiple people with the same names - especially when recording contributions or attendance The following questions will help you answer some of your congregation's most important culture questions as you choose which CMS package is right for your church.

Do you use numbered offering envelopes? Do couples/families share a common envelope number?
Does a person/couple/family keep the same envelope number year-to-year?
Do you record contributions of people who aren't members?
Do you take pledges to church funds? Are any of these pledges multi-year?
Is your pledge year the same as a calendar year? Is your financial year the same as a calendar year?
Are your contribution records kept on a computer at the church or at another location?
Do pastors and/or other staff have access to contribution information? Do they need to?
How often do you want to send contribution statements to the congregation?
How often do you write checks? Do you use computer-generated checks?
Do you want to process payroll for employees, or to use a payroll service?
Do you use a cash or accrual method of accounting?
Is the person who manages your day-to-day financial transactions an accountant, or do they have accounting experience?
Do some couples within the same family wish to have both first names on labels and other correspondence (e.g. John and Mary Smith vs. Mr. And Mrs. John Smith)?
Do some couples with different last names wish to have both last names on labels and other correspondence (e.g. John Smith and Mary Miller)?
Do members of the same family sometimes have different addresses?
What individual date information is important to your congregation (e.g. marriage, baptism, profession of faith)?
Is email used for regular correspondence with the congregation? Individually and groups?
Do you use a Phonetree or other automated voice system to send voice messages to the congregation?
Do you send personalized correspondence to large numbers of people in the congregation?
Do you print individual addresses directly on envelopes, or do you use labels all of the time?
Is bulk mail sorting used for any communication to the congregation?
When a person dies or leaves the congregation, do you still want to keep information about them -- family connections, address, contribution or attendance information? Is it important to keep the date when they die or leave?
What are the special areas of ministry within your congregation that you would like to track within a computer database?
Can the person in charge of your membership data make decisions about the design of the database (more powerful), or should the software provide all of the structure (less chance for error)?
Do you want to know who has (or has not) attended worship, church school classes or other events? Both members and visitors?
Do you want to know who takes communion during a worship service?
Do you have multiple weekly worship services?
Do you follow up with members who have missed several consecutive worship services, classes and other events? Do you want that information to be kept in a computer database?
Do you have several levels of organization for church school or other classes, and do you wish to use them in reporting? (e.g. Area, Department, Age, Class Name)
Do you use the Internet to publish membership, contribution or financial information?

40 Days and 40 Bytes

2007-02-26T22:11:00Z

Read what we've learned about congregations and technology in 40 Days & 40 Bytes by Center staff members Aaron Spiegel, Nancy Armstrong, and Brent Bill.

"40 Days & 40 Bytes is the most comprehensive overview available on technology in congregations. If you are thinking about your congregation's technology needs, make the journey with these veteran travelers." — J. Phillip Martin, National Association of Church Business Administration

Buy a copy of 40 Days & 40 Bytes

Congregational Management Software

2007-02-26T22:09:00Z

What We’re Seeing – Trends in the CMS World

New web-based products – It’s finally happening on a larger scale, as people within congregations become more comfortable with using the Internet for a variety of services. A few new companies are offering completely web-based solutions for congregation management software.
Web-based services for traditional products - Current providers are adding services such as hosting (their CMS product kept on their network, accessed by your congregation using the internet and programs such as Terminal Services or Citrix), viewing of some membership data on-line, interaction between the CMS and a congregation’s website, and on-line contributions.
Security both for people, particularly children, and information is a growing issue. Congregations are concerned about the safety and security of children left within their care, and are turning to their CMS to help provide a check-in / check-out system for young children. Offsite data backup is being offered by the new web-based products and several of the traditional product vendors.

ACS (Automated Church System) - ACS is possibly the most feature-rich, versatile and powerful traditional CMS on the market today. It offers many different modules, which may be purchased individually or in combination to create a full-function palate of computer database tools for your congregation. Although training is a must for any module, we find the system to be quite intuitive. Highlights include a very powerful Activities section, which helps keep track of all the ways a person is connected to the life of your congregation, search/query functions and varied output options. Detailed Contribution and Accounting information may be retained for as many years as you care to keep track. The company recently added a Growth Suite, which is anchored by two modules - Ministry Scheduler and Volunteer Manager. We find these modules to be less intuitive than those in either the People or Financial suites, and probably more than needed for many congregations. A separate product for congregation-related schools, Headmaster, is also available. Two new products, Access ACS (for viewing your membership data on the Web), and LiveStor (offsite backup for your ACS database and/or other network files) have recently been released. ACS Technologies also offers a hosting service, where both a congregation’s data and their ACS programs are housed on ACS’s network and accessed through Terminal Services. More information about this option or any ACS Technologies product may be found through their website: www.acstechnologies.com

LOGOS - Often a good choice for congregations, LOGOS has two major components: Church/Donor Management and Accounting. The Church Management section combines membership, contributions and attendance functions, with a small area for visitations. The Financial module provides a nice balance of power and ease-of-use needed by congregations of many sizes. Other modules include a Facility Scheduler, Ministry Scheduler and Sacramental Register. The newest of these, Ministry Scheduler, helps to schedule volunteers who serve in rotating schedules – ushers, child care workers, liturgists, etc. LOGOS also now offers an Online Management service, which enables a congregation to take online contributions or payments or have direct deposit services. And they’re adding an automated data backup. Want to know more? Their website is: www.logoslbe.com

Servant Keeper - Servant Keeper offers Membership, Contributions and Attendance functions in one package, and is a great basic CMS. It is easy to learn, easy to use, and offers many features usually found only in more expensive systems. No accounting functions are included, but links to Quickbooks and Quicken are built-in. Contributions data may also be exported to other accounting software. The search/query functions have a clear and simple format. Basic reporting is only a matter of choosing which columns to display from a list. Both Attendance and Contributions entry are fast and easy. Several formats are offered for printing church directories and contribution statements, and a library of over fifty new report formats is now available at an additional charge. Servant PC Resources makes this product: www.servantpc.com

One Web-based CMS Product
Fellowship One – Originally created for use only by the Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, this new application has received a lot of attention in the CMS world. Fellowship One is a web-based ASP (application service provider) solution, not software to be purchased and installed on a congregation’s resident computers. The service is accessed through the web browser on any computer connected to the Internet (given the proper user ID and password). The ‘star’ module of this product has been a children’s check-in system, which uses touch screen and bar code scanning capability to quickly and safely process children arriving and leaving a congregation’s activities. The check-in module may be used independently or as a part of Fellowship One’s larger offerings, which include People, Contributions, Contact, Volunteer, Small Group, Activity and Event Management. Online giving, online registration and payment for any congregational event, check scanning and imaging are a few of the additional features available. No accounting applications are offered or planned. Reporting may become an issue as the customer base grows. Although over 400 reports exist in the Report Central section now, new reports are created by request to Fellowship Tech staff instead of by the user. For some users this is a great relief, but those more experienced in generating queries and reports may find it limiting. The complete report listing screen looks cumbersome to us, although frequently-used reports can appear on an individual’s screen as ‘favorites’. Several Editions (groupings of modules, features and access) are available, from Growth to Enterprise. Pricing varies by congregation size and Edition. More information may be found at www.fellowshiptech.com

Sacred Space Grant Recipients

2007-02-26T22:08:00Z

Aldersgate Free Methodist Church

Avon Christian Church

Barnes United Methodist Church

Bethel Lutheran Church in Noblesville

BridgeWay Community Church in Fishers

Broadway United Methodist Church

Castleton Church of the Nazarene

Center Grove Presbyterian Church

Chinese Community Church of Indianapolis

Christ Church, The Lutheran Church of Zionsville

Christ Community Church in Carmel

Clermont Christian Church

Congregation Shaarey Tefilla

Connection Pointe Christian Church of Brownsburg
(formerly Brownsburg Christian Church)

Crooked Creek Baptist Church

Etz Chaim Sephardic Congregation

Fairview Presbyterian Church

First Christian Church (DOC) in Shelbyville

First Free Will Baptist Church

Garden Baptist Church

Garfield Park Baptist Church

Grace Ministries

Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin

Holy Trinity Catholic Church

Iglesia Metodista Vida Nueva

Jones Tabernacle AME Zion Church

Mooresville Church of the Nazarene

Morgantown United Methodist Church

New Hope Presbyterian Church in Fishers

Northview Christian Life Church in Carmel

Northview Church of the Brethren

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church

Phillips Temple CME Church

Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Second Baptist Church

St. Bernadette Catholic Church

St. James Lutheran Church in Greenfield

St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church

St. Mary Catholic Church

St. Monica Catholic Church

The Journey

The Promise United Methodist Church in Fishers

True Tried Missionary Baptist Church

Zion United Church of Christ

Zion United Church of Christ in Shelbyville

Zionsville Christian Church

Computers and Ministry Initiative

2007-02-26T22:06:00Z

“Computers can help congregations
be more effective in people's lives.”
—Aaron Spiegel

This grants initiative ended 12/02

By working with more than 300 congregations in the area of computers and ministry, our staff has learned a lot about using technology as a ministry tool. “This isn’t technology for technology’s sake,” says Aaron Spiegel, Director of Information Technology and Administrator of the Computers and Ministry Grants Initiative. “Computers can help congregations be more effective in people’s lives.”

Review the results of our CMS Survey - find out who uses what and whether or not they like it!

Review the results of our Desktop Publishing Survey

Sacred Space Initiative

2007-02-26T21:51:00Z

This grants initiative ended 12/05

The Sacred Space Grant Initiative helped congregations address the challenging issues they face in matching their physical spaces to their missions.

The Sacred Space Grant Initiative seeks to link congregations with the best resources available for building stewardship and expansion. Congregational teams reflect theologically about the nature of sacred space, design plans to address sacred space needs in their own distinctive way, and receive technical assistance as well as financial support toward implementing their own sacred space plans.

We know that the needs of congregations in the area of sacred space issues are varied - landlocked parcels, traffic flow issues, classroom space, zoning and building code concerns, upkeep on older buildings, and many more. Congregations are encouraged to look at building issues through strategic reflection, strategic planning and strategic action, a three step process that links congregational facilities to missions.

The Center recognizes that place itself isn’t holy. Still, place is an instrument that helps us participate in the mission of God. As architect Rudolf Schwarz said, “It is only out of sacred reality that sacred buildings can grow … that sacred substance out of which churches can be built must be alive and real to us.” The Center’s desire is to work with your congregation so that your sacred space may be alive and real to you.

Click here for information about the instructional DVD and study guide.