Churches Closed... Until Further Notice

Doing COVID Life Remotely

Thomas Jeffrey Vining

• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781637690116
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Are you ready to undergo a digital transformation with boldness and confidence?

IN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, DOING COVID LIFE REMOTELY, Pastors, Elders, Deacons, Technology Committee members and IT staff will learn how to:

• Address the common problems with IT decision-making that hampers others from making the better decision.

• Adopt industry recognized best practices for cyber security, employee training, identity management, user interfaces, project and stakeholder management, web conferences, work habits, and vendor negotiations.

• Use these ideas to co-develop online content and platforms that engage and retain your constituents.

FOLLOWING THIS BOOK, YOU WILL ALSO LEARN HOW TO:

• Avoid common mistakes when down selecting vendors.

• Better articulate what constitutes a digital strategy for your organization and validate it by using analytics, conducting pilots, and using cases to determine online behaviors and patterns.

• Develop business, managerial, and technical skills to more quickly build a digital community that everyone can recognize and want to experience.

• Focus on stakeholder management.

• Offer aesthetically pleasing visuals and easy to navigate websites and apps.

• Prioritize digital transformation efforts by attracting and engaging people online using social media, web conference platforms, websites, and all-in-one apps for iPhones and Android devices. To allow anyone to access recorded messages, access sermons, access live streams, donate, interact with calendar, and make suggestions.

Churches Closed...Until Further Notice

Doing COVID Life Remotely

actionable advice and best practices for the technologically challenged

Thomas Jeffrey Vining

Trilogy Christian Publishers

TUSTIN, CA

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2021 by Thomas Jeffrey Vining

All scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.TM

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information, address Trilogy Christian Publishing

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, Ca 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/ TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-63769-010-9

ISBN 978-1-63769-011-6 (ebook)

Contents

Dedication v

Preface: Can You Learn From Others? vii

Introduction xi

Prologue: Learning to Do Life Remotely! xii

Part I. What Just Happened? 1

Chapter 1. No More Alibis 3

Chapter 2. People Don’t Like Change Much 6

Chapter 3. Until Further Notice 8

Part II. Can You Learn to Thrive Online? 11

Chapter 4. Restaurants Survive by Natural

Selection 13

Chapter 5. When Did the Virtual Become

Virtuous? 15

Chapter 6. Digital Transformation and Avoiding

Panic Attacks 19

Chapter 7. Develop Competency Not

Collegiality 27

Part III. Managing Expectations 33

Chapter 8. You Volunteered, Now What? 35

Chapter 9. Stakeholder Management—Pilot Use

Cases 40

Chapter 10. You Cannot Change What You

Cannot Measure 44

Part IV. Quo Vadis? 47

Chapter 11. Doing Life Remotely 50

Chapter 12. What is User Interface and User

Experience? 56

Part V. The Workplace 59

Chapter 13. Is HIPAA Applicable? 61

Chapter 14. Vendor Selection—Best Practices 63

Chapter 15. GDPR and CCPA Compliance

Requires Action 68

Chapter 16. Cybersecurity—Best Practices for

Keeping Safe 73

Chapter 17. Virtual Private Networks—Best

Practices 78

Chapter 18. Ransomware—To Pay or Not

to Pay 82

Chapter 19. Conduct Web Conferences Until

Further Notice 86

Chapter 20. No More Identity Crisis 90

Chapter 21. When God Closes a Door, He Opens

a Window 93

Epilogue 96

Afterword 98

Biblography 99

Acknowledgements 104

About the Author 105

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my wife, Folake Vining, who epitomizes the Proverbs 31 standards. I love you.

preface

Can You Learn From Others?

In March of 2020, many worship styles and services changed forever. And it’s all due to a pandemic and technology.

This year, due to government mandates and public fear, many religious organizations (RO) began to test many strategies, theories and technologies for how best to remain viable in a virtual setting. As this digital transformation began to emerge, along came with it difficult questions for many ROs to answer. For example, what type of apps, how best to use cloud-based data, what is proper governance, and then how best to use social media platforms, what vendors should we hire and how can we develop engaging content for their audiences.

And then came mistakes, poor content, clunky technology, overpaying for vendors among a culture not really comfortable existing in the digital world.

Let me back up in time.

When I first began researching the IT industry and how to differentiate vendors in 2004, my only experience was by asking the users themselves. I assumed as an analyst that I could cull complete information from their experiences, expectations, and impressions. I quickly learned that was not the case at all. When I asked a user of a particular software vendor when and where do you think other organizations could benefit from this software product, I will never forget her “I really don’t know…” response.

Her absence of a meaningful reply taught me organizations select and use technology and vendors based on their own unique circumstances. In other words, I no longer assumed what I found as valuable would be valuable to others. Over the next f...

Table of contents

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