1.Error
2.Ask somebody to make it work for you.
3.Error is fixed
4.Goto 1

The problem within...

The church is in a tough state right now, trying to reestablish its identity in a post-modern thinking and increasingly fast paced world. Technology has jumped by leaps and bounds yet the average church is probably in the early to mid ninety's at best technology wise. And on top of that there exist many problems in many churches relating to how they are using the technology they do have.

For an example: I have heard of one church that has no less that twelve computers between secretaries, ministers and other locations in the church as well as two servers. But of the operating system and application software they use on a daily basis only one of the licenses is legal. And I can't imagine this situation is too atypical.

The truth is that this church doesn't operate this way because they want to, it is because they have to, at least in their mind. They have a budget for IT of a few hundred dollars a year and with the age of their systems that is barely enough to cover repair costs. There is no way this church with its current mindset and budgetary restrictions could handle becoming legal in terms of software licensing. But even if they could, would that really be the best thing? I mean their accounting software releases a new version every year, Windows; which is the OS in use, is updated every few years and other bits of their software are updated on varying schedules. There is no feasible way they could keep up to date and remain legal in terms of licensing, so instead they steal the software. YES, I am going to say it, even though I hate everything about proprietary software licensing practices they are stealing according to the letter of the law, and yet there are those in the church who will try to justify it. I will not bother discussing their justifications because they are idiotic at best.

I have to ask myself, what kind of an example is this setting? Church leaders stand in the pulpit and preach against sin and that people need to get right with God and all the while, every day the church is using software that is stolen? That is hypocrisy and blatant, and in many cases unashamed and unrepentant hypocrisy! It is a tragedy that our churches are like this.

Now please hear me, unchurched skeptic, not all churches are ripe with this and other forms of hypocrisy but there are enough out there that you should be suspicious of the message they preach. But I implore you to not abandon the teachings of God because fallen, sinful men can't live up to what they preach. If we could live up to every bit of our preaching we would have no need of the Grace of God but because of our sinfulness we still have to rely on His mercy, so please don't misunderstand my message here. Also, not all churches knowingly engage in piracy, some are simply naive and don't know what they are doing is illegal. Also remember that although I am chiefly concerned with these practices in the church, they are no less common in secular institutions.

It is a tragedy and a systemic problem that our churches are in such a condition. But what is the answer, what is the way to turn this around? Well there are multiple answers, depending on how the church wants to go.

The options...

• First, the most drastic response is that the church could abandon technology that they can't legitimately afford and instead take a step back. This is dangerous because the church risks becoming disengaged from the world they so desperately need to reach out to by become irrelevant in the eyes of our increasingly tech-oriented society. But even though this option is not a particularly good one, it is still a viable option.


• Second, the church could "suck it up," cut the checks and make technology spending a priority. This is not a good option either however because most churches are doing good just making budget to pay staff and fund essential ministries. And because of these budgetary strains this option would either require reduction in ministries or reduction in ministerial staffing that would lead to the same thing as the first option, a disengagement from the world due to lack of ability to minister rather than a potential lack of relevance.


• Thirdly, the church could actively seek out an alternative to the traditional way they think of technology. Change their mindset and look for a better solution. Thanks to the FOSS movement this is becoming more of a viable option every day and it is my goal over the next few weeks to begin examining this new and exciting option and offering my suggestions for how churches can begin to rethink the role and acquisition of technology in the church.

Final Thoughts

I hope this little teaser has piqued your interest and will bring you back over the next few weeks to see what I am going to be putting together. Next time I will discuss the differences between our traditional software monoculture as it exists in many churches today and the intriguing possibilities offered by the FOSS opportunities and products out there.

Come back next time!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs License by James W. Thompson, II.

Before I say anything else...

FOSS has seen many advances in many areas over the last few years, major media has started talking about it and big companies like MS and Sun are trying to figure out how exactly to deal with it. In my experience though I have been somewhat saddened that the church has not picked up FOSS as a way to do ministry better and more cost effectively. The focus of my blogging will mostly focuson the areas where I think the church could use FOSS in creative ways that would enhance ministry.

Since this is my first blog entry I'm going to resist the temptation to dive right into the issues and instead talk about myself and my background so everyone who cares knows where I'm coming from. First off I am 22 years old married for almost a year and a half to my wife Pamela. We have a daughter named Marissa who was born in June of this year, 2004. We are both undergraduate students at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary [ nobts.edu ] where I am the full-time Web Administrator. I consider myself a geek who is interested in pretty much all things computer related. I got my start on an Apple IIe programming BASIC thanks to an innovative class taught by my Private Elementary school. I have always loved technology and computers specifically and spent much of my middle school and high school years working on hardware troubleshooting and learning programming languages. I started doing Web Design and Development in 1999 and have honed in on that more than anything else since then. I still try to keep myself up on other areas and love playing with new stuff that I don't understand just to see what I can do.

My present studies are in the area of Chrisitian Education and I hope to go on to Master's studies in that same area as well as Biblical Studies, particularly Greek. Eventually I would like to do Doctoral work and teach at either a Christian College or Seminary.

I have a keen interest in the role of technology as well as copyright and other "intellectual property" issues as they relate to the church. I am particularly interested in trying to encourage adoption of FOSS in the church context because I see a great opportunity to overcome issues the church struggles with in terms of technology.

As for my particular beliefs, being as I say I am so interested in the church; I am unashamedly a Southern Baptist and have no intentions of changing that denominational affiliation. Some my consider me more socially progressive though because I don't tow the party line when it comes to many things. I am however theologically conservative and evangelical/missions minded. I try not to prostletize where it is not welcomed but if you push the buttons or ask for it I'll chime in. I hope most of all that my contributions to the church and society as a whole will have a lasting impact and bring people closer to Jesus Christ the Lord.