Buttermere, The Lake DistrictWe’re back from 12 glorious days in Britain. It’s been years since I’ve been abroad and I wasn’t sure what to expect on returning. Would I be overjoyed to see my trusty computers again? Or sad to return to the grind?

Like many geeks, I’m an introvert. My ideal day consists of puttering with code, punctuated by reading and a solitary walk. To my amazement, however, my main reaction to the end of this lovely holiday is delight in reuniting with friends, particularly church friends – be it via email, web, phone or (best of all) in person.

The Nerd Herd Dines

As luck would have it, my first day back ended with a meeting over dinner of the church’s Technology Committee (AKA the Nerd Herd). Granted, I’m a bit dewy-eyed at the moment, but for some time I’ve considered this august body to be a major asset to our church. Today I decided to analyze precisely why.

As you might have guessed, the Nerd Herd came into being to address a crisis. About two years ago, the staff computers were in shambles. The Board was willing to use some of our then scarce funds to replace of all the equipment. But a few of us stomped our feet and said (more or less): “Don’t you dare. It’s not the equipment that’s the problem. That’s a symptom. It’s a lack of infrastructure.”

Fortunately, the Board listened to us. And then a very dedicated, as well as talented, geek stepped up to the plate, saying he’d be happy to chair a technology group.

When we first met, we identified what the problems really were, and then we set out to fix them. We recommended replacing much of the hardware, and while this might look like we were back to Plan A, really we weren’t. We made sure systems were much more secure, we were organized, and we set up ways to keep track of licenses, etc. – gathering documentation in a couple of central places (including a wiki).

There are now eight of us, with a strong presence of large males and beer drinkers. But really it wouldn’t matter if we were twelve drummers drumming, as long as it works. And it does. Here’s why.

Key Ingredients for Successful Church Tech Support

  1. An excellent leader. Our chair (shepherd?) is supportive of all members, and very hands on with the staff. We know we’re very lucky, and we’re grateful for his able leadership.
  2. Gratitude and respect. The appreciation of our chair extends in other directions. He sets the tone, and we are respectful of each other – laced with a boatload of crazy jokes and laughter. Respect doesn’t have to equate with fear.
  3. A clear understanding of our mission. We are there to support the technology needs of leadership, particularly staff. We are reactive, not proactive. When there’s a need, we listen and take care of it.
  4. An easy procedure for staff-in-need. Early on, we set up an email address that forwards to all members of the committee. When staff members have a tech problem, they simply email this one address. If email is down, then there’s a prioritized list of phone numbers. To get this going, we sent a marvelously succinct (7 lines, to be precise) memo to staff. It went: “FUUN Tech Help. If your church computer doesn’t work, the church’s Internet access is lost, etc., here is what to do – in priority order….” The remaining lines listed the tech committee email address, followed by phone numbers.
  5. Infrequent meetings. We don’t often gather physically – just once or twice a year. Initially we had to meet more to get things sorted out, but that was then. We get it that just because we’re a committee doesn’t mean we have to meet a lot. Some committees (e.g. Nominating) do, but not us. On the other hand, it’s good we meet occasionally. Several people noted over dinner that our meeting is an important part of their church experience. It’s one of the best ways to be in community – breaking bread (and more) with those who share a similar worldview – in our case, a perspective shaped by zeros and ones.
  6. Clear and easy procedures, particularly around documentation. The procedures are informal, but they work. Specifically, we have a notebook to gather all of those rabbit-like software CDs and a wiki where any of us can add or update general documentation.
  7. Recognition of differing areas of expertise. One of the realities of church life is that once you are perceived as a geek, the average congregant and staff member assumes you can do anything with a computer. Of course this is nuts. But that doesn’t mean people get it. They may in a hazy kind of way, but that’s it. From their perspective, something is wrong and you’re more likely to be able to fix it than them. In fact, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay. It’s a classic set-up for burnout. Keep asking people to fix things they don’t know that much about, and guess what. Not only will they stop doing it, they’ll probably stop coming to church. We have overlapping but diverse areas of expertise and respect that. We’re very fortunate to have a network/security expert on our team. Other areas of expertise include email, desktop support, hardware setup, hardware maintenance, programming and web.
  8. Great boundaries. We actually keep a very low profile. We don’t want church members to get the idea that we are there to help them individually. Thus, for example, you won’t find us listed in the church directory with the other committees. Also we don’t initiate work. We simply respond when appropriate people ask us to.

If technology at your church is a mess like ours was, I’d heartily recommend looking at the infrastructure and setting up a team like ours. Just be sure to find a great shepherd.

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