Superhua

Searching for a Church Management System

superhua — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 01:18:34 +0000

In spring of 2009, I wrote the following:

When I first began to look at ChMSes [Church Management Systems] back in Fall 2008 I thought I would be overwhelmed by the plethora of options. I would soon find, however, that there were very, very few ChMSes that supported my two main requirements: web-based and supporting Chinese characters.

We settled on a ChMS that met these two main criteria and was robust and simple. However, without notice, development on this ChMS stopped in fall of 2010. Thankfully, we were able to export our data before the site shutdown a few years later, but I was left leery of small and closed source ChMSes.

CiviCRM

In a pendulum-like swing, we moved to the impressive open source CiviCRM in 2013. As open source software, CiviCRM was less likely to suffer the same demise as our ill-fated first ChMS (along with many other ChMSes that have stopped development). However, while also powerful, CiviCRM did take a significant amount of customization to achieve (now) basic functions like tracking attendance and accepting credit card payments for events. In addition, using CiviCRM was not as intuitive as emerging ChMSes.

Breeze

I had discovered Breeze in 2014 and thought it was too basic.

Giving it a second look in 2015, I found it to be fast and easy to use. While Breeze couldn’t do all that I thought we needed, it could do the main things – and do them well. Further, I was wrong about some of the components I thought were critical.

That said, I was still concerned about their financial solvency. Having had one ChMS disappear on us in the past, I wanted to avoid another rude awakening. Related, how could they survive if they only charged all churches $50 / month?

Thankfully, my concerns have been allayed as Breeze has grown from 435 churches in October 2015 to over 7,000 in September 2020 – including us in 2015.

Breeze’s Strengths

Easy to use – While ChMSes have come a long way since the early 2000s where some web-based offerings were little more than a crude interface to a database, not all are easy to use. Breeze’s focus on serving small to medium-sized churches gives them freedom to limit their interface and abilities – much to everyone’s gain.
Pricing – The pricing is easy to understand as well. Everything is included for $50 / month. No per record charge. No per module charge. No extra support charge.

Tip: Do not underestimate how many records you’ll accumulate over the years. For example, even though our church is around 400, we currently have over 3,000 records. Therefore, finding a ChMS that doesn’t charge per record is helpful.

Support – Accessible, fast, and helpful. What else could you want?
Continuous improvement – Despite their growth, they continue to thoughtfully add and refine their product.
Demo – While evaluating, it was particularly helpful to test a long-term demo by myself and with some other church members. This gave me time to experiment key tasks that I envisioned our church using.

A Caveat

When we first started to use Breeze, I remember feeling a little constrained. Breeze could not do some things that other ChMSes could do (such as highlight the group leader in a small group list).

All software has opinions, and Breeze is no exception.

However, the “cost” was worth it in light of the strengths (above) and, frankly, some of my desires weren’t all that wise.

How We Use Breeze

We use all of the features except for giving (for that we use RebelGive).

Tip: Beyond choosing a ChMS, it is critical that you set-up your database well. That is, what custom fields will you add – and in what format will those fields be? For example, if you have multiple congregations, should the “Congregation” be a text field, radio buttons, or multiple choice? (I’d suggest multiple choice in case someone is part of multiple congregations.)

Choosing a ChMS

Choosing a ChMS is something you don’t want to do often.

Therefore, after finding possible ChMSes …

List (and optionally weight) the top five features that are critical for your church. Be shrewd here and eliminate those features which you will honestly rarely or never use.
Rate how well each candidate fares in each desired feature.
Calculate which ChMS would (theoretically) be the best fit.
Test your top contenders with real church members.

Other ChMSes

Following are a few others ChMSes that I considered:

Elvanto – Founded in Australia, I see they merged with Tithe.ly in 2018 and now require new customers to use the Tithe.ly giving product.
EasyJethro – Also from Australia, EasyJethro is the hosted version of the free Jethro PMM. (Note: I just tried adding Chinese to a a custom field, and it returned an error. Not sure if this is just a temporary glitch.)
ChurchInfo – Started in 2004, ChurchInfo doesn’t have a lot of recent development (last update is from 2017), but may be sufficient for churches able to maintain this free software. (Note: You’ll need to test the integrity of Chinese upon PDF export; I had trouble with this back in 2013.)
ChurchTools – Begun (I believe) in Germany, this software has a strong focus on Europe since their app is available in English, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French.
ChurchSuite – From the UK, ChurchSuite (like ChurchTools) has a number of modules which seek to manage almost every area of church life.
Planning Center – Born out of Planning Center Online, Planning Center was just getting started as we concluded our search.

Here is a massive list (and reviews) of ChMSes.

You are already being discipled.

superhua — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 17:15:23 +0000

“Discipleship is important because we live in a very secular world that’s actually trying to disciple you in its secular values. All these things are seeking to conform us to the world, instead of being transformed by the renewal of our minds. Therefore, biblical discipleship is more critical than it’s ever been.” – Tim Keller

The Pastor as a GP

superhua — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 17:33:51 +0000

“A pastor is by definition something akin to a GP (a “general practitioner”). He is not a specialist in, say, divorce and remarriage, missions history, cultural commentary, or particular periods of church history. Yet most pastors will have to develop competent introductory knowledge in all these areas as part of his application of the Word of God to the people around him. And that means he is obligated to devote some time each year to reading in broad areas.” – D.A. Carson

Prayer and Preaching

superhua — Thu, 28 Sep 2017 01:19:55 +0000

In an interview, Peter Adam reveals (at the 12 minute mark) that he spends half of his time working on the text and half of his time praying for the people who will hear the sermon.

Preaching is not a performance, but ministry (16 minute mark). Therefore, we should pray.

How to get better at preaching.

superhua — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 20:21:14 +0000

Keep preaching.

Seriously.

Your first few sermons are always terrible, no matter who you are. – Russell Moore

MCCA 2016 Workshop: Serving God in Rest

superhua — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 19:00:47 +0000

Audio

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/139720/MCCA/2016-07-03%20-%20mcca%202016%20-%20workshop%20-%20serving%20the%20lord%20in%20rest.mp3

Slides

Suggested Reading

Short article: Wisdom and Sabbath Rest by Tim Keller
Short book: Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung

Book Overviews

superhua — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 15:02:57 +0000

Similar to sermon starters, book overviews are helpful in preaching/teaching:

Help Me Teach the Bible with Nancy Guthrie – “Nancy Guthrie talks to some of the best Bible teachers and preachers of our day in hopes of equipping … anyone who seeks to open up the Bible and teach—to rightly, effectively, and creatively teach through specific books of the Bible.
The Bible Project – Short video summaries of many books of the Bible plus theme videos.
The Overview Bible Project – Short summaries of each book of the Bible.
Talk Through the Bible – “an easy-to-use handbook that summarizes each book of the Bible with at-a-glance charts, illustrations, and outlines”
How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens: A Guide to Christ-Focused Reading of Scripture – “connects each of the sixty-six books of the Bible to the person and work of Jesus Christ. By explaining each book’s theme and raising pertinent questions about the contemporary importance of that message, author Michael Williams sets readers on a path toward purposeful, independent reading and application of the entire Bible.”
Clarifying the Bible – I’ve heard good things about this video overview of the Bible.
Why Study the Book? – Gives reasons why one would study a certain biblical book.
Preaching Through the Bible – Similar to above, gives reasons why one would preach a certain biblical book.

Sermon Starters

superhua — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 14:58:47 +0000

In addition to prayerfully working with a text and reading helpful commentaries, sometimes short expositions of a text – with an aim toward preaching or teaching it – are helpful just to get an angle or idea for communicating a text.

Thus, here are a few “sermon starters”:

The Text This Week – “This site features a wide variety of resources for study and liturgy based on the 3-year Revised Common Lectionary cycle.”
Sermon Starters – Short commentary on the lectionary reading
Working Preacher – “[H]ere to inspire better preaching by offering timely, compelling, and trustworthy content for working preachers”
Look at the Book with John Piper – “Look at the Book is an online method of teaching the Bible. It’s an ongoing series of 8–12 minute videos in which the camera is on the text, not the teacher. You will hear John Piper’s voice and watch his pen underline, circle, make connections, and scribble notes — all to help you learn to read God’s word for yourself. His goal is to help you not only see what he sees, but where he sees it and how he found it.”

Keller on Church Planting

superhua — Thu, 07 May 2015 16:43:48 +0000

From Tim Keller’s Why Plant Churches [PDF]:

The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for 1) the numerical growth of the Body of Christ in any city, and 2) the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city. Nothing else–not crusades, outreach programs, para-church ministries, growing mega-churches, congregational consulting, nor church renewal processes–will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting. This is an eyebrow raising statement. But to those who have done any study at all, it is not even controversial.

(bold mine)

Helpful article which responds to church planting objections and has some eye-opening stats such as:

Dozens of denominational studies have confirmed that the average new church gains most of its new members (60-80%) from the ranks of people who are not attending any worshipping body, while churches over 10-15 years of age gain 80-90% of new members by transfer from other congregations. This means that the average new congregation will bring 6-8 times more new people into the life of the Body of Christ than an older congregation of the same size.

The stats and story in Appendix A are noteworthy as well.

On Perfectionism

superhua — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 18:22:52 +0000

D. A. Carson writes, “A couple of years ago I sat down for coffee, after prayer meeting, with one of the most able preachers I have ever heard. This man is extraordinary. I have never heard him preach without finding my mind informed and my heart challenged . On the relatively rare occasions when I can listen to him, his ministry invariably reshapes my thinking by the Word of God . Though only in his late forties, he serves in a strategic church. But that night, over coffee, he quietly began to speak words along these lines: “Don,” he said, “if the truth be told, I am getting tired. For the first time I understand why some able preachers end up in administration or teaching at the age of fifty . I cannot maintain this level of ministry, Sunday after Sunday, week after week, without burning out. I am tired. And I confess I am enough of a perfectionist that I do not want to go into the pulpit unless I am thoroughly prepared. Unless I feel the message is ready, I am not content to preach it.”

I responded with a few platitudes, and we prayed together. Some months later, I was preaching and lecturing in Australia, when someone passed on to me one of the sayings of Broughton Knox, formerly the principal of Moore Theological College. According to this report, Knox told his students, “God is not interested in one hundred percentism.” There is a sense, of course, in which that is the only thing God is interested in. He wants us to trust and obey him wholly; he wants us to serve him with 100 percent loyalty. But then the focus is on him. What Broughton Knox meant is that very often what we call “one hundred percentism” is not unrestrained allegiance to God and his gospel but merely a reflection of a perfectionist personality. For some people, unless they tackle whatever they are doing with 100 percent of their energy and competence, the task is not worth doing at all. They cannot live with themselves unless they work that way. Frequently they are the high achievers. But from a Christian perspective, this attitude may turn out to be nothing more than another form of self-worship— in short, a form of idolatry. So I wrote to my fellow preacher and cited Broughton Knox: “God is not interested in one hundred percentism.” The fact is, I told him, I would much rather listen to him preach for thirty or forty more years at 80 percent of his capacity, than for three or four more years at 100 percent of his capacity. If the choice is to be made on the basis of what is for the good of the church, of the number of people who would hear the gospel powerfully and intelligently presented, and therefore on the basis of what would bring most glory to Christ, the same decision would be called for. In all our pursuit of excellence, we must never worship excellence. That would simply be idolatrous.”

A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers (bold mine)