Labor day weekend marks the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year.  For churches it is also the start of a new ministry season. 

Our team is excited about kids going back to everything from preschool to college.  We are excited about college football. We are excited about what God is doing at our churches and in our small groups.  But, there is a special excitement in the air for our team as we start September this year.

It's back to school time!  Families are prioritizing their fall and school year activities.  Many of them are thinking about how  church fits into those plans.  

In today's culture, parents are deeply concerned about safety and count on churches to be prepared.  This is a major factor in their choosing a church.  It is also a factor in their choice to discount or even leave a church.   

There's no reason for young families to count out your church just because you don't have security in place.  If you're really small and just have a few kids, keep it simple by issuing check-in wristbands.  You can Google to find those.  

Back in March I wrote a couple of blog posts focusing on how missional and networking non-profits are using Churchteams to manage their ministry.   Those focused specifically on features and how these organizations are using them.  

In June, I did a breakout with about 25 SBC Association Missions Strategists on these features.  If this isn't your bunch, basically, these are people who oversee from about 20 to 200 or more churches in a local geographical area.  Normal is around 40.  

It was a really great time for me to hear their hearts and needs.  Almost all of them had a hodge-podge of software and paper they use for managing data, emailing people, texting people, forms, and events.  They clearly expressed their frustration that everything wasn't working together and some things were even missing.

We hear this frustration all the time with pastors and this isn't the first time with network leaders like this.  I had a little time to dig in further that day, but not enough.  So, I set up a couple of follow up times this summer to listen and learn more.  

When I turned 60 a couple of years ago I began thinking more seriously about this next 20 year section of my life. 

I've read a ton about retirement, finishing well, and similar topics.  I've spent even more time talking to friends who've gone before me.  The most encouraging thing about all this work has been that it affirms what I've given the last two 20 year life sections of my life to.  

During this time of reflection I recognize that there have been some value-laden lessons that the Lord has taught me about ministry, business, technology, story, and family.  I have a real desire to write about these lessons.  But, writing a book seems daunting when there are plenty of other demands for my time.

In this blog post, I'm excited to share with you an interview with my long time friend, Rick Howerton about his new book.  We got to know each other well years ago traveling to small group training programs across the country as part of a fledgling collective of friends that has become the Small Group Network.

His book, The Perpetually Growing Church, is a practitioners guide to building a healthy, growing church.  He knows a thing or two about this. 

He has been a campus minister, a staff pastor and a discipleship consultant (Navpress, Lifeway, KY Baptist Convention).  He planted The Bridge Church in Nashville, TN.  He has been a frequent speaker and trainer at churches, conferences, and training programs before and since our small group conference days. He has written multiple books and now serves as the Central Group Pastor for Lakepointe Church in Rockwell, TX.

Most of us would prefer to take a shortcut than to have to walk the long way around.  It conserves both time and energy while taking us directly to our desired destination.  At its best, church software is a shortcut for staff and church members. 

Just as landscape professionals consider traffic patterns when designing sidewalks, software professionals analyze usage patterns when creating action walkways.

These five recent upgrades are the result of patterns we've seen and been alerted to in recent months.  Three of them are based on staff usage.  Two of them are based on member usage.

1. Mass update group role from within a group (Staff) 
2. Mass update group info from the browse groups page (Staff)
3. Require recurring payments (Staff)
4. Spouses can see and manage family volunteer schedules (Members)
5. Edit recurring contribution designation and amounts (Members)
   

Managing enrollment, especially payments, for events like preschools, camps, or Christian School tuitions is a time-consuming challenge for many churches.  These programs require registrations, forms, initial payment, accounting, payment reminders, attendance, email or text communication, and syncing at least some of the information in the church database. 

This is the third in a series of three blog posts on using church management software for stewardship development.  In the 101 blog post we looked at filters that help you recognize first, second, and lapsed givers.  In the 201 blog post we looked at how to automate feedback and follow-up using scheduled reports.  

In this blog post we want to share with you the mechanics not only of giving, but also of helping people feel good about their giving.   2 Corinthians 9:7 says, "the Lord loves a cheerful giver."  So, it is important for church leaders to do everything they can to help people feel good about their giving.

In mylast blog post I mentioned that most churches don't have a stewardship development system in place.  Some will have a philosophical reason for this.  For others it's a matter of priorities and resources. 

I have no idea how many articles, books, conferences, and capital development programs I've been around through three (okay, four) decades of ministry.  I do know that they have been extremely helpful to churches I've been a part of and so many churches that we have served through the years. 

Our role as a church management software is to help churches set up and automate the best practices for which they have received training.  Last week I showed you the three filters in our reports to help with first, second, and lapsed contributors.