Technology provides an important modern resource for Chicagoland churches today—from facilitating communications, to significantly improving fundraising efforts and administrative efficiency. Technology enables churches to multiply their efforts and maintain an unprecedented extent of reach into their communities.

What are the Benefits of Today’s Technology for Churches?

Technology offers churches a multi-faceted resource for many important purposes. Just a few of the beneficial uses of today’s technology in churches include:

  • Keeping church members connected between gatherings at church and church-related events.
  • Saving time in church communications — sending a single email, instead of calling hundreds of people.
  • Outreach to prospective new church members is vastly multiplied.
  • Significantly improving fundraising efforts.
  • Providing gospel content to more people.

What are the Challenges For Churches Using Technology?

The challenges confronting churches in the Chicagoland region that use technology are similar to those for any organization using digital resources, especially in any dense urban area. These include:

  • Keeping church members information secure
  • Obtaining efficient specialized IT support for churches
  • Making the most of Cloud services
  • Effective firewall protection
  • Sufficient antivirus software
  • Spotting cyber-security threats
  • Providing Wi-Fi for parishioners while preserving office systems security
  • Other IT issues for churches

How Churches Can Keep Information About Parishioners Secure?

A church organizational management essential is protecting confidential church member data and other sensitive information from unauthorized access. Managed IT Services for Chicago churches are available to help ensure the security of your data.

  • Network Protection — Network monitoring maintains the security of your systems and ensures that your church’s network and staff are continuously protected from external or internal security threats during the course of daily church business communications.
  • Computer and Server Auditing — An important step in the standard process of keeping your church office and administrative systems and users secure from cyber-crime is routine auditing of your organization’s servers and computers.
  • Data Backup and Secure Storage — Churches need efficient management of parishioners” data, and routine backups, ready file recovery capabilities, etc., and as your church grows, file storage capacity needs to be increased.
  • Office Staff Training — Just having your church staff read training material or watch a video training presentation can lead to productivity loss, excessive and ongoing user errors, and even potential security issues, due to insufficient training.
  • Compliance — Your church IT processes may need certain modifications to meet the security requirements of agencies that operate in environments in which cyber-activities are regulated.
  • Virus Protection — Viruses present one of the most serious threats to church IT systems. Viruses often enter an organization’s system through emails, flash drives, malware, ransomware, etc. Effective protective strategies must be used to help prevent viruses from impacting your operations.

Church Management Software — What Services are Available?

A wide range of software applications and integrated church management platforms are available to help church maintain the levels of strong organization necessary to efficiently meet their objectives in service of their mission. These are just some of the currently more popular church management platforms:

  • Church Community Builder
  • Breeze Church Management
  • TouchPoint
  • Kindred
  • Church Tools
  • Servant Keeper
  • Church Trac

How Can Churches Offer Wi-Fi to Parishioners While Keeping The Office Secure?

To manage your parishioners’ use of the internet in your building, work with your IT provider to address these two concerns:

  • Firewall — Protect your system from hackers and bots. Talk to your IT expert about various firewalls that provide an appropriate match of services, capabilities and practical IT pricing for churches.
  • Filtering — Filter internet content communicated over public Wi-Fi access on your church’s campus. Your Chicago church IT services provider can help you identify the right filtering option for your church’s needs.

How Can Churches Use Social Media to Spread the Word?

Social media can be an immeasurably valuable tool for church promotion, church website support, volunteer community coordination, myriad teaching opportunities, discussion forums for all interests and age groups, communications platforms for staff programs and projects, and the list goes on and on. Just a few of the many types of online services offered to churches for such purposes include:

  • Church website
  • Facebook Live
  • YouTube videos

What Types of Technology Tools are Available for Churches?

An array of very useful presentation and communications software tools are available to provide enhanced clarity, impact, and memorability to classroom teachings, meetings, presentations, group discussions, and many other activities and special events.

  • Audio Visual Aids
  • PowerPoint
  • Keynote
  • Prezi Presentation Software
  • Wireless Networking Services

What are the Disadvantages of Technology in Church?

Technology itself cannot negatively impact your church’s mission, of course. Information technology actually offers many important benefits for the church today. However, the way technology is used in church cause issues. Everywhere, including in church, over-focus on social media, text messaging, online resources, etc., can distract users, making meaningful communication and human connection more difficult.

Using technology during services can also be disruptive to others, who may find the valued sense of community that ministers and congregants strive to cultivate broken by tech users who are effectively elsewhere during sermons, and even during prayers, as they stare at their cell phones and disregard any expected sense of reverence for the sacred place and proceedings.

For More Information About Church Technology Solutions

ACT Networks is the leading IT Company for churches in Chicago. Contact ACT Networks by calling {phone}, for more information about technology services for churches in Chicago. We will provide you with a free assessment of your IT systems and applications and advice on making the most of your technology to benefit your church and its membership.