For years one of the difficulties I have experienced in ministry was the inability to control the membership, communication, and visitation data that comes flowing into a church.  At times it can be overwhelming.  At one time I used spreadsheets to maintain the list of people, their phone numbers, addresses, and more.  The problem was that when that as the data grew the ability to use the data became harder and harder.  In order to print envelopes or to send out communications to individuals required more knowledge of the tools and how to integrate other software.  A great solution I happened to stumble across was Kingdom Tools.

Kingdom Tools provides a great option for web based membership maintenance.  There are several tools out there that allow for membership maintenance but not over a secure web based portal.  That is one of the advantages of Kingdom Tools.  You can catch up with entering data anywhere you have access to the web.  This also allows for a great opportunity to give others in your ministry that may not be able to attend services, but could enter data.

A second benefit of Kingdom Tools is the ability to interact between members within the tool.  Kingdom Tools has allowed for the administrator to give access to members and then assign them to different groups. For example, if you have a choir you could set up a group for the choir and communicate with the members of the choir through Kingdom Tools.  It provides a single location for interaction with your members.

There are so many other benefits that I would just direct you over to their site at www.kingdomtools.com where they can tell you more about it.  Personally I can’t think of a nicer group of people and have appreciated their willingness to work with the ministries I have been involved with to make it all work great.

Take a look at some of their benefits as they state them.

I start this post with the simple premise that we should “… not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, (Eph. 5:18).” It is crucial for us to be controlled by the Spirit at all times in our lives as opposed to any other “thing” out there. Thus that begins the discussion for us as we face the potential difficulty with social networking and media.  These new technologies have given us the potential to be controlled by yet another “thing” in our lives.

Recently I decided to take a “Technology Fast”  in which I didn’t check Twitter, FaceBook, email, or work on any websites.  Basically I stayed away from all communication with those through technology except for phone calls (more out of necessity than anything else).  What I found was that it is easy to be controlled by those technologies even if there is nothing of great importance or value being said.  I enjoy the interaction I can have with friends that otherwise I wouldn’t communicate with but again I don’t want to be controlled by that.  By the nature of social media it drives the need and desire to communicate constantly.  In this always connected world we need to be careful that we are not being controlled by something that can be a great tool and turn it into a great detriment to our ministries.

Another aspect or danger of social communication is the false reality that can be presented.  The nature of FaceBook drives us to want more social interaction than ever before.  Yet the social interaction we are participating in is only a virtual interaction and can easily take the place for real interactions.  Why is this so important?  Why can’t we just replace real personal social interaction with virtual social interaction?  The reason is that virtual social interaction is determined by what the other person wants you to see not necessarily what the reality is.  Let’s take FaceBook as an illustration of this point.  The common pictures that are put up on FaceBook are not those which show people upset, in bad situations, or what they look like when they wake up in the morning (at least for the most part).  We are presenting ourselves to the world as put together and without any problems.  This in turn can cause us to think that those people have great lives and it is so much better than mine. When we begin to think that life of those on the other end of a virtual reality is better than mine when begin to dream about become a part of their reality.  In “reality” their lives might be a horrible mess, but of course they wouldn’t show you that.

Of course the heart issue is not FaceBook or Twitter. These are just tools and help to point out problems in our hearts when they begin to take over.  It could be coffee, cars, sports, or even our families. My point was not to try and solve it but rather point it out.  This is a danger that is prevalent in our society. Even in the life of a Pastor. How is your social media intake today?  Are you controlled by it?  Remember “do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,”

More Info Links

• http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10153941-71
• html http://www.slate.com/id/2282620/pagenum/all/
• http://www.russellmoore.com/2011/01/27/why-facebook-and-your-church-might-be-making-you-sad/
• http://www.thedoghousediaries.com/?p=2513 [/learn_more]

I am an individual who not only spends 40 hours a week using technology but for many weeks I can add several more after I get home from work.  This presents a potential problem in that my mind is always focused on or around technology.  I carry a smart phone, have an e-reader, use a laptop at work, and have a laptop at home.  I monitor several websites and am constantly tweaking and editing sites.  It is easy to become controlled by technology. Can you relate?

A great way to ensure that your life is not controlled by the ever present tech in your house you might want to consider a technology fast.  This can take on several forms and here are just a few suggestions.

The point of fasting is simple to ensure that we are not controlled by the technology that we use in our lives but rather be in control of it. Is technology controlling you? Don’t wait until the next massive power and networks outage to find out how dependent you are on your devices. We have real people in our lives who need real people to interact with them, face to face.

For Christmas my wife bought me a Kindle E-reader and I have been taking on books like never before. Within a month I had already blown through 4 books and was starting to realize that maybe the money I save on the cost of books was going to be replaced by the number I was reading.  Regardless of that thought I noticed some benefits for both e-readers and tablets in ministry.  Here are my thoughts.

1.  E-readers and Tablets can now take the place of the paper notes we tend to use for preaching and teaching.  I started converting my sermon notes to PDFs and porting them to my Kindle to use when I preach. Instead of having to flip back and forth between papers I can use the page buttons to move between pages. No more rustling through stacks or getting lost!  Tired of switching to reading glasses to peer at notes? These portable devices are designed so you can resize the display of text for easy reading. Using sermon notes in this way also allows for them to be stored on the device to be called up anytime they are needed without having to print them out again. Great for later reference, even for that book you’re working on.

2.  The cost of E-books is lower than most hard-copy books on the market. With the cost of many electronic texts starting around $10, the financial burden for the pastors library has gone down dramatically (and the option to give the gift of a good book to your pastor is even easier). Of course this also means you can buy even more, which in the end might not save more but it would give you more books for the same price.

3.  Have you ever wanted to carry more books with you on a trip? Well e-readers and tablets now let you carry your entire library with you where ever you go. If you happen to finish a book in the waiting room you can start the next one. If you have the 3g connection on your e-reader or tablet and you’re out of new content, you can even find another book to purchase as well. While you’re on that trip, you can work on the next lecture or sermon without a suitcase full of references and papers.

4.  Specifically with tablets you now have the ability to communicate with your congregation or ministry remotely without having to sit down in your office in front of your computer. In the past, you could accomplish this while using a smart phone but your screen size was restrictive and using the web was not always the best performance. Now that these tablets have made it to the mainstream market, the increase in the screen size allows for better use of the web and easier for those who might not have the best eye sight.

5. Although it might be a more expensive way to use tablets in ministry there is the ability to use these tools to allow for your church musicians to share music and change music on the fly.  The music could be stored on the tablet and pulled up for the services eliminating that ever present stack of music sitting near where the musicians sit.

What is really going on with these electronic devices? Just what the ads say: They’re portable, powerful means for keeping data, sharing data and communicating beyond the hand-written pages we’ve been so used to. Tablets and E-Readers not only allow us to take in the information we need but give us ready access to editing, note-taking and development of the information we want to share with the people we care for in ministry. From preaching and lecture references to note-taking or working out the music program, there are many technological options for us and it takes just a little thinking to see how valuable these tools can be. Portable data is highly recommended for your ministry’s tool-bag. Happy computing!

to the website for HcSquared: Helping Churches Help Churches. Our passion is providing technology and design elements for churches and Ministries. We create products that are high quality and something you can be proud of.

If you are looking for help with your website, looking to purchase some new technology, want to print some great brochures, or have something wrong with your computer and you can’t figure it out , you have come to the right place.  Browse awhile and feel free to head to the contact page if you have any question or would like to find out what we can do for you.  Thanks again for visiting.

Desert Foothills Baptist Church had a recreation of its entire corporate identity. The old logo was bound to a square box and the website needed a revamp. HcSquared had the logo redeveloped as well as creating letter head, business cards, even a new bulletin. We topped it off by incorporating the new design into the website. We used WordPress to allow for quick editing of the pages and information. You can see the work at www.dfbchurch.org.

It’s been a while since I last wrote something and I wanted to jot a not to share with you a great site where you can get some amazing themes.  Elegant Themes provides a moderate amount of themes that are a huge benefit in developing websites.  Here are some of the benefits you get with Elegant Themes.

1. They keep the themes up-to-date with the current version of wordpress.  I am impressed by their drive to keep even the old theme functioning with the newest version of wordpress. When version 3.0 was released they put information on their site letting everyone know that they were working on updating all the themes for that version.
2. They provide a nice variety of themes.  They do not just provide one type of theme but rather several different types.  There are simple designs and complex designs.  Something for everyone.
3. The functions behind the scene are much easier then most other themes I’ve worked with.  The ePanel theme options provides a comprehensive yet clear tool for manipulating the theme to be exactly what you are looking for.
4. They have integrated fresh ideas that are popular on the web today without the need to know code to make it work.  Many of the features are as easy as clicking a button and saving the page.

So why do I tell you all this?  I want Ministries to shoot for excellence when it comes to what they do and with Elegant Themes I think you have a great resource to make it excellent. So Head on over to www.elegantthemes.com and check it out for yourself.  I think you’ll agree with me that they are making some awesome WordPress Themes.

CoffeeCup

Let’s face it, there are lots of pastors and assistant pastors who are out there working in ministry by themselves.  When we take a look at their websites we can tell they are doing it themselves.  Maybe you happen to be one of those pastors. I applaud you for working hard and doing what you can to make your ministry available.  I want HcSquared to not only be a place where you can get help with those projects that you want to do but also provide tools for you to do it yourself if you really want to.  I want to introduce to you (if you don’t already know) a company called CoffeeCup.

I love CoffeeCup software.  One of my favorite features is when I install any of their software it plays a little tune which says, “I love coffee in a cup.”  Great little feature for fun.  Their software is a great tool for those do-it-yourselfers who have a little tech savvy and want to give it a try.  Here is an overview of some of their software that I think would be helpful to those of you out there looking for resources to run the gauntlet yourself. Click on the pictures and titles for each product to visit the information page at CoffeeCup.

Visual Site Designer

If you are going to design your site from scratch then Visual Site Designer might be what you need.  Here is a powerful little tool to allow you to create a website from the ground up without even needing to know code.  You can drop your features on the page and start building.  They provide video tutorials to help show you how to set it up and they even throw in some themes to get you started.  I think it is a great product.  Check out more details by clicking here.

Web Form Builder

I have been using Web Form builder on my websites for years.  The ability to create almost any type of form is included in this product and it works great.  You can make signup, contact, upload, and any other type of form you want.  One great feature about this software is that you can have the form from your website email you the information directly.  Or you can have it email someone else.  It’s a great product.

Photo Gallery

The photo gallery tool is a awesome product as well.  If you are looking for a unique way to share images with your church people this is a great way to do it.  CoffeeCup has packed in themes to start you off with and they are just loads of fun.  You can create multiple galleries within the same flash window or you can keep it to just one.  It takes care of the thumbnail images so you don’t have to resize all of them yourself.  You can add captions as well as you own little features.

RSS News Flash
The RSS News Flash is a great tool if you subscribe to feeds on your site.  This is also a great tool if you use google calendars because you can show your upcoming events from google on your website with the News Flash tool.  You can also subscribe to content they have ready for you within the tool.  The tool is customizable and can be placed anywhere on your site by simple copying the code straight to your site. Check out more features for this tool by clicking here.

Overall CoffeeCup makes web development, for those who either don’t know how or those who are just looking for a quick and easy way to add some flare to our site, a great experience.  All of these tools provide instant upload options straight to your site and allow you to copy and paste the code quickly into your website.  They include themes and graphics and best of all they are all easy to use.  CoffeeCup has done a stand-up job with their software and I applaud them.  Great job and I hope you can find their tools useful as well.

I am excited to see more and more churches begin to use technology to help minister in new and innovative ways.  Unfortunately with the growth of technology the how-toos of using that technology have not always kept up with the technology itself.  PowerPoint is a prime example of this idea.  Pastors are using PowerPoint to enhance their sermons on Sunday and even Sunday school teachers are using the tool as well, but is it as effective as it could be?  Here are some tips on how to make your presentations on Sunday more effective to those you are trying to reach or teach.

1. Probably the most important and critical of any tip is to understand that the content of your slides should always be legible and clearly seen from anywhere in the room you are showing your presentation.  There is always a desire to fit everything from your notes onto a slide, but often this puts to much information on a slide making it hard to read and see.  Start by keeping your main points on each slide and then use your sermon or lesson to fill in around the point verbally not by putting them on the slide itself.  If you put everything on the slides people will read the slides and ignore you as the presenter.  Remember that a presentation is made to enhance your sermon or lesson not to replace it. Check your font size and ensure it is large enough to see from the back of the room you will be presenting in.

2. Stay away from background and text colors that are similar.  Always use contrasting colors when putting your presentations together.  Consider point one when developing your design by remembering that the content of your slides is the most important thing and thus the colors must enhance the content.  A simple way to resolve the color issues is to use Microsoft’s themes.  These are made to give you the contrast you need to make the slides clear.  Also, remember that when putting a slide presentation up through a projector it will many times not be as bright as it was on your computer screen. Depending on the church you might have a long distance between the computer running the presentation and the projector.  The longer the distance the weaker the signal from the computer making the brightness less.  The distance and the brightness of the projector could potentially make a presentation that looks fine on a computer screen very hard to read through the projector.  My suggestion is to check your presentation on the projector before giving the presentation.

3. An often overlooked part of using a presentation is that it becomes a side thought.  A pastor might spend hours preparing a sermon for Sunday but only spend 10 minutes putting the presentation together.  This has the potential to make a good sermon look really bad.  It is critical to practice with the presentation before giving it.  A run through will also show possible errors within the presentation allowing you to resolve them before it is too late.  If you are being helped by someone clicking the points through for you make sure to clearly define where to change slides.  My suggestion is not to use up valuable presentation time by instructing someone to change the slide each time you want a new slide shown.

4. If you plan on using any type of animations, whether it is slide animations or image animations within the slide be sure to make them simple and use them sparingly.  NEVER (in my opinion) have an animation that continually moves the entire time the slide is on the screen and especially not one that is on every single slide.  This is a major distraction to those in your audience.  Simple is better when it comes to animation.  If you struggle with keeping it simple I would suggest holding off from any animations at all.

5. Format your slides to match.  As you make presentations there are several hints to help keep the formatting on each page similar.  One option is to use master pages.  Master pages put basic information on each page and ensure that it is in the same place on every page. A second tip would be to duplicate the slides you are creating from one you have already created.  This will copy over the format of the previous slide making them similar.  Slides that move text over, down, or around each time the next slide is shown are a distraction to the audience.  Remember, content is the most important aspect of your presentation and is only there to enhance your sermon or lesson.

6. Lastly, add some character or interest to support your presentation.  If you happen to be giving an illustration that includes a story about someone, a picture of that person helps the visual learner to see the story happen in their mind much better.  A picture of a cross helps to remind people of the song they are singing or to enhance the song in their minds.  Pictures and images are great helps, but beware not use too many.  Simple and meaningful images are best.  If you cannot find an image to illustrate your point it is better to go without than to put something unrelated on the slide.

So in conclusion it is critical to your sermon, lesson, music, or any other type of presentation to consider every possible issue related to your presentation to ensure that the presentation enhances your words rather than detract from them.  PowerPoint and other presentation software is a great help in ministry, but only if it is used correctly.