Ministry structure that was once strong and vibrant can collapse just like this barn. A lot of factors go into this.  Bad design. Poor materials. Hubris. Apathy. Accidents. Finances. Disease. Vision leakage. Personnel change. Weather. 

 

I'll leave it to others to diagnose. I just know it is a real thing.  We see it all the time in our work with churches as their accounts with us mature and are used more broadly. 

 

Almost since the beginning of the company I've said that the two primary roles of church software are: 1) to help define structure that reflects the church's strategy, and 2) provide feedback that informs vision.  Vision drives strategy. Strategy drives structure. Structure drives feedback. Feedback informs Vision. This is the cycle of ministry praxis.  Any missing or lame segment, over time, can bring down the house. 

 

Tags: Best Practices

Churchteams was built around the idea of growing a church using groups as the common building material for every ministry. This means that everything that involves more than one person is managed as a group. 

Every worship service, small group, class, committee, ministry team, leadership team, service team, mission team, event, and even assimilation step is managed as a group. 

This is one of the design constructs that makes our software unique, powerful and user-friendly.  Once understood, ministry rocks of all sizes are formed together to become a solidly built organization.

Tags: Small Groups, Best Practices

 

Tags: Text-To-Church, Best Practices, Email Marketing

I was so encouraged by this email from Kelly, a church admin assistant, in response to How we help the church be the church.

"Thanks for all of your help during this time. We have had two families already connect using the set-up in Churchteams. One from our church and the other is un-churched. They happen to live right across the street from one another and hooked up after seeing the link on FB. Thank you for all of your help in getting our church ready for serving our community during these difficult times."

Tags: Best Practices, Church Software Review

All across the country today, churches are empty because of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

I've loved reading  notes from pastors encouraging their people to trust God and then love and care for one another.  

This is a time for the church to shine!  And we built Churchteams to be the light on the hill for decentralized ministry.  Our team started talking about that and we came up with some ways beyond the Sunday experience that Churchteams can help your church be the Church (not a cap typo) during this crisis. 

Tags: Best Practices, Church Software Review

NOTE:  As of 3/18/20, because of Covid 19, we are delaying a final decision on whether to continue with the User's Gathering until April 15th.  

 

Join our staff and so far over 40 other Churchteams clients for a couple days of focused training to improve your Churchteams skills at our User's Gathering this Spring.  Our goal is to provide not just a fun time together with CT staff you've interacted with, but also with other people doing exactly what you do.  

Tags: Best Practices

For Church Geeks like us, January means it's time to send out giving statements.  You could send out the familiar "thank you and here's what happened last year" cover letter that you  print, stuff in an envelope, seal, stamp and mail.  But, it's 2020 and there are some creative things you can do to spice it up this year.  Here are some thoughts on how to salt your giving statement content and  pepper your process.

Tags: Giving, Best Practices

 

Tags: Check-in & Family, Text-To-Church, Best Practices

It is no secret that the best way to collect data on Sunday morning is through children's check-in.  The reasons are obvious:

Tags: Best Practices, Assimilation, Workflow Magic

The first step in setting up a workflow is to map it.  That is to set a goal or define what success looks like.  I use the example of success for a first time guest workflow is for the person or family to show up a second time. Then, the goal of the second time guest workflow is for them to attend a new members class. From there the goal is to help them respond to Christ in whatever way is best for them ultimately getting them involved in community and ministry.

Tags: Best Practices, Assimilation