As a fellow church planter (Hope Family Fellowship, Georgetown, TX) I think there are some other things to consider.

1. It develops a good habit. Often times it is something that is going to be done “in the future,” but we never quite get around to it.  By the time we do, the task is monstrous.  It is much easier to do it right when you are dealing with a limited amount of records.  Establishing a habit of keeping and maintaining accurate church records from the beginning is something that will prove invaluable down the road.
2. It gives you a solid church history, where you can show your growth (or lack thereof) from the beginning of the church plant.  These records can prove invaluable when you approach people (donors) to help you at various stages of the growth process.
3. It demonstrates professionalism.  The simple of act of developing the database is an indication that you are very serious about what you are trying to do and accomplish in the kingdom of God.  In the event of some kind of request (audit) from the I.R.S.,  accurate, electronic records of attendance, giving, etc… will go a long way toward alleviating any concerns that they may have of the legitimacy of your ministry.
4. You can build your follow up systems around an already established method.  When you have a sudden influx of visitors, or simply a Sunday when a lot of guests show up, you already have in place a way to follow up with them.  You are not suddenly having to invent a way to collect and use all of this information.

I am sure there are other reasons.  What other ideas can you come up with that would demonstrate why a church planter needs to use Church Management software sooner rather than later?

Photo By: silent shot

Currently, 80 to 85 percent of people are finding their church based on websites

If you read further in this article you will also find that

85 percent of church websites are poorly designed, 10 percent are merely adequate, and only five percent can be considered really good

So what does this mean for you ?
- People are “shopping for churches”
- Just like everything else, people looking for churches are going online first and basing their decisions on their first impression
- Investing in a quality website is just like investing in your building, you would not allow your building be in shambles why would you allow your website to be ?
- You might need to take a hard look at what kind of impression your website is making based on these key factors: visual design, functionality, navigation, interactivity and content.

Over the next two weeks we will be diving deeper into these 5 factors that make up a quality website.

pic by Tom T

a gathering where church leaders and cultural influencers from the fields of business, politics, media, education, entertainment and the arts are exposed to the future of culture and the church’s responsibility to advance the common good in society.

Each “presentation” was only 18 minutes long – which was an interesting thing in and of its self. Some of the presenters included Andy Crouch, George P. Bush, Mike Foster , Shari Thomas , David Crowder, Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, Chris Seay John Burke, Tim Keel , Micah M. White, Rick McKinley , Gregory Berns, Catherine Crouch, Ambassador Max Kampelman, Shane Hipps, Heather Larson, Alan Hirsch, Charles Lee , Bill Townsend, Gabe Lyons. The topics ranged from why Christians should work to get the world to zero nuclear weapons to “Neuroeconomics” and how our brain works under fear and stress to “The Spirituality of the Cell Phone.”

A few take aways for me ( I will be posting on other topics in more depth later)

- Be fully present where ever I am
- Being Counter Cultural for the common good will have greater long term effects then trying to be relevant
- At best the “attractional” church model will only reach 35-45% of the world – what will reach the other 55-65% ?
- If I keep digging in the same hole (only deeper) I still will not find new answers
- Multitasking = doing more things less effectively
- Be aware of how technology is shaping and effecting my spiritual life
- I need to risk more

If you attended Q and need a place to “download” your intial thought please feel free to do so here.