Jay Height, a bi-vocational pastor in Indianapolis, didn't notice that one of the families in his congregation had been regularly missing Sunday services once a month.

That is, until the volunteer staff at Shepherd Community Church of the Nazarene began generating congregation attendance reports through their Web-based software.

After calling the head of the family, Height discovered that money is particularly tight one week a month, making it difficult to pay for the gas to transport the family to the service.

"Now, we're working with them to pick them up and help them in other ways," Height said.

Easy-to-use, Web-based software has allowed Height to figure out which members of the congregation may be missing services at his church and immediately connect with them on Monday to find out why and offer church support.

"As a bi-vocational pastor, one of the most critical and valuable resources I have is time," Height said. "When you help me focus on people instead of on programs and systems, you make me a better pastor."

In addition to helping churches manage their relationships and communication with their members, Web-based fundraising software enables churches to manage their prospect, donor, and member records, as well as track giving details.

Remote Access
The Web-based application also allows Height and the church administrative staff to access their congregation records simultaneously or when they are away from the office.

"Our treasurer can use the same information I'm using, so we don't have to duplicate records in two households," he said. "Our treasurer can do her entry while she is at home, and I can update addresses while I'm at home. The fact that we can have two different people in two different locations access it without any network of any sort is helpful."

Remote access via the Internet is a valuable asset to other ministries as well.

Upper Room Ministries researched traditional and software as a service programs before choosing a Web-based program that had the blessing of its information technology staff.

Chris McCormick, regional development director for Upper Room Ministries, lives in Houston and said he accesses his system wherever he lands during his workweek travels, which are mainly west of the Mississippi River. He's on the road about 20 days each month.

"I'll be in New Orleans tonight and Albuquerque on Friday and Saturday and then Nashville for a week," said McCormick, listing his schedule for a one-week period in October. "Wherever I can plug in my laptop and get online, I have access to the full database."

While he used to look for hotel amenities, such as a pool and exercise room, McCormick said the first question he raises now is, "Do you have a high-speed Internet connection?"

Software as a Service
The benefits highlighted in the above examples are allowing more and more ministries to focus less on their technology and more on their missions. Software as a service – or Web-based software – helps ease the burden of maintenance, hardware issues, and updating. Automatic backups, upgrades, and online training are all provided as part of a monthly service, usually at rates lower than maintenance fees for traditional software.

So, the next time your church or ministry is looking at new software systems, you might want to consider taking your database to the Web.

Steve Rusche is co-founder and chief operating officer of eTapestry, www.etapestry.com.