ChurchIT – Supporting ministry with IT

Stuff Christians Like
Stuff Christians like is what blogging is meant to be. Some of the posts are laugh out loud funny (a good way to start conversations in the office I suppose) but others are more challenging. A common post is a questionnaire with points to score, such as you might find in a magazine.

For example, one attempts to solve the problem of two apparently contradictory statements in the Bible. Passages from the Old Testament score 1 point, New Testament 2 points, something Jesus actually said 3 points. Another offers advice on what people think about your prayers (5. Your wife or husband give you the “wrap it up” tap during your prayer = minus 2 points).

Collide Magazine
Collide is a good place to look if you are interested in using computers and technology in or around church. Sadly there is no print magazine in the UK but you can subscribe to the blog that includes regular round ups of internet news and videos.

LifeHacker
This isn’t a Christian website, but is still worth a mention. Lifehacker is a blog with advice on getting the most from your computer and the internet. The tips cover everything from new ways to use software such as Office, free stuff on line and new software that you might not have heard of before.

Magnatune
Magnatune.com is an online music shop that proudly announces “We are not evil”. They certainly don’t look that way from the customer’s point of view. You can listen to the music on the site and then choose exactly how much to spend on albums from £3 to £10. Delivery is by download only but CD quality versions are available at no extra cost. The range is somewhat eclectic but is worth the search as there are some real gems. I can strongly recommend the American Bach Soloists, or Drop Trio, if your tastes include jazz.

Internet Evangelism Day
Held on the 26 April every year, this day aims to get us talking about our faith online, be it on social networking sites like Facebook, or by giving local websites a brush up. There is a monthly newsletter that is full of interesting links and stories, some spiritual and others of a more technical bias. If you are thinking about reviewing your church website, there is a very useful questionaire and checklist.

First published on The Sheep Dip,  a Christian-run website offering quality material for church newsletter and magazine editors to use for a small fee.

As many of us seem to get ever busier and mobile, it can be hard to take Bible notes along too. There’s only so much I can carry in my laptop bag and that’s if I remember to transfer everything across. Wordlive is a new service from Scripture Union that offers a daily reading via email, RSS news feed, podcast or a web browser, either on a computer or mobile phone at no cost.

The rationale behind the email version makes a lot of sense. Those of use who rely on email check it regulary so it will always get through. It makes a lot of sense with the idea I picked up at Spring Harvest about the 3 minute quiet time. Even at my busiest I should be able to take the time to read through a quick Bible study.

The mobile phone version is a good idea for taking advantage of quiet moments in the day when a computer may not be to hand. It is well thought out and split into sections to help keep data costs down. If you plan on using the service a lot with a mobile it would be wise to check how much your mobile phone company charges.

A cheaper (and faster) way to listen to the bible notes is to sign up to the Podcast via iTunes. Don’t worry if you don’t have an iPod (I don’t either) as you can find the downloaded podcasts in the folder iTunes creates in your My Music or Music folder for Windows XP and Vista respectively.

WordLive is an excellent alternative to traditional Bible note books. It won’t suit everyone but should certainly be given a try if you are looking for a new start in personal devotional times.

If you do use WordLive and find it helpful, it might be a good thing to help support Scripture Union with the costs of producing this material. I discovered the service via an appeal leaflet so it only seems fair to mention this. You can donate online or by filling out a form to post.

First published on The Sheep Dip,  a Christian-run website offering quality material for church newsletter and magazine editors to use for a small fee.

Now that projectors have given churches the freedom to show words and scripture with a little more panache than the humble overhead projector, the next challenge is to find a good background. This can be harder than you might think as I found when preparing slides for my church’s Carol Service. Reelworship.com is a good place to look for images as they have been specifically chosen for this purpose.

It is possible to find photos on the internet, but it no easy task, even with photo sharing websites like Flickr. The reason for this is that a composition that looks good in the photo album does not necessarily make a good background image as they need to be relatively unobtrusive.

ReelWorship has a large collection of over 800 images that can be downloaded and used at no cost. This is an impressive number, given that there are many sites that want payment for fewer images. Continue Reading

In this final part of my series on projectors, we’ll take a look at the final step of setting up a projector system for your church. With the projector and screen in place, you’ll need something to show the words and pictures during services.

The obvious contenders are PowerPoint, the Mac equivalent Keynote, and the open source OpenOffice.org Impress (available for both Windows and Mac from www.openoffice.org). They are familiar, have some great transitions (but go easy on them please) and most computers can be persuaded to open the files. Microsoft has a standalone Powerpoint viewer that can be downloaded from www.computeractive.co.uk/2140854.

Unfortunately these presentation programs were designed for business briefings that move smoothly from one slide to the next. The problem with using them in church is that you never know where the Spirit might lead. Repeating the last chorus isn’t so bad, but what about a song from the beginning of the service?

The problem is not that there are no programs that can do this, but the wide choice available, and the reasonable investment that many require. There are too many to cover here so first I’ll look at a couple that I’ve had experience with. A comprehensive list of programs can be found www.ebibleteacher.com/reviewworship.html.

I’ve used OpenSong (www.opensong.org) for several years. As an open source program there’s no price tag so it’s ideal when starting out or if you are still borrowing equipment. It’s easy to add songs and they can be copied easily between computers.

There are some drawbacks. The project is maintained by volunteers so there isn’t the same level of support as commercial software. The biggest problem is that there are no modern Bible translations. Still the dual screen control panel is very good and I’ve always felt in control, even if verses and choruses are repeated out of order.

At the other end of the scale is Media Shout, one of two products from DM Music (hopefully you remember them from last time). It is more complex and expensive but a lot more capable. It can import PowerPoint documents as well as play video and music files. There are 54 Bible translations included as well as 2300 songs already in the library. There’s more information at www.mediashout.com or www.dmmusic.com.

As with any software purchase it is vitally important to know what you want before parting with any money. Do you just want to show song words or can your pastor or vicar add Powerpoint to their sermons? There is a demo version available for Media Shout so you can (or rather should) give both of these programs a go before making a decision. And make sure you involve the whole team of people likely to be using it, not just the enthusiastic techie (that’s me if you hadn’t guessed!)

First published on The Sheep Dip,  a Christian-run website offering quality material for church newsletter and magazine editors to use for a small fee.

So, you’ve borrowed or hired a projector, found someone enthusiastic enough to operate it and decided that it will improve the worship and teaching in your church. Next stop the local Curry’s (or AV shop if you’re feeling posh) to buy the first projector you find? Best stop a while and think. Buying a projector for a church is very different to one for a home cinema.

Firstly a word of thanks to Steve Rushton from DM Music for a very informative chat, which was very helfpul, especially with regards to the proper placement of a projector. Continue Reading

Computers offer the kind of production capabilities that used to require huge amounts of time, money and professional help, all in the home office (or living room).

The problem is that some of that professional help was not just getting arcane equipment to work, but valuable judgement. The Non-Designer’s Design Book is invaluable for anyone involved in producing any kind of print project, be it newsletters, headed paper or giant posters.

Getting hold of design software is relatively easy and even word processors are capable of quite complex desktop publishing. The challenge is turning that blank page into something that both catches the eye and transmits the correct information.

I know people whose fingers itch with lethal hate when they see Comic Sans (not out of malicious enjoyment but the grim determination of those working for the greater good) but some constructive replacement is still needed. Continue Reading