Technology in Church

On Friday, an unsolicited copy of "REV" magazine appeared in my mailbox at home...an oddity, as I rigorously separate my professional and personal address. Maybe this is the result of playing footsie with Evangelical Blogs. At any rate, it appears to be a magazine for "Pastors" (mostly male) and...it was pretty interesting. One article hit me where I was at, an article about technology in churches, complete with seven guidelines. They are mostly aimed at computer issues, but they're good points for us to think about in our video foray, too.

1. Create a Tech Team, which should not just be the tech's who have a clue about all this, but some folks who can see the big picture of the congregation and help with implementation, training, evaluation of new programs, and such. (even if, like myself, they don't understand much of the lingo flying around meetings and emails)
2. Pay professionals when you don't have volunteer professionals to advise amateur volunteers. It's worth the money. (we're so lucky to have a pro on our team! Thanks, Chris Paul!)
3. Budget for training, more than you think you'll need. (hummm....)
4. Talk with other congregations who are already doing what you are planning to do, and talk to more than one person. The pastor may be far more enthusiastic about a new piece of technology than an administrator or volunteer. (such a good point!)
5. Only buy what you need. Technology marches on. Budget for upgrades and maintenance. (hummmmm.....)
6. Back up Data (We started a culture of back up a long time ago in the office. As long as recordings get put on church computors we should be ok. If recordings are going straight to NMIA, we might want to ask them about their backup.)
7. Make Tech Planning a part of your culture. (hummmmm....)