A pretty insane statistic (and milestone) by Google was marked a couple of days ago when they announced that 8 out of 16 million US college students are plugged into Google Apps.
In addition, more than 80% of US schools have moved to cloud-based computing in some of fashion.
I wonder where the Church is in terms of similar statistics? It will be the day when 50% of the evangelical church is on Google Apps, let alone some form of cloud computing.
If there are roughly 310k+ evangelical churches out there, how many do you think are running something in the cloud?
I can’t imagine too many.
In fact, nearly half of these churches don’t even have a web presence…! The divide between the techno-savvy church and the not-so-savvy is huge.
It’s probably due to awareness, education, financial feasibility, and simply unavailable access to an ISP, right?
What else is stopping your church, or churches you know, from moving into Google Apps? If you need some convincing, here are 10 reasons you should consider it.
Matt Phelps says
I’m personally switching to Google Apps. I’ve found it just makes it easier. Plus I always have Firefox open, and I hate Office.
There isn’t really anything stopping my last church from switching, other than personal preference. My current church uses dial-up (the area ISP is giving then the run-around on when they can get DSL), so it isn’t an option yet.
John Saddington says
doh! dialup… ugh.
Stacey says
With the recent increase in churches using ChMS services like FellowshipOne, I’ll bet more churches than we think are in the cloud now. I also know a number of churches (contemporary and traditional) who are using Planning Center Online now as well.
As for “traditional” cloud computing, I do agree that most churches probably do not use collaborative document management online like Google Docs. This is probably because most churches have no need for it. The pastor (and perhaps their assistant or under-study) prepare sermons; the office administrator handles internal communication; and the tech people, well, we’re tech people so who knows what we are using at any given moment 😉 . I just don’t see a need for most churches to do document collaboration. I also think Google Docs has a long, long way to go before they can realistically compete with Office (especially since the *free* cloud version of Office 2010 is coming soon).
John Saddington says
yeah, you’re probably right.
most churches won’t need it… yet. but, i bet if you showed them the “power” of it all they might find a reason to use it……!
Stacey says
I think you nailed it when you said “yet.” We all agree the Church is stuck in the past technologically. I think ChMS systems will be the killer app to get churches into this century since it simplifies record-keeping and contact management so well. Like you said, once they see the power of it, there will be interest in what else can be upgraded.
It just takes time…and patience. Like Job, the patience may be painful, but it comes sooner or later…we hope…
John Saddington says
we hope!
Brian says
Once you have a Youtube account and even Gmail, it’s just too easy to use some of the apps so this makes sense.
John Saddington says
definitely!