While seeking options for the distribution of rehearsal recordings at our church, we came across WorshipTeam.com.  This site includes databases of hundreds (if not thousands) or available songs for your worship service.  It even captures the music chords, and provides multiple versions of most of the songs, each in a different key.  The site is well well designed to make it easy and intuitive and it even includes a wealth of help content, with most screens containing video demos.  We’ll definitely be using the site for our church.

While looking at WT.com, I came across the Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) website (ccli.com).  Boy, try to say that 5 times fast!  If you ever wondered, “can we use that song or other content at service without infringing on a copyright?”  If so, than this site can help (and good for you for being concerned!).  As their website puts it:

While the “Nazi” references may have been intended to be humorous (compliments of the Seinfeld “Soup” episode), most folks found the reference more offensive than any decision this person opposed.  The message was sent from a well-intending individual, but it came across wrong.  Amplifying this fact, it was sent to a large distribution list - all of whom were taken aback. 

In the business world, organizations setup policies to mitigate the risks of an incident like this.  I believe churches and other Christian communities can learn from this practice.  If your church or other Christian organization has email distribution lists or an online community, consider requiring members to read and agree to email policies before they send their first message.  Many community sites today offer this functionality and if yours does not, you can simply distribute the policy to all new members.

These policies should address common areas of risk such as:
1. Make sure you review your message before sending
2. Consider your audience; put yourself in their shoes - how will they view the message when they read it?
3. Avoid using any terms the community may find offensive, even if intended as humorous
4. Consider the distribution list, should everyone be receiving this message?

You can also get more specific with suggestions such as:
1. Avoid using CAPS (it is equivalent to “yelling” in person).
2. Do not reflect negatively on any other communities of faith
3. Never email financial or other sensitive information
4. Do not use the community for forwarding messages (aka no email forwards of jokes, etc…)
5. Do not use the community for solicitation

To get you started, there are many resources on the net.  Here are a couple that you may find particularly useful:

• Net Manners Site  (A compilation of resources regarding online etiquette)
• Online Family Etiquette (Microsoft’s own view of online etiquette for families)
• Sample Corporate Policy (About.com sample of a corporate Internet and Email Policy)

Peace,
- An IT Servant

While all the data there is fantastic, two particular sets were most intriguing to me:  The Words in 2nd Timothy and Christian Church Membership by Denomination.  Both of these data sets can be found in the search results located at http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/browse/data?q=Christianity.

Words in 2nd Timothy
In particular, the Words in 2nd Timothy, viewed through a Tag Cloud were really interesting.  Through the use of a Tag Cloud, different words that reoccur throughout a text are emphasized according to the count of references.  For example, because Christ, God, Jesus and Lord appear 13 to 17 times, they are, by far, the most prominent.  But how some other words referenced in comparison with others, such as message (5 times), faith (8 occurrences), truth (6) and ashamed (4) can also be rather insightful.

Church Membership Denominations
Check out the Church Membership by Denominations as a bubble chart.  Everybody knows the Roman Catholic Church is massive (though admittedly, visualizing membership in this manner is still clarifying just how large the population is), but there are a number of smaller denominations that I had never even heard of represented as well.  Some of these lesser-known denominations still have millions of members.

After looking at this information and comparing the data through several different visualizations, it was clear to me that information technology can also be used to analyze the data of Christianity.  Undoubtedly, there are scholars and theologians doing far more impressive work with technology in this area, but the fact that the internet continues to extend resources such as this to profoundly simplify data analysis can have far-reaching impact.   I have no doubt my Bible study group will be impressed when I bring the Tag Cloud of our next reading with me to share!

Peace,
- IT Servant

There is no greater release for me than the roar of the engine, wind blowing by me, and yet still the quiet you feel.  No radio, no phone, no email - completely disconnected.  I do a lot of praying on my motorcycle in fact.  It’s also a time for me to connect with the Lord - after all, what better way to remove distractions than to make it virtually impossible for them to keep up with you at 60+ mph?!  The alone time, combined with the adventure of exploring new areas and time with my prayers and thoughts often keeps me sane during the week.  But I digress.  The point was, I was planning an all day get away - I would leave very early Saturday, head up state and not be back until evening.  But then I got the call from the shop - the bike would not be done until late in the afternoon…  Bummer.

I had blocked the whole day off for this exciting adventure and now I would not be going.  But then I was reminded of IT4JC.org - I had not done anything with the site in ages.  I began this concept/organization/site 2 years ago and had not really touched it in many months.  It bothered me, but obviously not enough to motivate me to tackle the project again.  Now I had at least 6 hours with nothing planned - a rare occurrence.  So I committed myself to getting the site updated and tackling a number of matters I had been meaning to resolve.  And tackle it I did. 

I spent many hours on the site.  When the shop called to say my bike was done, I didn’t leap up to run out for it.  Instead, I sat for several more hours - redesigning the site, adding content, fixing bugs and so on.  When I did finally get the bike, I only had a few hours to spare, but I was happier.  I still took the machine out and headed for open roads.  I knew I could not really explore much, but there was one road not too far away I always wanted to check out.  As I road on, I stumbled across Orange County Choppers - the world famous custom motorcycle builders, compliments of their hit reality TV show.  I couldn’t believe it - I had always assumed “Orange County” referred to California, not up state New York!  In fact, the shop is practically in my back yard.  Even with only a few hours on the bike, I was able to explore and discover new territory that I will not only frequent often, but likely remember for the rest of my life.

In the end, the Lord guided me to the work that needed to be done, that ultimately made me happier, but also guided me to what I wanted for myself.  Okay Lord, I heard you.

Peace - The IT Servant.

I am blessed to have a great team.  Still, I think about the impact of these late hours on staff.  I heard repeatedly from them - “it’s okay, working in IT means a lot of late nights.  We understand this.”  And they’re right.  The demands of business upon technology today means we must make sure our work often takes place when no other staff needs technology.  But what does this mean for a Christian?  As their manager, does this make it okay for me to routinely ask them to work late at night, or be away from their families during the evening?  It comes down to evaluating the necessity each time.

In tonight’s case, there was no way to change peak load times.  With tens of thousands of people requesting information from our servers, we can’t simply say, “sorry, we don’t want to stay up late tonight - come back tomorrow.”  It would be nice, but no.  Similarly, if the entire organization would be disrupted by our work - like rebuilding a mail server, or taking down the public website, then I understand the need to have our team working after hours, and I feel it does not conflict with my Christian beliefs.

What I do not agree with is when changes not covered in our Service Level Agreement are requested after hours.  For example, if a piece of software that is only used by a dozen employees needs a short downtime and there is no hard cost associated with that application’s downtime, I don’t want the team coming in off hours.  As a result, as long as each situation is evaluated and appropriate levels of push back are made on the business, then I believe a Christian Technology manager has done their role in ensuring their staff is not needlessly pulled away from their families or other commitments.