For me, Christmas sheds a great light on the previous year. Does it you? I have been a journaler for decades. During the month of December I review my entries for the year and narrow them down to a few highlights that the Lord has said to me and is working out in my life. These become my objectives to review and work on the next year.
I just did a similar thing by reviewing the New Release blog posts and reflecting on our business process improvements. I looked over them and narrowed them down to these five bright spots for 2023.
- Member App. The biggest highlight this year from a development release perspective was clearly our Member App. A lot of the releases this fall were quality improvements based on client usage and desires. It is the culmination of a lot of observation, research and hard work.
- Three environments. With the release of the App we improved our communication about how and where churches use our technology to reach, connect, equip, and release people. These are your church website, Text-to-Church, and the Member App. I recorded this Seven Minute Executive Preview video to illustrate this.
- Speed and security. These are the things we do behind the scenes to improve your overall experience with the software. We did things like change the way to review groups of over 500, improve reports processes, and upgrade Text-to-Church performance. We continue to monitor and improve our security systems and processes like we always have.
- Keep data clean. Many of you have been receiving weekly reports to help clean up emails in preparation for sending statements. Other data hygiene improvements include automating actions for deceased members, and requiring registration email and phone numbers for just one person so they are not duplicated.
- Improved 30 day trial process. If you just want to browse and get a feel, you can do it yourself or join me for Meet The Software. If you want to review the software we'll import some data and offer a couple of free custom sessions with our team. Ready to launch? You'll love how we help you pull your data together, clean it up, custom fit the language for your ministry, and get you going on the features that mean the most to you.
I don't know about you, but I can get so focused on the WORK of our company that I lose my focus on the PURPOSE of our company. If I go down this shaft very far, tunnel vision can set in. And tunnel vision can lead to darkness. Unless there's light.
This light that we so desperately need in our times became flesh and dwelt among us for a short season. We have seen this light. He is our guide. He is our purpose. All we do comes from Him, is enabled by him, and is offered to Him.
My guess is you know exactly what I mean. If not, we're glad to share more about it. It's the story of a baby born in a manger, sent from God to restore people who've lost their way back to Him.
Merry Christmas.