Pastor uses software to keep track of interactions with his congregation

[37signals] Pastor uses software to keep track of interactions with his congregation – the software developers over at 37 signals have developed software that lets users keep track of their interactions with customers. This particular person is an ordained minister, and he uses the software to make sure that none the people he is responsible for "slip through the cracks".

Part of me likes this, and thinks it’s sensible, and another part is horrified that someone would use software in this way: shouldn’t pastors just know this kind of thing? What do you think?

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4 Comments

  1. Now Dave, are you just fishing for comments here? šŸ˜‰

    Are you seriously saying that you are not sure that pastors should be using software to keep track of their people?
    With nearly 300 people in just the two congregations I pastor, how the heck do you expect me to do otherwise?
    I’ve been using software of varying kinds to do this kind of thing for more than 15 years…
    I think you let the balmy Mountain weather get to you head over the weekend… šŸ˜‰

  2. There’s certainly a part of me that’s fishing for comments, but I also have this naive, english country pastor image in my head where the minister is just keeping track of everything.

    This is the first time where I’ve seen something Web 2.0 used for a Christian purpose.

  3. What I get horrified by is the “method” of ministry here. I’m just not sure that is the best way for us to be the body of Christ with the paid person doing that stuff and people having the mentality that it’s their role to pastorally care for them.

    BUT if that’s the philosophy of ministry you are working on, everyone needs some systems and this sounds like a good one. As someone who has historically been able to keep an amazing amount of information and interactions in my head but have begun to lose that capacity over the last few years – I know very well the need for systems for this kind of thing (regularly comment that I’m just learning the systems everyone else has used for years because I haven’t needed them up until now!)

  4. Does it have a built in/programmed family tree? That would be very handy in a country town! It’s a grey area – and yes, I am horrified that there are STILL congregations out there that expect ‘the minister’ to do EVERYTHING for (housing allowance aside) the salary of a SECRETARY!!! K šŸ™‚ (stepping out from the pulpit)

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