This is a part of a series of posts responding to the question: Is the church a business? Today the focus is on technology.
Technology is an important part of my every day work as a pastor at Resurrection. We have a full time Information Technology department here at Resurrection made up of 8 staff persons. They keep internet, phone, communications and computers up and running.
As a pastor, I have found that technology helps me connect with people. Through blogging, email and church management software I am able to have contact and connection with far more people than would otherwise be possible. Technology also serves to make process and procedures more efficient allowing me to be able to spend more time with people.
The bottom line is that technology allows me to connect with more people and spend more time in personal interaction with persons.
Do you see technology as a part of the church? If so, in what way? If not, why not?
Rev. Andrew Conard 
5 replies on “Business of the Church: Technology (2 of 5)”
Hey Andrew,
I just took a workshop at our Probationer retreat on using technology to increase productivity and thus more creative time for ministry. One of the main points the presenter made was that clergy today have so many more demands on their time and things to tend to than did clergy a generation or more ago. Thus, no wonder we don’t go visit like pastor so-and-so did, we’ve got many other equally justifiable things to get to. Now, how we got here might be a topic for another post. But bottom line, absolutely technology should be part of the church. Whatever we can automate to free us for more fruitful ministry, the better. Of course the trick, like with technology in the rest of life, is that we exercise that freedom for fruitful ministry, and not simply allow ourselves to get busier doing more tasks.
Technology can also be a time sucker. And I don’t just mean facebook 🙂
My church is drawing close to screen and projector in worship. And I recently realized if we will utilize it effectively…that’s one more thing to worry about and work on for Sunday morning. Computers are essential but they break and require extra staff or really knowledgable, on the ball lay-people to maintain. How many churches have out-of-date and poorly presented websites?
I think depending on the church’s attiutude toward technology and its resources in that area, techonology can be as difficult as it is helpful.
And personally I think cell phones help some pastors have even worse boundries with parishoners than they otherwise would. But i also think that cell phones can encourage most anyone to have poor boundaries (ingoring the people you are with in favor of the not-so-urgent text or phone call).
Minimize Administration, Maximize Ministry! Technology is the vehicle!
Started to comment and ended up with a full post of my own here:
http://clifguy.com/2008/07/26/should-a-congregation-use-technology/
I thought about your post a few days ago when I was stuck in the woods….. Well if that did not hook you nothing will. We were actually about 6 miles down a gravel road in a TN wildlife management area bouldering when we got a flat tire, not a big deal until the jack snapped in half. We had noticed at least two UMCs in the neighboring towns. This is what made me think of your post. If I had number in my cell phone that would connect me with an operator who could use my location to connect me to a local UM that would be willing to lend a brother a hand. Now that would be my idea of a connectional system. A technology like this would be very cheap easy to implement. One 24/7 position for the whole country, a Google connection, and a simple database is all that would be required. Technology that enables the church to be better at being the church is valuable. Technology that gets in the way of connection is not a good thing.
bart