Peter Lane

The Funeral Problem (Part 2)

Posted on by Peter Lane

Last month we named The Funeral Problem – how funerals expose every weakness in a church AV setup. This time we drop in on two friends, Sam and Jess, as they trade stories over coffee about how to survive it in practice

About Sam & Jess

Sam and Jess aren’t from the same church, or even the same tradition.  One’s used to more candles, one’s used to more guitars.  But they both wrangle church tech on Sundays, and every so often they meet for coffee in town.  That’s when the stories come out — the headaches, the hacks, and the lessons learned.  We get to listen in when the conversation turns to tech.

Sam: “I’m really pulling my hair out, Jess.  Every time someone uses the church for a funeral, it takes half of Sunday morning to put things back together again.  Projector in the wrong mode, cables swapped, and our poor volunteers staring at a blank screen.”

Jess: “Classic. Families just want the slideshow to work, so they’ll plug into anything that looks available.  Splitters, switchers, even straight into the projector.  It’s not sabotage — they just need it to work for that one service.”

The Trouble Spots

Sam: “So what do you see as the main weak points?”

Jess: “Well, first — the signal path . If you’ve got a splitter or switcher, label it clearly and keep it in sight.  Well, in sight once you’re in the tech booth, anyway.   If you’ve got some sort of dock or wall-plate, same deal.  Guests will find the unlabelled plug every time.”

Sam: “Our confidence monitor’s another.  It gets unplugged because someone decided it wasn’t important.”

Jess: “Yep. Those screens are like insurance.  The preacher doesn’t always need them, but when they do, it’s a lifesaver.  Keep it live every week, so people trust it.”

Sam: “Overflow’s a headache too.  We run our foyer from the livestream — fine for hymns, hopeless for tribute videos.”

Jess: “Exactly.  Direct feed beats internet every time.  Even a cheap HDMI splitter does better than YouTube when the video tribute is on.”

Sam: “And then someone waves an old iPhone at you and says, ‘The PowerPoint’s on here…’”

Jess: “That’s where you need your emergency parachute.  Best case: load everything onto a dedicated presentation laptop.  But when you can’t?  Wireless screen mirroring.  Not reliable enough for every week, but it’ll get you out of jail when the slides only exist on someone’s phone.”

Pick Your Level

Gold standard: Matrix or distribution amp, solid cabling, dedicated presentation PC.
Middle ground: Reliable splitter/switcher, confidence monitor always running, overflow fed direct.
Bare minimum: Replace flaky cables, tape down connections, keep a “reset to Sunday” checklist.
Emergency only: Fire up the wireless mirroring and pray the Wi-Fi holds.

The Takeaway

Sam: “So resilience isn’t really about fancy kit.  It’s about being able to reset to a known good state on Sunday.”

Jess: “Exactly.  The funeral director only cares about this service.  You care about every Sunday.  Build for that.”

👉 Next time Sam and Jess catch up, who knows where the conversation will go — rosters, OBS, maybe even website logins. But for today the question stands: would your setup survive the next funeral?

Read the Reflective Part 1 here → The Funeral Problem

We need your help !!

PS: d|c|t is also collecting stories for our upcoming Church+AI resource. If you’ve experimented with AI for rosters, sermons, or parish admin — or simply bumped into its challenges — we’d love to hear from you: dct.org.nz/church-ai.

Peter Lane

The Funeral Problem

Posted on by Peter Lane
Sepia desert banner with a tumbleweed made of tangled cables. Bold text “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” runs almost to the edge — a fitting metaphor for church systems that nearly work until they don’t.

Nothing tests a church’s technology like a funeral.

On a normal Sunday, the PowerPoint might freeze or the sound might squeal, and everyone sighs and carries on.  But at a funeral, the grieving family’s cousin turns up with a USB stick, the funeral director wants a tribute video right now, and the operator’s prayer is simple: Lord, let HDMI be merciful today.

The Funeral Problem Defined

“The Funeral Problem” is shorthand for any big, emotional service where the usual church systems are asked to cope with outsiders and surprises.  Weddings, carol services, school prizegivings — they all bring the same pressure.  But funerals are the clearest example: high emotion, high expectation, and no time for fixing cables.

And here’s the catch: what feels “good enough” on Sunday morning often falls apart when the funeral arrives.

Two Faces of the Problem

Sometimes, the outsider makes it work.  A cable gets rerouted, a bit of software is installed, or a laptop is plugged in directly.  The funeral runs smoothly, everyone is thankful — but by Sunday the volunteers are left with a mess.  The confidence monitor has vanished, the livestream no longer talks to the projector, and nobody knows what’s been changed.

Other times, it doesn’t work at all.  The slideshow won’t open, the sound cuts out, the video freezes.  And instead of quiet dignity, the room fills with stress.  Families remember the tribute that never played; volunteers remember the panic of being blamed; and the community remembers that this church’s system failed at a funeral.

Why It Matters

Technology glitches are annoying on Sunday.  At a funeral, they hurt.  Grief plus frustration is a painful mix, and a single failure can damage trust in the church’s care.

It’s tempting to shrug and say, “We’ll cope.”  But fragile systems invite shortcuts, and every outside event becomes a gamble.  True reliability isn’t just “it worked today” — it’s “it can reset and work again tomorrow.”

What Can Be Done

The good news is that churches don’t need fancy systems to do better.  Options include:

  • Investing for resilience: systems designed to reset easily, with confidence monitors and overflow screens that just work.
  • Stabilising what you have: fix broken cables, tidy workflows, and train volunteers.
  • Hoping for the best: the cheapest choice, but the riskiest — every funeral could be the one that fails.

The Pastoral Payoff

Reliable AV isn’t about looking professional.  It’s about care.  When families walk into church on one of the hardest days of their lives, they should be able to trust that the slideshow will run and the sound will hold.

Imagine a setup that just works — Sunday to Sunday, funeral to wedding, guest preacher to Christmas concert.  Reliability in our technology is hospitality in action.  It is one more way the church says: You are safe here.  We have prepared for you.

PS: d|c|t (Diaconate of Church Technologists) is also collecting stories for our upcoming Church+AI resource. If you’ve experimented with AI for rosters, sermons, or parish admin — or simply bumped into its challenges — we’d love to hear from you: dct.org.nz/church-ai.

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.   We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we use technology in churches, located at dct.org.nz.   

Peter Lane

🛠️ What Even Is a Zoom Room (And Do You Need One)?

Posted on by Peter Lane

A Backroom Blueprint post from d|c|t — practical systems thinking for semi-clued-up churches.

Spoiler: It’s not just a laptop on a table. And no, you probably don’t need one. But someone’s going to ask eventually — so here’s what to say.

Meetings are better when they work

Whether it’s the parish council, the national board, or that hybrid synod meeting where half the room forgot to unmute — church life involves more meetings than most of us care to admit.

And increasingly, those meetings are hybrid.

So the temptation is real: what if you could fit out a room so people just walk in, press one button, and the hybrid meeting actually works — clear audio, consistent camera angles, no laptop limbo or nostril cam?

That’s the dream Zoom Room is selling.

So what is a Zoom Room?

It’s not a subscription plan. It’s not a fancy new version of the app.

A Zoom Room is a room-based conferencing system — a set of hardware and software that connects a physical meeting room to Zoom calls without needing a laptop in the middle of the table.

  • A touchscreen controller (e.g. iPad or proprietary tablet)
  • A mounted camera and microphone setup
  • A large display or TV
  • An always-on mini computer or room console
  • Optional scheduling panel outside the room

You walk in, tap the screen, and the room joins the meeting — often pulling calendar data directly from Outlook or Google Workspace via an integration with your church’s shared calendar system.

In short: it’s a video boardroom, not a portable kit.

⚙️ Note: Microsoft offers a similar setup called Teams Rooms, and Google Meet has its own flavour too. The branding and hardware may differ, but the strategic scenarios — and trade-offs — are basically the same.

Where it shines

If you’re running frequent hybrid meetings in a consistent space, room-based systems like this can be:

  • Reliable: One-button join. Minimal faff.
  • Clearer: Fixed microphones and mounted cameras usually beat a laptop mic from across the room.
  • Professional: Particularly useful when meeting funders, denominational leaders, or the bishop.
  • Integrated: Book the room in your church calendar, and the video call link is already there.

It’s also brandable, secure, and surprisingly slick — when it’s installed right and your internet doesn’t hiccup mid-motion.

Where it gets awkward

But here’s the thing. For most churches:

  • Cost is high (the gear + the Zoom Rooms or Teams licence)
  • Setup isn’t plug-and-play — expect an AV tech or integrator
  • Flexibility is limited — designed for meeting rooms, not rearranged parish lounges or multipurpose halls
  • Platform lock-in: You’re committing to Zoom or Teams. No hopping over to livestream the AGM.

And if anything fails — camera, mic, network — you still need someone who knows where the cables go and what not to panic about.

🧭 Blueprint Considerations

Before you spend the vestry’s annual biscuit budget on a touchscreen panel, ask:

  • What platform does your diocese or denominational office use (Zoom, Teams, Meet)?
  • Is the meeting space wired for consistent power, internet, and display?
  • Will this room be used by tech-fluent staff or rotating volunteers?
  • Can your budget stretch to setup and support?

So… do I need one?

Probably not.

If your main meetings are:

  • Monthly vestry in the lounge, with someone dialling in from their campervan = stick with a laptop and a decent mic.
  • Quarterly boardroom sessions, sometimes hybrid, sometimes not = you might want to simulate a Zoom Room with some carefully set up gear.
  • Frequent, high-profile, multi-location meetings with time-sensitive decisions = then yes, maybe a room-based system is worth the investment.

Just don’t assume that a one-button solution means a no-brainer decision.

Smarter spending

If your hybrid meeting experience is painful, ask:

  • Are your audio and camera setups the real problem?
  • Is someone in charge of the tech during meetings?
  • Are you expecting one solution to work for both worship and meetings? (Hint: they’re different beasts.)

Sometimes a USB boundary mic and a volunteer with a checklist beats $7000 of gear with no one to run it.

Got a hybrid setup that works?

Tell us in the comments — what’s working in your church hall, vestry room, or boardroom? We’re collecting real-world examples for future Backroom Blueprint posts.

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.  We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we use technology in churches, located at dct.org.nz.

Peter Lane

Church + AI: We Want Your Story

Posted on by Peter Lane

We’re building something.

It’s called Church + AI — a guide to using artificial intelligence in faith-based and small-scale contexts.

Not a thinkpiece. Not a hype-fest. Not another ethics lecture (unless your story needs one).

Just something practical. Something grounded. Something that reflects what’s actually happening out there — from the Sunday service to the spreadsheet.

That’s where you come in.

If you’ve used AI in your ministry, community group, or small-but-mighty organisation — we want your story.

What worked?
What didn’t?
What surprised you?
What made you want to throw your laptop out the vestry window?

Stories can be about:

  • Preaching, liturgy or study
  • Rosters, planning or communications
  • Websites, media, or outreach
  • Anything else you tried, whether it succeeded or not

And yes — you don’t have to be a church to contribute.
If your organisation shares the same scale, constraints, or values — we’re listening.

Tell us your tale:

👉 dct.org.nz/church-ai

We’re not looking for polish. Just honesty.
(And maybe a little humour. We know what ministry life is like.)

Peter Lane

AI, Automation and the Admin We Can’t Avoid

Posted on by Peter Lane

(aka: Why ChatGPT Can’t Replace the Parish Secretary — Yet)

I recently helped someone use AI to draft a pastoral care roster.

It confidently produced a six-week schedule — nicely formatted, evenly distributed, and even colour-coded.  A small miracle, except for one problem: it assigned duties to three people who’d moved away, one who’d passed away, and one who had, in no uncertain terms, declared themselves done with morning tea forever — and said so loudly enough that even the flower roster flinched.

That’s the problem with clever automation: it’s fast, it’s convincing… and it doesn’t actually know your people.

🤖 “Yes, and here are three ways to make your bad idea better.”

We like the idea that technology will take boring tasks off our plate. And to be fair, it often can. But AI doesn’t say, “Are you sure that’s wise?” If anything, it says, “Yes — and here are three ways to make your bad idea even shinier!”

I’ve had this same tool write notices, suggest announcements, and summarise minutes from meetings I wasn’t in.  Which, as it turns out, is still slightly better than most people manage after actually attending.  But it also generates hymns that rhyme “Holy Ghost” with “vegemite toast,” and thinks the Lay Preachers’ Network meets monthly in Rotorua, led by someone called Cheryl.  So we’re not quite ready to hand over the mailing list.

🧠 What AI can do well

There’s real potential in using AI as a support tool. It’s excellent at:

  • Summarising minutes (though more on that in a moment)
  • Rewording notices in plain English
  • Writing templated blurbs for events
  • Suggesting topics or structures for sermons, emails, or posters
  • Helping roster-wranglers match names to roles (if you feed it a correct list!)

Used well, it’s like having a patient, mildly robotic intern who never sleeps and doesn’t complain about your formatting choices.

✋ What AI can’t do (yet)

It can’t remember who swapped with who last Easter. It doesn’t know that Margaret never says yes until Dawn does.  It doesn’t see the half-raised eyebrow in a committee meeting that actually means “not now.”

AI can’t exercise discretion. It doesn’t sense relational dynamics or know when to tread carefully.  It doesn’t even blink when your most pastoral person gets assigned to prune the hedge.

And no matter how confidently it generates a suggestion, it still doesn’t know anything.  It just guesses what would look plausible based on the internet and a frankly suspicious number of LinkedIn posts.

🙃 “The minute secretary is redundant now, apparently.”

This might sound like a punchline, but it’s something I actually heard recently — from a real, human minute secretary, no less.  AI tools like Otter.ai and Fathom are now quietly turning up in Zoom meetings, transcribing conversations with eerie fluency and very little oversight.

Some IT teams are reportedly having quiet panic attacks about this trend — not least because many of these tools store data offshore, with no real guarantees about privacy or data retention.  “Free” transcription comes with hidden costs, and they’re not always paid in dollars.

Let’s be honest: we didn’t all sign up for this.  But the tools are here — and some are genuinely helpful.

⚖️ Use it? Sure. But don’t give it keys to the vestry.

I’m not anti-AI.  In fact, I’ve seen it do great things — like help someone draft a sermon outline when they were under time pressure and stuck for a start.  (Philip Garside wrote about his own experience with AI sermons: AI-assisted sermon.)

But the golden rule is this: treat it like a tool, not a secretary.  Please and thank you are optional — but double-checking is not.

If it saves you time, excellent.  If it gives you ideas, fantastic.  But it won’t notice who’s tired.  It won’t ring someone who missed the meeting and quietly ask if they’re okay.  And it certainly won’t follow up when you forget to.

📬 Got AI stories from your church?

At d|c|t (the Diaconate of Church Technologists), we’re collecting stories — both the successes and the “well, it seemed like a good idea at the time…” moments.  If you’ve experimented with AI tools in your church (for admin, worship, planning, or pure curiosity), we’d love to hear from you.  Your examples will help shape a practical, grounded Church + AI resource we’ll be releasing later this year. You can contact us through dct.org.nz/church-ai.  We’re here to help churches navigate the digital world with a bit of wisdom, a bit of humour, and only as much automation as necessary.

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.  We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we use technology in churches, located at dct.org.nz.   

Peter Lane

“Help! I’m the Church Techie Now”

Posted on by Peter Lane

A Survival Guide for the Suddenly Responsible

Congratulations!  You made eye contact at the AGM and now you’re in charge of “the sound thingy”.  Or someone saw you plug in a laptop once and assumed you could livestream a funeral.  However it happened, you’ve been drafted into the sacred, mysterious world of Church Tech — where no two cables are the same, and the Holy Spirit is sometimes blamed for dodgy Wi-Fi.

You’re not alone.

Across the country, small churches are running on the goodwill of volunteers who didn’t ask to become AV wizards but said “yes” because no one else would.  These are the accidental techies: the schoolteachers, engineers, students, grandads, and organists-turned-camera-operators holding things together with gaffer tape and prayer. If that’s you — welcome.  You’re in good company.

And Church Tech is more than just sound and slides.  It includes livestreaming, websites, projectors, computers, Wi-Fi, email lists, Facebook pages, CCTV, alarm systems, and that weird digital signage in the foyer that no one knows how to update.  If it’s got power and a password, odds are it’s landed on your to-do list.

Here’s what you need to know.

1. You don’t need to be an expert — you just need to care.

The tech world loves jargon. But church tech doesn’t need to be rocket science. You don’t have to know the difference between balanced and unbalanced audio or be fluent in HDMI arcana.  What you do need is a cool head, a willingness to learn, and a sense of humour when the data projector decides it needs a firmware update during the opening hymn.

2. Reliability beats flashiness every time.

It’s tempting to chase after the slick livestreams you see from megachurches on YouTube.  Don’t.  Their pizza budgets could fund your entire parish for five years.  Focus instead on reliability and clarity.  If the microphones work, the slides show up, and the people at home can hear what’s going on — you’re doing well.  Resist the urge to “upgrade” things you haven’t fully understood yet.  Shiny gear is not holy.

3. Documentation is love.

Write down what works.  Take photos of the cable setup.  Label things.  Create a Sunday checklist.  Imagine you have to explain your whole system to someone who’s never seen a computer before — because one day, you will.  Every bit of clarity you create now is a gift to the next accidental techie.

4. You are allowed to ask for help.

Just because you’re the “tech person” doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.  Bring someone younger in and show them the ropes (they won’t know what VGA is, and that’s OK).  If a job is outside your comfort zone — like replacing the sound desk or reconfiguring the burglar alarm — it’s fine to suggest calling in an expert.  Tech is ministry, not martyrdom.

5. Perfection isn’t the goal — participation is.

Yes, things will go wrong.  Yes, your livestream will have that one week where the sound cuts out and the pulpit mic picks up someone coughing in the third pew.  Keep going.  Church tech isn’t about performance — it’s about removing obstacles between people and the worship they came for.  If you help one person feel connected, included, or able to hear the gospel clearly, then that’s a win.

What’s next?

This is the first in a series of articles for people like you — the brave souls holding the HDMI cable in one hand and a worship folder in the other.  We’ll cover practical topics like livestreaming on a shoestring, avoiding Sunday morning tech disasters, and what that confusing sound desk actually does.

In the meantime, if you’d like something a little more structured and slightly less sarcastic, check out dct.org.nz — we are planning a new project offering plain-English guides for small churches trying to keep the faith and the internet connection.

And if you’re stuck or overwhelmed, just ask for help.  d|c|t is here to support you — and your cables.

God bless your cables, your coffee, and your ability to find that one adapter that always goes missing right before communion.  You’ve got this!

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.  We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we use technology in churches, located at dct.org.nz.   

Peter Lane

Getting Quick Wins with Tech

Posted on by Peter Lane

Simple, Affordable Upgrades for 2025

A new year is a great time to refresh how your church uses technology—without breaking the bank or adding unnecessary complexity.  Many congregations hesitate to adopt new tech, worried about cost, privacy concerns, or a lack of technical expertise.  But small, well-chosen upgrades can make a big difference in communication, security, and engagement—without requiring a website overhaul or a big learning curve.

This article explores a few easy-to-implement, budget-friendly solutions that could help your church run more smoothly in 2025.  Whether it’s improving how you share notices, automatically saving power, or rethinking security, these ideas offer quick wins that don’t demand a huge investment.

Digital Signage: A Smarter Alternative to Noticeboards

Most churches rely on printed notice sheets or bulletin boards, but a digital display in the foyer can streamline communication.  A managed digital signage solution, such as Yodeck or similar platforms, allows churches to remotely update event details, service times, and community messages with minimal effort.  This passive form of communication complements auditorium-based projection systems, ensuring key information reaches congregants as they enter and leave the building.  A simple, low-cost screen powered by a media player (NZ$200–$600) can make a big impact on engagement, especially when coupled with complementary email messages.

CCTV: Balancing Security and Privacy

Churches considering CCTV should balance security with responsible footage management.  SD card-based cameras (e.g., Reolink Argus, TP-Link Tapo) provide local storage without cloud fees, while Network Video Recorder (NVR) systems allow for longer retention (1–2 weeks).  SD card-based cameras start from around NZ$80, while NVR systems with multiple cameras can range from NZ$500–$1,500.  Clear policies should outline who can access footage, how long it’s stored (e.g., automatic deletion after 72 hours unless an incident occurs), and how footage is shared with authorities if needed.  Proper signage is essential to inform visitors that CCTV is in use.  In New Zealand, privacy laws require organisations to clearly inform people when they are being recorded and to manage footage responsibly.  Churches should ensure they have clear policies in place regarding access to recordings, data retention, and disclosure to third parties.  Additionally, there is an obligation to provide footage to individuals who were involved in an incident captured on camera, even if they are not directly related to the property.

Think carefully about where you place cameras.  Position cameras so they have the best chance of collecting clear, identifiable images – not just images of “someone” in jeans and a hoody walking around in the distance.  The cameras themselves will become targets for vandalism and theft, so keep them well out of reach and solidly secured.  Where possible, it is good to locate cameras in pairs or in a chain so that each camera is monitored by another.

Smarter Power Control with Wi-Fi Smart Plugs

For churches with site-wide Wi-Fi coverage, Wi-Fi smart plugs (such as those from TP-Link, Meross, or Amazon Basics) can automate and simplify power management for frequently used devices, potentially creating power savings and minimising the risk of electrical fires.  These allow scheduled operation of heaters, fans, decorative lighting or security lighting, reducing energy waste and the need for someone to turn devices on and off manually.  Some models even offer remote control via smartphone apps, adding convenience for volunteers and staff.  Smart plugs typically cost between NZ$20–$60 per unit.

If you don’t have Wi-Fi at your site, you don’t have to miss out completely.  Programmable timer switches provide a low-tech alternative, allowing scheduled power control without requiring an internet connection.  Basic timer switches are available for as little as NZ$10–$30.

Low-Tech, High-Impact Solutions

Sometimes, the most effective tech changes don’t involve expensive systems.  Simple initiatives like using email autoresponders for frequently asked questions, adopting online Forms for event RSVPs, or setting up a shared Calendar for hall bookings can enhance efficiency at little to no cost.

Managed Services: Getting the Benefits Without the Burden

While all these options are designed to be simple to implement, churches don’t have to manage everything themselves.  Many technology solutions—including digital signage, CCTV, and smart power control—can be set up as managed services, where an external provider takes care of installation, updates, and troubleshooting.  This approach ensures that churches get the benefits of modern technology without needing ongoing technical expertise or committing to on-going maintenance effort.

For example, digital signage platforms like Yodeck offer a managed option, with pricing starting at around NZ$14 per month (after currency conversion), which includes cloud-based content management.  Similarly, CCTV systems can be set up with remote monitoring and maintenance as part of a service package, reducing the workload on church staff and volunteers.

Final Thoughts

Technology doesn’t need to be intimidating or expensive.  By introducing digital signage, and considering responsible CCTV use, churches can improve communication and security in a way that aligns with their needs.  Small steps toward adopting tech can help congregations focus more on their mission and less on administrative burdens.

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.  We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we use technology in churches, located at www.dct.org.nz.

Peter Lane

Unlocking Smarter Governance: Low-Cost Process Support for Church Boards

Posted on by Peter Lane

Governance Tools to Help Church Boards Thrive

With Methodist memories of Conference starting to fade, we may also find ourselves forgetting about Standing Orders, Consensus voting, Resolutions, Amendments, and Procedural Motions. For many, the world of formal meeting procedure is a strange one—a complicated and sometimes baffling set of rules intended to make formal meetings more effective.

Whatever we think of procedure, as churches continue to expand their role in community leadership, governance for boards and committees has become increasingly complex—and increasingly important. This is especially true as churches fund community initiatives through grants, drawing on public resources. From compliance to financial stewardship, decision-making in church boards can be daunting, particularly for leaders without professional governance training.

Fortunately, decision support systems tailored to the unique needs of church boards can help to streamline many of these challenges and make them more manageable.

Decision Support and Process Support Systems: What Do They Offer?

Decision support systems (DSS) and process support systems are designed to help boards operate with more clarity and structure. For church boards, these tools enable better agenda preparation, more accurate minutes, and clearer action tracking—all of which reduce the administrative burden on already stretched volunteers.

In particular, DSS tools can:

  • Add structure to meetings with pre-set templates for agendas and minutes.
  • Help with compliance by creating an easily accessible record of decisions and actions.
  • Support data-driven decision-making by keeping key documents and voting outcomes organised.

Process support systems, meanwhile, ensure that decisions made in meetings are implemented effectively by providing reminders and follow-up tracking between meetings.

Top Free and Low-Cost Tools for Church Boards

Here are some accessible options to help your board or committee improve governance processes:

Microsoft Teams and the Decisions App

If your church already uses Microsoft Office through charitable licensing, Teams provides an excellent collaboration platform. Adding the Decisions app takes this further, offering tools to organise agendas, track decisions, and simplify compliance. With built-in templates for meeting minutes and action items, it’s an intuitive and powerful governance tool that’s easy to adopt.

Microsoft OneNote

For boards needing a simple and low-cost solution, OneNote provides a shared notebook system for governance records. Its tagging feature makes it easy to highlight action items and revisit decisions, all while keeping key documents in one central location.

Boardable

Designed specifically for non-profits, Boardable includes tools for managing agendas, meeting minutes, and communication. Its voting feature streamlines decision-making, and members can access meeting packs remotely—ideal for boards with members unable to attend every meeting in person. While it’s a paid tool, its focus on non-profits makes it affordable and well-aligned with church governance needs.

4Minitz

4Minitz is a free, open-source tool designed to simplify meeting management by providing structured templates for agenda creation, minute-taking, and action item tracking. It’s ideal for church boards looking for a flexible solution without ongoing costs. With 4Minitz, boards can efficiently document decisions and assign action items, all while maintaining transparency and accountability. Its ability to send minutes by email ensures everyone stays informed, and since it’s open source, it can be self-hosted for added control over data privacy. This makes it a great choice for churches looking for an affordable, customizable solution.

EasyRetro

While primarily used for retrospectives, EasyRetro also offers robust functionality for meeting minute management. This tool provides ready-made templates that help structure meetings, document key decisions, and assign action items. Its intuitive interface makes it easy to export minutes in various formats, including PDF, ensuring that everyone involved has clear records to refer to. EasyRetro is particularly useful for church boards that value collaboration and efficiency, offering a simple way to track follow-ups and maintain transparency. With its free version available, it’s an affordable choice for churches seeking a straightforward solution to minute-taking.

Tips for Implementing Decision Support Tools

Introducing a new DSS or process support tool can take some adjustment. To ensure success:

  1. Assign a point person to guide the setup and help other members get started. Simple onboarding sessions or step-by-step guides can make the transition smoother.
  2. Periodically review how the tool supports your board’s processes. Adjustments may be needed to keep the tool effective as priorities evolve.

Final Thoughts

Decision support systems tailored for governance can transform the way church boards and committees operate.

By bringing structure to agendas, documenting decisions, and enhancing transparency, these tools empower church leaders to focus on their core mission, confident that their governance processes are sound.

Explore these tools today, and see how they can strengthen your board’s decision-making for the challenges ahead.

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.  We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we use technology in churches, located at www.dct.org.nz.   

Peter Lane

How to Improve Church Website SEO Without Technical Skills

Posted on by Peter Lane

If you’re wondering how to improve church website SEO without technical skills, you’re not alone. Many mainline churches face similar challenges, especially when resources and tech knowledge are limited. For church members managing website updates, small adjustments can make a noticeable difference in how well the site ranks on search engines.

Here, I’ll walk you through straightforward actions that can be done by anyone on the parish team, plus some technical actions that may require support. These steps focus on improving your church website SEO without technical skills, making the process accessible for all levels.

Tips for Improving Church Website SEO Without Technical Skills

Parish Team Tasks

These actions are perfect for church team members, even those who don’t have a tech background. They don’t require complex knowledge, but implementing them will enhance the church website’s visibility and local relevance.

  1. Claim and Manage Your Google Business Profile
    One of the best ways to boost local SEO is by ensuring your church has a verified Google Business Profile. This profile helps local visitors find the church more easily when they search online.
    To make the most of it:
    • Ensure all contact details are correct and current, including the address, phone number, and opening hours.
    • Use high-quality images of the church, activities, and events.
    • Encourage congregation members to leave positive reviews on Google. Reviews help build trust and influence your search ranking, especially in local results.
  2. Ensure NAP Consistency Across Directories
    Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) details are vital. Check that the parish’s information matches exactly across all online directories, like Yellow Pages and other local listings. This consistency helps search engines trust the site’s information, which boosts local rankings.
  3. Content Updates for Events and News
    Regular content updates help improve church website SEO without technical skills, as search engines favour active sites with fresh content. Even if regular content isn’t your preferred style, consider trialling this strategy for a few months to see the impact. Two easy ways to keep content current are:
    • Event Pages: Ensure event pages are regularly updated with accurate dates, times, and descriptions to attract local traffic and highlight the church’s role in the community.
    • Blog or News Updates: If your church has a blog or news page, post short updates on church activities or reflections on faith. Aim for 300–500 words to keep things manageable, and include phrases like “Auckland Methodist Church” to improve local relevance.
  4. Social Media Sharing and Local Backlinking
    Social media shares and local backlinks are effective, easy ways to increase a site’s authority:
    • Social Media Sharing: Share new blog posts, event pages, or announcements on social platforms to improve visibility. Each share boosts the chances of others linking back to the website, which is a major SEO benefit.
    • Local Backlinks: Contact local organisations (like community centres and charities) and ask if they’d be willing to add a link to your website. Local backlinks strengthen your church website’s credibility and authority, helping it rank higher.
  5. Local Keywords in Main Pages
    For main pages, adding phrases that reflect your church’s location (such as “Methodist Church Timbuctoo” or “Timbuctoo worship services”) can help you improve church website SEO without technical skills. These local keywords improve your visibility in local search results, so try incorporating them naturally on main pages like the home page or about page.

Technical Actions
(For a Web Specialist to Handle)

These back-end tasks may require some technical expertise but offer significant SEO advantages.

  1. Double-Check Mobile Friendliness and SSL
    Mobile-friendliness and site security (SSL) are two critical aspects for SEO. If both were set up initially, ask a specialist to verify that they are still correctly configured to support smooth, secure access across all devices.
  2. Improve Page Load Speed
    A slow website can hurt SEO and frustrate visitors. To increase speed, consider compressing images, implementing lazy loading, and minifying CSS, JavaScript, and HTML. Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) can also help speed up the site for users.
  3. Add Schema Markup
    Schema markup, also known as structured data, helps search engines categorise site content. Adding schema specific to church-related terms (like LocalBusiness or Event schema) helps search engines display relevant information from your site in search results.
  4. Set Up Google Search Console
    Google Search Console allows you to monitor the website’s performance, such as indexing status and page errors. Keeping track of these issues ensures your site is running smoothly and helps resolve any potential problems that could impact SEO.
  5. Optimise Titles, Headings, and Internal Links
    Titles, headings, and internal links signal to search engines what each page is about. Ensuring each page has a unique title tag and meta description, alongside relevant H1, H2, and H3 headings, will help search engines better understand your site content and improve SEO rankings.

Final Tips on How to Improve Church Website SEO Without Technical Skills

Knowing how to improve church website SEO without technical skills is a huge advantage—by following these simple steps, your church can boost visibility without needing a tech expert. Consistent, small changes can make a big impact over time, helping your church reach a broader audience and connect more meaningfully with your community.

Peter Lane

Unlocking the Mysteries of Website Analytics

Posted on by Peter Lane

A Simple Guide for Church Websites

For church committees today, the internet has become a crucial tool for reaching congregants and visitors alike.  From sharing service times to posting community updates, websites are often the front doors of churches.  However, there’s a common question among church leaders: “What good are website analytics for my church?”

Website analytics can seem intimidating, especially for those with a non-technical background.  But understanding a few simple metrics can offer real insights into how your church website is serving its audience.  Whether your website is updated often or not, analytics can help you make sure your site is fulfilling its purpose.

Why Website Analytics Matter

Let’s start with the basics.  Website analytics are tools that provide data on how visitors interact with your site.  This could mean tracking how many people visit your homepage, how long they spend reading a blog post, or which pages they click on before leaving the site.  For static church websites that focus on delivering information like service times and event details, analytics can show whether visitors are finding what they need quickly and easily.  For semi-dynamic sites that include weekly or monthly updates—perhaps a new sermon or community event—analytics can help you see how well your new content is being received.

Understanding user behaviour can give you insight that let you improve the experience for those visiting your site.  After all, a website that doesn’t serve its audience well could be doing more harm than good.

Key Metrics for Informational Church Websites

So, what should you actually be looking at when reviewing your website analytics? Here are some key metrics that matter most for church websites:

1. Bounce Rate

Bounce rate for the website as a whole, measures the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing just one page.  You will also see Bounce Rate reported for individual pages, being the percentage of visitor who leave the page without engaging with it.  For a static site, a high bounce rate might not be a bad thing.  It could simply mean that visitors found the service times, directions, or other key information they needed on the first page they visited.  On the other hand, for semi-dynamic sites that regularly publish updates or new blog posts, a lower bounce rate might indicate that visitors are sticking around to explore the latest content.

2. Engagement Time

Engagement time tracks how long users spend on your site.  For a static church site, this metric is less about how long visitors stay and more about whether they spend enough time to find crucial information like location and service times.  For dynamic sites, engagement time becomes more significant.  If you’re posting new content each month, you want to see whether people are spending time engaging with it.

3. Navigation Patterns

This metric shows how users move through your site—what they click on and where they go next.  Whether your site is static or semi-dynamic, navigation patterns are vital.  Do users easily find your contact details or upcoming events?  Are they stuck on the wrong page, unable to locate important information?  If the data shows confusion in navigation, it might be time to rethink how your pages are structured.

4. Device & Browser Information

Do most of your visitors use mobile phones, tablets, or desktop computers?  Do they access your site via Chrome, Safari, or Edge?  Knowing what devices and browsers people use helps ensure your site runs smoothly across all platforms.  If a large portion of your visitors is using mobile phones, for example, it’s crucial to check that your site is mobile-friendly—especially after updates or changes.

Setting Objectives for Your Church Website

Before diving into the details of website analytics, it’s essential to know what you want your website to achieve.  Your website goals define its purpose—objectives measure your progress, like reducing bounce rates or increasing return visits.  For a static informational website, one objective might be to reduce bounce rates on key pages.  For a more dynamic site, an objective could be to increase return visitors after posting new updates or blogs.

But remember, tracking metrics is only part of the process.  You need to act on what the data shows.  If your bounce rate is higher than you’d like, consider reworking your site’s layout or making key information more accessible.  If engagement time on dynamic content is low, try adding more visually engaging elements or personal stories.  Website optimization is an ongoing journey – try something new, evaluate the results, and adjust.  The “try, try, try again” approach is not only valid but often necessary.  It’s through trial and refinement that you’ll see real improvements over time.

Reading the Data: What’s Relevant for Your Church

When reviewing analytics, it’s important to understand the difference between what’s relevant for a static website and what matters for a semi-dynamic one.

For static websites, focus on whether visitors are finding the right information—like service times or location—quickly.  If most users are bouncing after just one page, that’s not necessarily bad as long as they’ve found what they need.  But if you see high bounce rates on less essential pages, like your About Us section, it may indicate that users are leaving without finding the key info.

For dynamic websites, the story is slightly different.  You’ll want to track how users interact with new content.  Are they engaging with it?  Do they stick around longer when new posts or updates go live?  If not, you may need to rethink how you present fresh content, perhaps making it more prominent on the homepage or highlighting it in newsletters.

Benchmarking and Industry Comparisons

When it comes to church websites, there’s often a lack of relevant industry benchmarks, especially for static sites.  However, this doesn’t mean you’re flying blind.  Over time, you can build your own benchmarks by tracking your site’s performance.  Look at data trends over months or even years to establish what ‘normal’ looks like for your site.

For more dynamic sites, you may want to pay attention to broader trends in church websites or community-focused sites.  While the numbers might vary, seeing how other sites engage their visitors could offer inspiration for improving your own content and user experience.

Takeaways: Static vs Dynamic Site Strategies

In summary, both static and dynamic church websites benefit from tracking key analytics to serve your audience better.

By paying attention to these key metrics, your church committee can ensure that the website continues to serve its congregation well—whether by providing vital information or creating engaging content for regular visitors.

Peter Lane

Avoiding Wi-Fi Pitfalls: Tailoring Connectivity Solutions for Churches

Posted on by Peter Lane

In today’s digitally connected world, reliable internet access is crucial for the smooth functioning of any organisation, including churches and community centres.  Unfortunately, many churches fall into a common trap: they sign up for broadband plans that come with “free” Wi-Fi solutions, thinking these will adequately meet their needs.  These solutions, often designed for residential use, are typically unsuitable for larger, more complex spaces like church facilities.  This article delves into why these residential Wi-Fi solutions fall short and offers practical advice on selecting systems tailored to the unique demands of church environments.

Understanding the Limitations of Residential Wi-Fi Solutions

When telecommunications companies offer bundled Wi-Fi solutions with their broadband plans, these are primarily designed to support a “typical” household setup. A standard home Wi-Fi router might work well in a suburban residence, covering the necessary range and handling the typical number of devices connected simultaneously.  However, churches and community centres are a different ballgame altogether.

Range and Coverage Issues

Churches are often large buildings with multiple rooms, thick walls, and various architectural features that can obstruct Wi-Fi signals.  The average residential Wi-Fi router does not have the power to cover such extensive areas effectively.  Imagine trying to Imagine trying use digital tools during a meeting, only to find that the Wi-Fi signal doesn’t reach the entire space.  It’s a frustrating scenario that can hinder the church’s operations and the experience of its members.

Capacity and Performance Problems

Churches often have a higher density of users compared to a typical household.  During events, services, or community gatherings, dozens, if not hundreds, of people might be trying to connect to the Wi-Fi simultaneously.  Residential routers are not designed to handle such a high number of concurrent connections.  This can lead to slow internet speeds, dropped connections, and an overall poor user experience.

Hidden Errors and Inconsistent Performance

One of the most insidious problems with using a residential Wi-Fi solution in a church setting is that the system doesn’t necessarily fail outright.  Instead, it might work intermittently, creating a slew of behind-the-scenes errors.  The connection might come and go, or it might seem to work but with so many glitches that the overall performance is sluggish and unreliable.  This inconsistency can be more frustrating than a total failure because it’s harder to diagnose and fix.

Selecting the Right Wi-Fi Solution

To avoid these pitfalls, it’s essential to invest in a Wi-Fi solution designed for non-residential use.  Here are some key considerations when selecting a Wi-Fi system for your church:

Professional Site Survey

Before choosing a Wi-Fi system, it’s crucial to understand the specific needs of your space.  For more complex buildings, or when considering applications that “just have to work – first time and every time”, a professional site survey can help identify the best locations for access points, potential sources of interference, and the optimal configuration for coverage and performance. This step ensures that the Wi-Fi solution is tailored to the unique layout and usage patterns of your church.

Enterprise-Grade Equipment

Opt for enterprise-grade Wi-Fi equipment designed to handle larger spaces and higher user densities.  Even “Prosumer” grade equipment will give a great result in many cases.  These systems typically offer better range, more robust performance, and advanced features like load balancing and seamless roaming, which are essential for maintaining a reliable connection in a busy environment.

Scalability and Flexibility

Choose a Wi-Fi system that can scale with your needs. As your church grows or as your connectivity requirements change, you should be able to add more access points or upgrade your equipment without a complete overhaul of the system. Look for solutions that offer flexibility in terms of network management and expansion.

Security and Privacy

In addition to performance, security is a critical consideration.  Ensure that your Wi-Fi system supports advanced security features like WPA3 encryption, secure guest networks, and regular firmware updates to protect against vulnerabilities.  Given the sensitivity of some church activities, robust security measures are essential to protect user data and maintain privacy.

Practical Steps for Implementation

Once you’ve selected the appropriate Wi-Fi solution, the next step is implementation.  Here are some practical tips to ensure a smooth setup:

Engage a Professional Installer

While it might be tempting to save costs by setting up the Wi-Fi system yourself, engaging a professional installer can save you time and headaches in the long run.  Professional installers have the expertise to ensure optimal placement of access points, proper configuration, and troubleshooting any issues that arise during installation.

Regular Maintenance and Monitoring

A Wi-Fi system is not a set-it-and-forget-it solution. Regular maintenance and monitoring are crucial to ensure ongoing performance and security. Schedule periodic checks to update firmware, assess coverage and performance, and address any new challenges that might arise as usage patterns change.

Training and Support

Ensure that someone on your team is trained to manage the Wi-Fi system.  Having an in-house point person who understands the basics of network management can help address minor issues quickly and efficiently.  Alternatively, look for a provider who offers a managed Wi-Fi solution, where they take care of issues, adds, moves and changes, and regular updates for a monthly fee.  Additionally, having access to professional support from your Wi-Fi equipment provider or installer is invaluable for more complex problems.

Conclusion

Choosing the right Wi-Fi solution for your church is not just about getting online; it’s about ensuring reliable, secure, and efficient connectivity that meets the unique demands of your space and users.  By understanding the limitations of residential Wi-Fi solutions and investing in a system tailored to your needs, you can avoid common pitfalls and provide a seamless digital experience for your community.  Remember, the key is to look beyond the “free” or cheap options and select a solution that delivers the performance and reliability your church deserves.

Peter Lane

Fostering Community Connections: Leveraging Public Access WiFi for Social Good

Posted on by Peter Lane

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, connectivity has transcended convenience to become an integral part of our daily routines. Whether it’s staying in touch with loved ones or accessing vital information and services, the internet underpins how we engage with the world.

As members of church organisations dedicated to social service and community involvement, we recognize the importance of fostering meaningful connections within our communities. That’s why I advocate for the exploration of Public Access WiFi installations in churches—an initiative that not only provides internet access for church administration but also promotes community engagement and connectivity.

Public Access WiFi installations offer a practical solution to the challenge of internet access.  By providing free or low-cost WiFi in public spaces such as libraries, community centres, and churches, we can ensure that everyone has the opportunity to stay connected and informed, regardless of their background or circumstances.  They provide the means for the jobless to access work, the needy to access help and the marginalised to find assurance they are not alone.  When this capability comes in a safe, caring, and neutral environment, the possibility for great healing is unleashed.

But beyond mere internet access, Public Access WiFi installations serve as hubs for community interaction and collaboration.  They provide platforms for sharing information, promoting local initiatives, and facilitating social engagement.  The benefits of Public Access WiFi extend beyond community connectivity to include tangible advantages for churches as well.  By providing WiFi in our facilities, we not only offer a valuable service to the public but also enhance our own capabilities for outreach, communication, and collaboration.  WiFi installations enable us to engage with our communities more effectively, deliver services efficiently, and stay connected with stakeholders.  The importance of programs like this is recognised globally with major public access WiFi programmes being implemented by the likes of the United Nations Development Programme running significant initiatives in this space, with WiFi rollouts on national and regional scales.  However better resources these programs are compared to us, they do not have sufficient funding to do the whole job, so there is plenty of scope for organisations like ours to step up and lead initiatives in our town; our community; our building.

Students in Albay accessing the free wifi services in their university – UNDP Philippines

However, deploying Public Access WiFi installations requires careful planning and consideration.  It’s essential to ensure that installations are implemented securely and responsibly, with safeguards in place to protect users’ privacy and security.  Partnering with reputable providers and adhering to best practices in network security are essential steps in ensuring the success and sustainability of WiFi initiatives.

Moreover, Public Access WiFi installations have the potential to generate positive social and economic outcomes for communities.  By providing free internet access, we can bridge the digital divide and empower individuals with access to educational resources, job opportunities, and essential services.  Additionally, WiFi installations can support local businesses by providing platforms for digital marketing, e-commerce, and customer engagement.

So, how can we get started?  By exploring partnerships with local providers and community organizations, we can identify opportunities to establish Public Access WiFi installations in our facilities.  Together, we can harness the power of technology to foster meaningful connections, empower individuals, and build stronger, more resilient communities.

In conclusion, Public Access WiFi installations offer a powerful means of fostering community connections, promoting social inclusion, and empowering individuals and organizations to make a positive impact.  By championing the establishment of WiFi hotspots in our facilities, we can leverage technology for the greater good and create stronger, more resilient communities.

Let’s work together to make a difference – one connection at a time.

Peter Lane

Sidebar: Website Option for The Methodist Church of NZ Parishes

Posted on by Peter Lane

This article was originally a Sidebar published by Touchstone, the newspaper of The Methodist Church of NZ in conjunction with our article, What to Think about Before Building your Website.

An Alternative Option for Methodist Parishes

For Methodist Parishes (and Co-operation or Union parishes with a Methodist component), an option is available to have a subsite created on the main Church website (www.methodist.org.nz).  This service is currently free for both setup and recurring charges.

Being a subsite of the main website means the URL for the site will be in the format

https://name.methodist.org.nz

For example:-

The design and theme are preset (blue and orange) with limited  flexibility, although parishes have the ability to add branding logos and other custom material.  Special requirements may be negotiated with the Connexion but could involve additional  costs.  Once you have done the planning, subsites can be ready for your content in as little as 48-hours.

The website is based on the Silverstripe CMS (an alternative solution to the better known WordPress).  It is reasonably easy to use, especially once the site has been setup.  The Connexional offer includes initial support and training and d | c | t is working toward providing training as well.  Taking up this option allows you to minimise the amount of planning you need to do – the decisions around theme are largely decided for you, for example.  But is is still important to think through the process in this article.  Site Structure, in particular will need to be set by a parish and advised to the Connexional webmaster at signup to this scheme.

The content still relies on Parish brainwork and contributions!  You will be given your own login and access to be able to create and manage your own content.  As well, you are able to send your content to webmaster@methodist.org.nz and it will be loaded for you.

Email any queries to Melissa on webmaster@methodist.org.nz; please include your phone number and parish name.

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.  We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we use technology in churches, located at dct.org.nz

Peter Lane

What to Think about Before Building your Website

Posted on by Peter Lane

So, you have finally decided to bite the bullet and build a Parish website!  Or perhaps it is more like a grudging realisation that there is no use trying anymore to tweak the 20-year monster that used to be a pretty neat website; until it got too hard to manage, the only lady who understood it moved away and it has sat gathering electronic cobwebs and happily spreading dis-information to the few people who happen across it when they have a search go wrong.  Either way, Congratulations!

First Steps

Contrary to popular practice, the first thing to do is not to run out and throw something together, (or even worse, run out and pay someone to throw something together!)  A parish website is usually a long-term, strategic communication tool (or at least, it should be if it is to create more value than it costs.  There are some cases when a website does not need to be a long-term investment, such as a website for an event or conference, but even so, they still need to create more value than they cost.) 

The first thing to realise is that value is not the same as money.  Value can be created several ways and not all of them can be neatly evaluated with a $ amount.  It doesn’t matter if your objective is building community, reaching people outside of your immediate church community, improving communications, mitigating administrative overhead or all of the above.  If you don’t have a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve, then it will be difficult to achieve it.  One of my first Website articles for Touchstone explores this concept in more detail.  (Parish Websites: What, Why and Wherefore, Feb-2018).

Practical Considerations

Web Hosting

Web hosting refers to the how you get a computer to make your website available to other computers on the internet.  In the “old days”, this was potentially as simple as loading the right software on an old computer, connecting it to your network and throwing it all under the desk until something went wrong.  While in principle this could still happen, it is not recommended as the required software a bit geeky, and the consequences of getting it wrong include the potential for major security breaches.  Much better to rent a computer with the software already setup, sitting in an optimally air-conditioned datacentre with massive internet connectivity, all ready to make your website do its thing well.

The key things to look for with a web host service are;

  • Location: the physical location of the server should be close to where you expect your audience will be.  If your webserver is in the UK and your audience in NZ, it will take longer for the information to flow back and forth between the two locations.  There is also more opportunity for something to go wrong.
  • CMS Platform Compatibility: Ensure that the web hosting service supports the content management system (CMS) platform you plan to use for building your church website.  (See next section).
  • Reliability and Uptime: Choose a web host known for its reliability and uptime. Your church website should be accessible to visitors at all times without experiencing frequent downtime. Look for a web host with a track record of high uptime percentages, ideally 99.9% or above.
  • Scalability: Consider the scalability of the web hosting service. As your church website grows in traffic and content, you may need additional resources such as bandwidth and storage. Ensure that the web host offers scalable hosting plans or options to upgrade seamlessly as your needs evolve.
  • Security Features: Prioritize the security features provided by the web hosting service. Security is crucial for protecting sensitive information and maintaining the integrity of your church website. Look for features such as SSL certificates, regular backups, malware scanning, and firewall protection, but ensure you only pay the level of security appropriate for your requirements – not all of us are banks!
  • Customer Support: Evaluate the quality of customer support offered by the web hosting provider. Responsive and knowledgeable customer support can be invaluable when troubleshooting issues or seeking assistance with website management.
  • Cost and Value: Consider the cost of the web hosting service relative to the features and resources provided. While affordability is important, prioritize value over price alone. Invest in a hosting plan that meets your church website’s needs and offers sufficient resources for growth without compromising on quality or security.
  • User-Friendly Control Panel: Choose a web host with a user-friendly control panel interface. A intuitive control panel makes it easier to manage your website, configure settings, and perform routine tasks such as installing updates and managing email accounts.

CMS Platform

A content management system (CMS) platform is essential for building and managing your church website. Popular CMS platforms include WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. WordPress, in particular, is user-friendly and offers a wide range of plugins and themes tailored for church websites.  The CMS for the Methodist Church of NZ parish websites is Silverstripe.  If you don’t have any idea about this, write out your requirements and get advice from an independent advisor.

Structure

Consider the structure and organization of your website. What pages will you need? Common pages for church websites include Home, About Us, Ministries, Events, Sermons, Contact Us, and Donate. Think about how you want to arrange these pages and what content will go on each page.  Also think about the hosting and security requirement required by each part of the website – obviously, a Donate page will require a site with more security than one with no money functions.

Design and Theme

Choose a design and theme that reflects the identity and values of your church. Look for themes specifically designed for churches, which often include features like event calendars, sermon archives, and donation integrations. Ensure the theme is mobile-responsive, meaning it looks good and functions well on smartphones and tablets.

Content Creation

Invest time and effort into creating compelling and informative content for your website. This includes writing clear and engaging copy, selecting high-quality images, and creating multimedia content such as videos and podcasts. Your content should reflect the mission and values of your church while also providing valuable information to visitors.  Think about how you will continue this effort into the future, both from the aspect of keeping content accurate as well as from a strategy to promote engagement by publishing new content regularly, if that is part of your requirements.

SEO Optimization

Optimize your website content for search engines to improve its visibility and reach online. (SEO = Search Engine Optimisation).  Use relevant keywords related to your church and community throughout your website content. Include meta tags, titles, and descriptions that accurately describe your pages. Consider creating a blog section to regularly publish relevant and engaging content that can attract organic traffic.

Training and Support

Ensure that members of your church team are trained to manage and update the website regularly. Many CMS platforms offer tutorials and support resources to help users navigate and utilize their features effectively. Consider enrolling in training courses or hiring a web developer to provide guidance and support as needed.

Launch and Promotion

Once your website is ready, launch it with a bang!  Announce the launch to your congregation and community through social media, email newsletters, and church announcements. Encourage members to explore the website and provide feedback for improvements. Continue to promote your website through regular updates, events, and engaging content.

The Methodist Church of NZ (and most other mainstream demoninations) have a directory page on their website listing all known parish websites.  The Methodist page is at methodist.org.nz/methodist-websites.  When your website is up and running, make sure you register it with the relevant denominations so we can all take inspiration from your work!

In conclusion, building your first church website is an exciting journey that requires careful planning, creativity, and dedication. By following these steps and leveraging the right tools and resources, you can create a dynamic and impactful online presence for your church community. Remember, your website is more than just a digital platform; it is a powerful tool for sharing your message, connecting with others, and making a positive difference in the world.

More information for Parishes connected to The Methodist Church of NZ

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.  We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we use technology in churches, located at www.dct.org.nz.   

Peter Lane

3 tips for better Livestreams: Good cameras for Live Streaming

Posted on by Peter Lane

Welcome to the final instalment of our series, offering valuable tips for live-streaming your church services.  We hope you’ve already witnessed significant improvements in your live streams by implementing our previous tips on enhancing audio and lighting.  If you were really keen, you might have even explored our bonus tip on network connections available only on the d|c|t website.  Today, we’ll delve into another crucial aspect of streaming: the camera.

All digital video cameras essentially operate the same way: they capture light through a lens, focus it on a digital sensor composed of individual pixel sensors, and convert the electronic output into a video signal, typically at 50 or 60 frames per second.  However, not all cameras are created equal for streaming purposes.

While it’s true that you can use a phone, a laptop camera, or a webcam for streaming, it’s important to consider how they are used, which is optimized for close-up shots of individuals at a distance of about ½ to 1 meter from the camera.  This differs significantly from the requirements of a worship setting, where you need to capture a mix of wide, contextual shots of the church sanctuary and medium to close shots of key locations, such as the lectern, the altar, or the organist.  While your phone or laptop may suffice for a basic setup to get started and may still have a role for specific special-purpose shots, to elevate your live-streaming experience, it’s worth investing in a high-quality camera optimized for live streaming.

A Panasonic HC-X1500 video camera with a black cover
1 – Panasonic HC-X1500
2 – Canon XA60
3 – Sony FDR-AX43

Let’s explore some examples. Cameras with 4K or near-4K resolution, capable of recording to memory cards and streaming, and produced by industry-standard manufacturers, offer impressive features. The cameras pictured above are budget-friendly versions of cameras designed for broadcast and professional video production.  However, they might not be the ideal choice for traditional churches looking to live-stream worship services.

To use these cameras effectively, you’d need to place them on tripods.  Placing a camera on a tripod in the middle of an aisle with cables running to a computer isn’t the most elegant solution and can pose safety concerns, especially when dealing with multiple cameras.  Cabling can also be complex, requiring specialized cables and adaptors.  Additionally, each camera demands a dedicated operator, potentially obstructing the views of the congregation.  Finding skilled volunteers can be a challenge, and the setup and teardown process for each use can lead to operational errors.

While these cameras can be valuable for scenarios that require high-quality video, flexibility in positioning, and creative angles, they might not be the best choice for your primary camera.

Instead, consider PTZ (Pan, Tilt, and Zoom) cameras as a simpler and more practical solution for worship streaming.  These cameras, originating from video-conferencing systems, are optimized for streaming needs.  They are compact and can be discreetly mounted on walls or ceilings.  With remote control capabilities, you can eliminate the need for camera operators at the camera location.  Some newer models even offer features like automatic tracking.  These cameras often come with native network connections for easy integration into your streaming setup.

PTZ Optics IP20X PTZ camera
Angekis Saber IP20X
Telycam Drive+ N

PTZ cameras such as the ones pictured here, provide most of the same features as the cameras mentioned earlier but are optimised for permanent installation and typically don’t require a dedicated operator.  While the initial cost may be a bit higher, ranging from $3,000 to $5,000, the improvement in streaming quality justifies the investment.

In a church context, the following criteria are important:

  • Traditional churches benefit from high-resolution cameras as they allow you to create multiple views from a single camera feed, ensuring a better user experience.
  • PTZ cameras can use presets and transitions to create smooth scene changes without compromising resolution.
  • Look for cameras with optical zoom, as it delivers better image quality compared to digital zoom.

We trust that this series has been informative. If you have any questions on this topic or are interested in online training for live-streaming church services, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Camera images sourced from the respective manufacturer’s websites. For more product information follow the links below.
Panasonic HC-X1500 | Canon XA60 | Sony FDR-AX43 | PTZ Optics IP20X | Angekis Saber IP20X | Telycam Drive+ N

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.  We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we can use technology in churches, located at www.dct.org.nz.   

Peter Lane

Another tip for better Livestreams: Tips for a Seamless Network Connection

Posted on by Peter Lane

Hey there!  If you’re part of a house-of-worship community and you’ve ventured into the world of live streaming, you’re in the right place.  In this article, we’ll explore some simple yet effective tips to improve your live streaming performance, even if you’re not a tech wizard. I hope we can use this info to help you make your virtual gatherings smoother than ever.  If you’ve been following along, you will know that I’ve been doing a series of articles for Touchstone titled “3 Tips for Better Livestreams” – one on Audio, one on Lighting and one on cameras.  This article is a bonus 4th tip for the blog community only.

So now you have optimised your live streaming output with my other tips, we need to transmit the result to your audience in the world outside of your venue.  This is where your network equipment and processing equipment have the most impact on what your audience actually sees and hears.

  1. Know Your Internet Speed: Before we dive into any technical jargon, let’s start with something everyone can relate to; your internet speed.  A reliable live stream begins with a stable internet connection. Check with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to ensure you have an adequate upload speed.  ISPs will often quote a dual number for speed, like 300/100.  This translates to a download speed of 300Mbps and an upload speed of 100Mbps.  The numbers are nominal, not exact.  For a seamless streaming experience, aim for at least 5-10 Mbps just for streaming, but as in most things Internet, more is better.  It may be worth running the Speed Test tool at https://www.speedtest.net/ to make sure.
  2. Wired Connection Over Wi-Fi: If you’re streaming from your house of worship, try to use a wired Ethernet connection instead of Wi-Fi.  Wired connections are more stable, provide dedicated capacity and are less prone to interference.  If you must use Wi-Fi for any part of your solution, make sure you’re close to your router for a stronger signal.  Where possible, locate the router and other devices so there are no walls or other obstructions between them, as these degrade the signal.
  3. Quality Matters, But Adjust Settings: Full 1080p high-definition streams might be tempting, but they can strain your internet connection.  You can still have great quality with lower settings, like 720p, especially if your audience is using a phone or tablet as their viewing device.  Most streaming platforms offer options to adjust video quality.  Try reducing the video resolution to a lower setting if you experience buffering issues or other quality issues on the audience devices but not at the venue.
  4. Close Unnecessary Applications: Your computer or streaming device may be running background apps that consume bandwidth.  Close unnecessary programs to free up resources for your live stream.  This can make a big difference in performance.  Unleash your inner detective to find and close everything running on your device that isn’t necessary for your livestream.  This might mean moving ancillary applications like presentation software, onto another computer.  This is especially the case where the ancillary application is necessary for the overall service, but not directly contributing to the actual livestream.
  5. Update Your Streaming Software: If you’re using streaming software, keep it updated.  Developers often release updates to improve performance and fix bugs.  Regularly check for updates and install them to ensure a smooth stream.
  6. Consider Hardware Upgrades: If you’re doing live streaming regularly, investing in some hardware upgrades might be beneficial.  Upgrading your computer’s RAM is an option that is particularly helpful or using a dedicated streaming device can help handle the workload more efficiently.
  7. Test Your Setup Before Going Live: Don’t wait until the big day to test your setup.  Do a trial run to make sure everything works as expected.  Check your audio, video, and internet connection.  It’s much easier to troubleshoot issues in advance.
  8. Engage Your Audience: Finally, remember that technology is just a tool.  What truly matters is the relational connection you build with your audience.  Engage with your viewers through comments and chat and make them feel part of the experience.

In the world of live streaming, even those without a technical background can create a smooth and enjoyable experience for their house-of-worship community.  By following these user-friendly tips, you’ll be well on your way to delivering high-quality live streams that bring people closer together, regardless of their age or technical expertise. Soon, the image at the top of this post may well live on you church’s website!  Happy streaming!

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.  We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we can use technology in churches, located at www.dct.org.nz.   

Peter Lane

3 Tips for Better Worship Livestreams – Lighting

Posted on by Peter Lane

image: wallpaperflare.com

My last Touchstone article was the first of a series on a few easy and (relatively) cheap ways to make your livestream experience memorable (for the right reasons!).  Perhaps paradoxically, the best way to improve the technology side of a livestream – sorry, technology can’t improve the content – is to improve the audio quality. 

So, your paradox detector may oscillate even more wildly when I tell you that the second most important contributor to video quality is … lighting!  That’s right, still nothing to do with actual livestream systems!  Let me quote from and article by Paul Alan Clifford, self-styled Pastor to Techies and ChurchTech consultant, from an article he wrote for churchproduction.com’s blog.

God is much better at creating things that see than we are.  Our eyes, for example, are a technical marvel.  The dynamic range they see far exceeds what most cameras can.  This one fact is why so many churches have such bad lighting.

What’s the problem?

It is often difficult to explain why it is that lighting is needed even in environments where we can see perfectly well.  Our eyes “see” far better than any video camera ever made.  They have superior low-light performance, superior colour palette, superior focusing ability and superior resolution.  Our eyes work so well, that it seems inconsequential to architects and lighting designers to include features in our buildings that are problematical (at best) in terms of delivering light to the things we want to look at.  Large windows directly behind the pulpit and top-down vertically directed lighting are 2 of the most common issues in this regard, but most of the time, our eyes automatically compensate for this, and we don’t notice – we even think the scene looks good!

Cameras, on the other hand, will “look” at that same scene and potentially struggle to produce a usable image.  Let’s look at how a camera works.  (I’m going to walk through a typical electronic digital camera, but in terms of lighting issues, a film camera has the same types of issues, though there are more options to mitigate these in the processing stage).

So, at its simplest, a camera is a device that controls the admission of light into a hole in a box, to illuminate a sensor/recording device.  In proactice, we enhance this by adding lenses and other modifying devices to give us more control over the image we end up producing.  With a digital camera, the light entering through the lens strikes an image sensor.  The signal output by the image sensor is processed within the camera to create image data, which is stored in a memory.  For motion, multiple images are compiles into a video stream and transmitted or stored. 

Schematic drawing showing how a digital camera works

image: panasonic.com

In the camera, the image sensor is the equivalent of the human eye.  It has the role of converting the light directed on it through the lens to the electrical signals that are processed by the image processing engine.  Sensors inherently have dynamic range limitations – too much light will wash out the picture; too little light results in little or no image being recorded.  Light can be regulated to some degree by the lens aperture, (the size of the opening in the camera’s lens), which can be adjusted to allow more or less light in.  However, Cameras always require more light to produce a given image compared to the naked eye.  Even at its most open setting, a lens will not allow enough light in to produce an adequate image for livestreaming.

Camera Manufacturers have traditionally responded to this issue by using the Image Processing Engine in the camera to attempt to compensate for the sensor shortcomings as best it can.  In reality, it is the quality of the Image Processing Engine that makes the difference between low-quality and high-quality cameras.  The Image Processing Engine is a dedicated, special purpose computer that processes each image in the stream pixel by pixel.  The workload for this computer increases as resolution, colour depth or frame rate increase – there are simply more pixels to process in a fixed timeframe.  So if the scene the camera is capturing doesn’t have enough light reflecting back to the camera, the Image Processing Engine has to work even harder and may just run out of processing capacity all together, resulting in flat, sub-optimal images.  Note that it is the reflected light we need – there may be plenty of light in the environment as far as the eye is concerned.  The camera and the light source need to be on the same side of the scene for this to work.  A window behind the scene will easily overpower the light reflected from the scene, and overhead lights will light the top of the scene and cast shadows down the scene which will turn up as dark patches in the video.

Solutions

The obvious (and technically preferred) solution is to put more light on the scene, and I will give some thoughts on that in a moment.  However, I promised you easy and (relatively) cheap solutions.  So here are some ideas that may help without actually biting the funding bullet and putting in a theatrical lighting system.

  • Reduce the quality of the video output of your cameras (less resolution, colour depth, frame rate) to reduce the processing load on the Image Processing Engine.
  • If you are able to relocate any of your existing lights, see if you can move them closer to the scene, and reduce the angle to the camera.
  • Control natural lighting with blinds or curtains or similar – usually even indirect sunlight will overpower any other lighting you have.  Also, if the sun goes behind a cloud in the middle of your livestream, you may suddenly find that what was working well now doesn’t work at all.

Theatrical Lighting

Don’t get carried away – just because I said Theatrical Lighting doesn’t necessarily mean a full-on coloured light extravaganza (even though that’s so cool!!)  Theatrical lighting can be optimised to deliver lots of white light, targeted to where you need it to get great video.  Unfortunately, putting in lighting from scratch often means leaving the realm of relatively cheap solution.  Having said that, the advent of LED lighting systems has reduced the price of lighting dramatically and you should investigate fully before assuming you can’t afford it.  Some things to remember, though;

  • Check your building’s electrical capacity – again, LED lighting has reduced the requirement for power significantly, but still check.
  • Structural capacity – if you are considering mounting lights from walls or ceilings, be safe and get it checked beforehand.  Don’t forget that the Building Code will require secondary seismic restraint, so things don’t fall on you in an earthquake.
  • In a perfect world, the objective is to create a perfectly even wash of light over the full scene.  This tends to require lots of light fittings, which is why 3-point lighting was developed.  This identifies the areas of most interest in the scene and illuminates them with Key light (main light), Fill light (fills in the shadows from the key light) and Top light (sometimes called back light – this highlights the top and side of the subject so it visually “pops” out of the background).  There are lots and lots of good videos and articles on the web on how to do 3-point lighting.

Have fun experimenting – I hope there is something here that helps to improve your livestreams and videos.

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.  We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we can use technology in churches, located at www.dct.org.nz.   

Peter Lane

3 Tips for Better Worship Livestreams – Audio

Posted on by Peter Lane

image: Freepik.com

Ok – having just narrowly prevented myself from starting yet another article with a variation on the theme of “Covid has Changed the Way We Use Technology Forever!”, I am now struggling to think of an alternative introduction to this article.

So, let me start by suggesting that the concept of bringing church services to the people is a concept that has been around long before Covid.  Indeed, it is an area of church worship that has been a relatively quick adopter of technology over many years.  Whether it is printed sermons, audio cassettes, DVDs or online platforms, the church has always had an interest in bringing the worship experience to individuals who are for one reason or another unable (or unwilling) to attend worship with their local community.  However, while there are good reasons for extending community worship beyond the four walls of a specific building at a specific time, isolation of individuals from the community of faith has been considered a bad thing, and by extension, providing tools that make it easy to isolate themselves from the community by providing a rationale that “I’ll catch-up the livestream so I’m not really missing out!”  This issue is perhaps food for another article for another time – arguably a Faith & Order matter rather than a technical matter but I have a foot in both those camps, so I don’t expect to escape.

However, for whatever reason, many churches are now trying to work out what they will do with the livestreaming setup they hastily put together in response to Covid lockdowns.  Over the next few issues, I will explore a few easy and (relatively) cheap ways to make your livestream experience memorable (for the right reasons!), starting with Audio quality.

Audio

Perhaps paradoxically, the best way to improve the technology side of a livestream – sorry, technology can’t improve the content – is to improve the audio quality.  The human brain can put up with an amazing amount of video defects so long as it has a clean, crisp and intelligible audio feed to help it fill in the deficiencies in the video.

A common strategy for first-time livestreamers is to rely on an in-built microphone in their camera device, whether a phone, webcam or even a more sophisticated camera.  The resulting sound from this type of audio setup is muddy because the microphone happily picks up every sound in the space, whether it is useful or not.  A single microphone in a space will make no distinction between sound reflected from walls, the kids playing at the back and the fire engine going past outside – it will capture everything it can hear.  If you are lucky, it will capture the preacher’s voice too.  If you are doubly lucky, the preacher will be louder than everything else put together, but there will always be some distortion as first the streaming equipment, and then the human ear, attempts to make sense of this very complex audio signal.

Ideally, we want microphones that are placed as close to the speaker (human speaker, not technology speaker) as possible, and optimised to reject as much background noise as possible.  Which, un-coincidentally, is exactly what you should be trying to achieve with a church sound system.  If your church already has a sound system, the easiest way to improve your livestream sound is to use the sound system’s sound.  Stream the video from the camera(s) and the audio from the sound system together and you should see (sorry, hear) immediate improvements.

There are a couple of caveats to this approach;

  • If your church relies on congregational singing, or has lots of responses in its worship liturgy, or other non-electronic audio that is an integral part of the livestream, then you will probably need to add some microphones to capture that audio.  However, you probably don’t want that sound to come out of the local audio speakers – to do so would be to invite instant feedback (and the ire of the now deafened congregation).  This means that your sound system needs to be able to support multiple outputs or buses and has the ability to switch specific inputs to only specific outputs.
  • Similarly, if you have someone in your livestream audience who is going to speak (for example, if you are using Zoom Meetings), the sound that originates from Zoom should never be sent back to Zoom – this time the feedback (and the ire) will be in the Zoom Room.  The solution is the same – your sound system needs to support multiple outputs and the ability to switch inputs to specific outputs.

So, give it a go and see how much better you can make your Livestream sound.

Next time, we will look at Lighting.

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems.  We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles.  These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz.  We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we can use technology in churches, located at www.dct.org.nz

Peter Lane

Tips & Tricks for Hosting Online Meetings and Events

Posted on by Peter Lane

It is now a cliché that Covid has caused more advances in the adoption of remote presence technology and videoconferencing as productivity tools than the industry’s marketing activities caused in the previous 10 years.

This has the potential to create large benefits, but like all technologies, has also the potential to create significant disadvantages, often due to people trying to do more with the system than it was intended to achieve. 

In the context of remote meetings by video conference, this often takes the form of assuming that people develop a relationship with each other just as well over video as they do in “real life”.  The reality is that, while it can be done, the relationships people form using video-only take longer to form, are not as deep and break down more easily than the relationships between groups that meet in person, even only occasionally. This can be important to understand, as particularly in governance contexts, the relationship between meeting members directly contributes to the meeting’s effectiveness.  Video calls let people fill in a speaker’s intent and motivation more than text-only or voice-only communication, but this is kick-started by having pre-existing face-to-face relationships.

Another disadvantage is that all the tips and hacks we have learned to make running meetings easier in a lifetime of face-to-face meetings, now need to be re-learned (or even discarded) to suit the digital medium our meetings now tend to use.  This article hopes to present some tips for running meetings and events online to mitigate this issue.  They are aimed at meeting organisers but hopefully will be of interest to others as well.  “Meetings and Events” is a large scope, though, and not all events will need the same level of attention.  Each meeting will have its own requirements for formality, record-keeping, interaction and relationship; and these requirements will translate into different ways to manage the specific meeting.

Planning and Preparation 

Hopefully, this is something you do for face-to-face meetings as well.  Because video communication leaves out a lot of the subliminal content we unconsciously take for granted for in-person meetings, good planning and pre-meeting communications are arguably even more important. 

  • Set up the meeting and invitation as far in advance of the meeting as you can, and configure it so that participants can join the meeting (at least to the waiting room) before the meeting and encourage them to check they can access the meeting with all the audio, video, sharing etc working as they expect.  For a presentation or seminar, you may even consider doing a “dry-run” with the presenters. 
  • Produce a “running sheet” for the event.  This is like an agenda, but is typically more detailed and focused on the production requirements, not the content.  It could indicate things like timings, backgrounds, and resources needed when things like notices need to be put in the chat, when videos need to be played etc. 

Minutes 

One thing I learnt as a consultant is that it is really, really hard to both run a meeting and take good notes.  Contrary to a lot of opinions expressed to me, this doesn’t get easier in an online context.  In fact, if you have to manage the technology as well, you are now trying to do 3 things at the same time instead of two. 

  • Appoint someone whose only job is to take notes.  If you need to do more than fire up the meeting and share a screen once or twice, appoint someone else to manage the technology.  If it’s even mildly complex, consider producing a running sheet for them. 
  • Consider using a software notetaker.  With the surge in AI that’s happening in the tech space just now, there are some significant advances in this space.  I’ve been playing with a Zoom plug-in called Fathom AI notetaker for a while and the results are impressive.  I initially considered it a good fit only for enterprise sales calls it now seems to be a good general-purpose tool.  At a meeting last week, I was blown away by the 2 sentence summaries it generated on the fly for each section of the meeting. 

Screen sharing

If you are sharing a document or a PowerPoint slide, consider logging into the meeting from a separate computer (no camera or microphone needed) and sharing the document from there.  Then you can Pin the screen or remove it as required.  You can also pin the document side by side with the speaker, giving a much better view of the speaker than Zoom’s default thumbnail view. 

Running the Meeting or Event 

  • When hosting a video call with a large group, try to ask specific questions to specific people, and use their names when doing so.  This establishes who will be answering the question and avoids the ever-awkward “No, you go ahead.  No, you!” situation. 
  • If you (or your technical delegate) need to share information in the Chat during the meeting, set all the information up beforehand in a document, then cut and paste it at the relevant time.  This saves getting it wrong at the psychological moment or forgetting.  Don’t forget to put the name and location of the file in the running sheet! 

If nothing else, consider these six golden rules for better video meetings, (adapted from a Trello™ blog post): 

  • Use video for strengthening existing relationships 
  • Have equipment that works – and test that it is still working before your meeting 
  • Look professional yourself and aim for a professional-looking delivery, flowing smoothly from topic to topic. 
  • Make sure everyone feels included 
  • Set up team rules to make video meetings more manageable – this can be just as simple as waiting till called on before speaking, but whatever the rule is, it needs to match the requirements and purpose of the meeting.  For example, if you are running a brainstorming meeting, preventing people from speaking till called on may be counterproductive. 
Peter Lane

Church Management Systems

Posted on by Peter Lane

What do Breeze, Wild Apricot, Toucan Tech and Infoodle have in common?

They are all examples of the names chosen by the developers of specific examples of a – relatively – new type of software, Church Management Systems or ChMS.  Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that this type of software is enjoying a revival, as similar programs have been around for about as long as programmers have been involved in churches.  However, the current ChMS solutions are leveraging the commercial sector success of CMS solutions – Customer (or Client or Constituent) Management Systems.  Consequently, the underlying technology is very robust.  [Note: frustratingly, CMS is also used for Content Management System, a website solution component.  Some providers get around this by using CRM for Customer Relationship Management]

The underlying premise being all CMS systems (including ChMS’s) is that collecting all the data about one’s customers (or congregants) that can be accessed by all authorised parties in the organisation.  This leads to a number of benefits;

  • There is “one source of truth” – if Mrs Smith tells the door greeter that she has a new phone number, then (in theory – humans can still break the system) everybody else using the CMS can access that number as well. 
  • A centralised solution is also easier to keep backed up (and because it is a centralised solution, it is more critical to make sure it is backed up).
  • A benefit for larger organisations is that if the ChMS records details of all interactions, then if a contact makes a call to the office, then it doesn’t matter who answers, the answerer able to bring themselves very quickly up to date with the context and requirements for that contact.  In a church context, privacy and confidentiality requirements need to be observed, but the principle still applies, especially for administrative matters.
  • ChMS solutions usually support managed communications and automation.  Need to send out a reminder for that special Sunday School event?  Email the pew bulletin to non-attendees?  These types of communications have the potential to make people feel wanted and included but are typically not done because they are too time intensive.  CRMs can make this type of communication happen for the cost of a few hours of upfront set-up and some regular procedures to ensure details are captured and kept up to date.
  • ChMS solutions can keep track of skills, qualifications and expertise held by members and staff.  If a job comes up that needs specific skills or qualifications, you can quickly find out who has those skills.  If a qualification needs to be renewed from time to time, you can have reminders sent to relevant people when renewal action is required.  You can organise all your contacts into groups so that sending an email to the Parish Council, to the entire congregation, or to Homegroup members are all just a couple of clicks.  Most ChMSs will take care of privacy issues for you by hiding everyone else’s email address.
  • Safeguarding and protecting the vulnerable – these features have become particularly important during the pandemic.  Most ChMSs provide some level of “Check-in” capability to allow you to know exactly who was at a given event, track attendee numbers against a limit and allow follow-up to attendees – whether to say, “Thank you for coming” or, “We’re sorry to advise that one of the attendees has tested positive”, as the case may be.  We also live in a society that is increasingly paranoid about the safety of children.  Civil requirements for managing children’s groups are becoming increasingly complex and are likely to become mandatory in time.  Most ChMSs can offer at least minimal solutions to assist manage these requirements, ranging from Check-in/Check-out capability, recording who dropped off or picked up a given child, restricting who is allowed to pick up a given child, to recording allergies or medical conditions and specific first-aid protocols for individuals.  To my mind, it is these types of features that make the most compelling case for churches to adopt ChMSs at the moment.
  • Overall, the benefits of ChMS can be summed up as releasing time spent on administrative tasks for missional and relational activities.  Churches have a large volunteer work component, but it is decreasing over time, so if there is a way we can shift our volunteer resources from administration to strategically focused activity, there should be a significant benefit.

Considerations

Modules, modules and more modules!  ChMS vendors seem to love modules.  The typical product structure is a core module with at least the CRM functions and a number of optional add-on modules (usually at additional cost) providing additional features such as Accounting functions, Donor management, Service planning, Attendance Tracking, Online Giving etc.  Make sure you get all the features you need and that you understand exactly what that costs.

International Law.  If you are looking at Accounting or Donor management or similar features, make sure that the solution you are thinking of complies with NZ requirements rather than US or EU requirements.

Buy a system with room to grow.  Church management systems can help you grow your ministry, so be sure to buy a system that can handle more than your current needs.

Think twice about building your own system.  It may seem tempting to build your own church management software to save a little money, but in the long run, you will end up spending more.  You will likely not be able to migrate easily to another solution or share data with others if you take this path.  Leave the software to the experts and focus on what you do best: building your congregation.