Stewardship can be defined as "maximizing the impact of every dollar." This definition becomes more significant when finances are tight. For many churches, the current economic climate has created shallower pockets and increased pressure to spend wisely.

As the pastor of a small rural church, I have experienced this firsthand. Yet, even with added financial difficulties, I cannot forget that the above definition of stewardship still includes the word "impact." Our spending must make a difference.

One area often caught between stewardship and impact has been technology. In my church, I have found that a little bit of technology goes a long way. Yet, the cost presents a formidable challenge to our budget. Unwilling to forgo the impact, I have tried to find creative ways to add technology without adding the typical high costs. Though not profound, the result has been five effective ideas for becoming high-tech on a low budget.

Take Inventory

As I began taking inventory, I wanted to explore areas for technological improvement. With the need to be cost-conscious, I thoroughly reviewed our current stock. This "taking inventory" revealed several instances where we were not utilizing things we already owned. Let me offer two examples. First, our children's ministry needed a system for notifying parents during the service. Years ago we had bought a set of pagers, but they had deteriorated. After considering comparable systems, I found that everything was priced well beyond our means. However, upon examining the features of our projection software, SongShow Plus, I discovered a text messaging toolbar. We could easily display a child's assigned number on the worship screen. Our church had a no-cost solution available to us for years, yet we had never known it.

Secondly, as most churches do, we often use performance tracks during the service. Cueing the track with a CD player worked, but sometimes errors occurred. Volunteers would occasionally have trouble switching their focus from the projection software to the CD player. But during my exploration of SongShow I found that it could import and use audio files. All we had to do was burn the performance tracks from the CD and move them into SongShow Plus. Using Music Match Jukebox, which came free with our computer, we could easily record the tracks to the hard drive and then copy them into SongShow's audio database. Now a single mouse click begins the track. No more transitioning from the computer to the CD player and back to the computer. Once more taking inventory led to a no-cost technological improvement.  

Selecting Inexpensive Upgrades

Following my inventory, I began to consider various technology upgrades supported by our presentation software. For instance, I saw that with the right Bible software we could import scripture directly into our slides without retyping or cutting and pasting. This would have advantages in other areas as well, particularly in sermon preparation and the creation of our sermon outlines. To make this upgrade we could choose several big name Bible programs, yet each was quite expensive. There was, however, one lesser known option, The Online Bible. For less than forty dollars The Online Bible (www.onlinebible.net) has numerous translations. This meant a full feature upgrade at a fraction of the cost.

Another inexpensive upgrade I began to consider involved movie clips for sermon illustrations. Previously we had played movie clips by making a mid-service switch on our projector, going from the computer to a stand-alone DVD player. Yet I found that SongShow Plus could play clips by interacting with our computer's DVD player. Further investigation proved the feature to be impractical, but perhaps there was another way? There was, the AoA DVD Ripper. The AoA DVD Ripper, only thirty-five dollars at www.aoamedia.com, easily pulls movie clips directly off DVDs. Of particular value, this ripper allows you to cut a scene at pre-defined starting and ending points, while some rippers only allow you to cut whole chapters. (We make sure to use DVD clips in line with our Christian Video Licensing agreement. Details can be found at http://CVLI.com/.) These two inexpensive upgrades have significantly improved our Sunday morning presentation.

Utilizing Open Source

Of course the best price for any budget will always be free. In this regard, nothing beats open source software—software developed out of a public collaboration and available at no charge. Two stable and highly valuable pieces of open source software are G.I.M.P. and Audacity. Available at www.gimp.org, G.I.M.P. is a wonderful graphic design tool for manipulating pictures. For churches it can be used to design first-rate images for sermon series, brochures, and outreach material. Getting accustomed to G.I.M.P. takes some time, but complete help files are available online. Without question, G.I.M.P. has made a remarkable impact on our visual appeal.

When I first arrived at my church, we were recording the sermons on tape. It worked, but the process was antiquated and increasingly impractical. I wanted to begin taping the messages digitally. After a quick search on the internet I learned how to connect our desktop to our soundboard, but we still needed software to record the audio. The solution was Audacity, a free audio editor and recorder. Incredibly easy to use, our Sunday morning tech volunteers only need to know how to press record and stop. With only the download of a quick plug-in, Audacity also permits exporting of the audio in MP3 format, ideal for uploading onto our website.

Buying Previous Editions

Perhaps one of the simplest ways to save money on technology software involves buying previous editions. Typically much cheaper, older software often only lacks a few of the features of its latest counterparts. Many times these new features add little to the practical value of the product. While this approach could have countless applications, for us the greatest value has been in obtaining quality photographs for backgrounds. Broderbund's Print Shop contains hundreds of professional level, high-resolution images. Currently Broderbund markets Print Shop version 22, however version 21 can be obtained on Amazon for less than fifteen dollars. Though rather clunky and unstable, the value of the software lies in its images. In fact, I do not even use Print Shop's publishing features. I simply find an image from Print Shop's gallery and then copy and paste it into G.I.M.P. for editing. Within a few minutes I have inexpensive, great-looking sermon promotions for the internet, for PowerPoint presentations, and for lobby posters.

Watch for Rebates

This seems obvious, but if you are not familiar with the details it might prove valuable. In the competitive world of technology, manufacturers constantly try to stir up business or reduce inventory by offering rebates. Rarely do I visit an office store that does not have some brand of memory, peripherals, or software deeply discounted by rebates. As for the software, these rebates do not typically hit the big name tools, but at a lower price, the lesser names still function quite adequately. Recently I purchased VideoShow Expressions, a movie making software, for ten dollars after a forty-dollar mail-in rebate. No one will mistake it for Adobe Premiere Elements, but it is user-friendly and affordable.

Rebates can save significant money, yet who wants to spend the time searching for those deals? Well, instead of collecting Sunday circulars or spending hours surfing websites, bookmark DealsOfAmerica.com. DealsOfAmerica.com searches all the big name technology retailers and lists their deals for you. Last month I added a new DVD burner to our production computer for only twenty-five dollars. Beginning with DealsOfAmerica.com saves time and money.

Finding the Balance

Being a good steward of our church finances can be difficult. Yet, in spite of technology's costs, it should not be ignored. Stewardship requires spending money carefully but also effectively, and we live in a technological age. When used properly, technology makes an impact. For many churches like my own, a balance can be struck by looking for low-cost ways to add technology. These five inexpensive ideas may not bring a technological revolution, but they can significantly improve the appearance and functionality of your church's worship environment. In reality, hi-tech does not have to mean high price. Useful technology can be more affordable than you think.

For the entire "Pastor's Guide to Visual Media" downloadable training packet, go here.