Matt’s band has a cd out. It’s actually pretty good. Even better, I can sell it directly from this blog that no one reads using this little store widget. Now would be a good time for an impulse buy. Don’t hold back.
If you’d like to hear what they sound like, check out their cd page: http://www.indiebug.com/products/3-the-denouement-low-tide
I’d like to tell you about what I see as the key feature of the system I’m working on. As a quick reminder I’m currently developing a system to help ministry leaders manage their ministries. The feature doesn’t look terribly impressive at first, but it’s what sets this system apart from all the “off the shelf” contact/church management systems out there. One difference in structure between ministries and most churches is the extent to which ministries tend to be hierarchical. A church is usually part of a denomination, and maybe a regional council, but the relationship wouldn’t typically be described as a direct chain of command.
Most of the ministries I’ve dealt with personally have a fairly well established chain from the local level to the top (e.g. Campus Crusade at UC Davis up to the President of Campus Crusade, Steve Douglas). The pattern is perhaps a little more reminiscent of a military structure where each level of command is responsible for the levels below them.
I’ve included a small screenshot here to illustrate what I’m talking about. This is an actual screen from the tool I’m working on. “PSW” stands for Pacific Southwest, and consists of all the Campus Crusade ministries in California, Arizona, and Hawaii. A director at the PSW Regional level will be concerned with the health and progress of all the local level ministries in that area. Similarly, the Sacramento Metro director wants to see everything that’s happening on UC Davis, Sac State, and other campuses in that area. Coming down to the innermost level, a staff person at UC Davis is only directly concerned with what’s happening specifically at UCD.
Now that I’ve explained that, here’s the magic of it: As staff and students at UCD and other local level ministries enter contact information along with relevant demographics and statistics, directors at each of the higher levels automatically have access to aggregate reports of what’s happening! Of course, all the necessary privacy concerns and issues of “who should see what” will be addressed, but, from the standpoint of running a ministry effectively, I see this as one of the most important functionalities of this tool.
Amanda and I are enjoying living in IL. The weather is starting to get a little warmer (30s and low 40s), and the people here are all very friendly. We feel very blessed living here. We’re confident that we are walking in God’s will and that he has a great plan for us in IL. Thank you for your prayers.