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Churches begin getting, spending, computer grants
September, 2000
Judith Thurlow, pastor of the Pawtucket Congregational Church in Lowell, was hearing the question more and more often: “does your church have an email address?”
“Everyone asks — the different committees, members from the church. It's a wonderful way to keep in touch with one another. Even some of our shut-ins were asking because they have email,” she said. “When we say ‘no’, it limits us.”
“Were a small city church and we really want to be connected,” Thurlow said. “We want to have a Web page to reach out to the community and advertise who we are, and we want to have a computer in the church we can keep records on.”
So when Thurlow heard about the Massachusetts Conference's CONNECT! program, she saw the perfect opportunity for the church to get its first computer. The church was one of the first to apply for and receive a $1,000 grant through the program, which is being funded through The Gift and The Promise Campaign.
As of late August, more than $15,000 in grants had been awarded: 14 churches received grants for new computers, three received grants for computer training, one received a grant for web authoring software and another received a grant for a new modem.
“The churches that have received grants thus far have been very enthusiastic about the program, and we’re hoping many more churches will take advantage of this great opportunity,” said Associate Conference Minister Susannah Baker, who staffs the Commission on Communication.
Any Conference church that has a record of regularly contributing to Our Church's Wider Mission Basic Support and Fellowship Dues is eligible for grants. Churches with no computers or older computers can receive $1,000 for a new computer and $300 for training, while churches that already have up-to-date equipment can receive $300 for training and $100 each for a modem, if needed, and Web authoring software.
The staff at Centre Congregational Church, UCC, in Lynnfield had just installed Church Windows administrative software on their computer when Secretary Susan Spear found out about the CONNECT! training grants. Her church applied for and received a $160 grant for her to take two days of Church Windows training in Boston.
“I had used the online help and all that, but I'm more the ‘show me how’ kind of learner,” she said. “The training was very good. You could see what button to push to get what you needed, and they gave you a well thought-out manual. It was also nice to visit with other church office people and find out how they do things.”
At North Congregational Church in Middleboro, which has approximately 135 members, getting a new computer was on the list of goals Patricia Kogut developed after being called as pastor last year. The church had an old, 486-speed computer that was bought in the early 1990s and wasn't being used. They received a $1,000 CONNECT! grant over the summer to replace it.
Kogut said the church is dealing with many large expenses, including a project at the parsonage, and buying a new computer was not at the top of the list.
“This was just such a timely gift,” she said. “If there was a church that the CONNECT! program was designed for, I think we're it just because of the size and economic level of our community. Over the last couple of years our church has been growing, and our technology needs to stay ahead of that growth. We want to pave the way for the growth, rather than be running after it trying to keep up.”
“More and more people are getting online, and it will be a real opportunity for the church: getting information out and posting needs and concerns, getting our newsletter online. We've got folks working on a Web site for us — it is exciting,” she said.
First Congregational Church in Oxford also had an outdated computer that had been donated to the church and wasn’t being used, which will be replaced by a computer bought using the $1,000 CONNECT! grant.
Pastor Sam Young said he looks forward to developing an email network with the church. He said a new church directory is now being put together, and for the first time it will include email addresses.
Currently, he uses his personal email for church business, but it is an imperfect system.
“People email me items for the newsletter, and I print them out and give them to the secretary who has to retype them,” he said. “This will eliminate the need for all that.”