I’ve had a chance to get several opinions on the value of information technology and systems analysis & design in the church, and it seems that the pastoral side of the fence seems to be (for the most part) negative and almost fearful about “technology creep” and marketing principles. This seems to bump up against outreach ministries and providing for “felt needs” in the community. And when I hear the altar call, I hear an appeal to the folks that came in for curiosity’s sake, and that by definition means that marketing and the entire IT world around it, must be of some value to the church!
I also read an article in the September 2003 issue of Forbes magazine that seemed to support a merger of clergy and computer, looking at pastors and how they run their not-for-profit organizations in the same way that CEOs look at their goals of profits. To me they just aren’t that much different from each other. I think that pastors would do well to check out the world of information technology as a tool, and only a tool, and not even a scary one at that, to vastly improve what they have to offer for the world.
Without getting into individual religious views, I’d like to get some of your opinions (and hopefully a validation) of the value of corporate IT practices as applied to ministry as a whole. Thanks! — Don