| In the "flat" world of Internet-centric communications, churches are a major beneficiary. Powerful tools once reserved for well-heeled organizations are available at little or no cost to everyone, including churches struggling to control costs. All it takes is the imagination to see possibilities, the humility to try new ways, and the will to overcome resistance from those who distrust technology or fight any change.
In the "flat" world of Internet-centric communications, churches are a major beneficiary. Powerful tools once reserved for well-heeled organizations are available at little or no cost to everyone, including churches struggling to control costs. All it takes is the imagination to see possibilities, the humility to try new ways, and the will to overcome resistance from those who distrust technology or fight any change. E-mail: fast, accessible, easy to manage, and virtually free. (See the last issue for a fuller discussion of e-mail uses.) Web site: not an electronic "bulletin board" for posting events and clergy musings, but a dynamic environment for building community through discussion, transactions, personalized Web pages, group sections, and downloadable content. Think MySpace or MyYahoo, a portal where members can act on their interests and interact. Tools to develop and maintain such a site are readily available, often open-source systems costing nothing. Cloud computing: Emerging tools like Google Apps and Google Docs are making it possible to use the Internet for primary functions such as calendar management, document creation and collaborative editing, task management, internal communications, external communications -- all at virtually no cost. Such usage no longer depends on hardware uniformity everyone using Windows or Mac, with constant upgrades --- or expensive software or maintaining an on-site server. Software-as-a-service: Instead of buying your own database management software, a server to run it and a database pro to manage it, you can use an on-line database system, with no worries about security, at far lower cost and receive 99.9% uptime, fast processing and seamless upgrades. Social networking: Many pastors are creating pages on MySpace and other social networking sites. As more youth and young adults use these sites as primary entry points, including intra-site e-mail, it is important to be where your people are. If you wonder how to use a MySpace account, ask a teenager. Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant, and leader of workshops. An Episcopal priest, he lives in New York City. The church wellness project can be found at www.churchwellness.com.
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