Literature Coordination of Christian
Ministries Literature Coordination of Christian
MinistriesUnfortunately, this wide dispersal of Christian workers only adds to the difficulty of their work. When Christian workers are dispersed, they have trouble keeping in touch with their fellow workers and supporters. They have trouble communicating their joys and sorrows with their co-workers. And they often have trouble communicating their needs and coordinating their work with others.
Similar problems characterize many Christian organizations whose people work together in the same location. Their people may work together in the same community, or even in the same building. But just because these people work together in the same location doesn’t mean that they always find it easy to communicate with each other. Unless they have both the desire and the means to communicate with each other, their work can suffer. Unless they communicate, these workers may lose coordination and they stop working together as a team. Unless they communicate, they may lose their motivation and their focus on the organizations’ goals. And unless they communicate, they may lose the ability to develop new ideas to improve their work.
The need for communication within Christian organizations is especially high. Christian organizations generally have a lower percentage of supervisors to workers than do many other organizations. This is because the workers in Christian organizations are usually highly motivated. This motivation results from their agreement with the organization’s goals which, in turn, results from their commitment to Christ.
Since workers in Christian organizations are usually highly motivated, they do not need as many supervisors per employee as do most other organizations. Because of their workers’ high motivation, supervisors usually do not need to closely monitor their work. And because of their workers’ high motivation, most of their workers tend to manage themselves to some degree.
Because Christian organizations generally do not have as many supervisors per worker as other organizations, much of the work of coordinating individual workers falls to the workers themselves. They, not their supervisors, must plan and coordinate their work. They must communicate with each other so that their work is coordinated and they act as a team. This requires that every worker communicates with each other.
Many business firms recently have been using their own computer networks to permit and improve communication within their own organizations. The software that these firms use to aid communication between their workers often includes electronic mail, scheduling, group conferencing, electronic bulletin boards and other features. Such software especially designed to improve group communication is called "groupware." The demand for groupware is increasing, and a number of software manufacturers offer groupware products.
Groupware can be of great value to almost any organization, even for those organizations whose employees all work in the same room. One way that groupware can streamline organizations’ operations is by eliminating many face-to-face meetings and moving these discussions onto the network.
Groupware can thus be of great value to many Christian organizations. However, the groupware products that are currently available were first developed before the Internet’s World Wide Web came into wide use. And groupware products are often expensive. Many businesses are now catching on that there is a low-cost alternative to groupware. And that is Internet technology.
An increasing number of organizations are using Internet newsgroups, electronic mail and Web sites to improve communication within their own organizations. Departments, project teams, and even individuals are setting up their own Web sites. Some organizations require every employee to set up his or her own Web page containing certain job and personal information. These personal Web sites allow the organization to gain a comprehensive personnel, telephone, E-mail and location directory.
Company policy and technical manuals can also made available on internal Web sites.
These workgroup and personal Web sites allow other workers in the same organization to access information from those workgroups and individuals. Electronic mail and newsgroups also are used for group conferencing and other types of communication.
Because these organizations do not want their competitors to learn their business secrets, these internal "intranets" sometimes lack any connection to the Internet. Or if they are connected to the Internet, all communication between the Internet and the private network must pass through a computerized "firewall" that restricts access from the outside to those with the proper password.
The Internet is a powerful tool that allows Christian workers around the world to communicate. As long as a Christian worker has a computer and is able to connect it to the Internet, he or she can enjoy inexpensive, rapid communication with other workers and supporters throughout the world. But this communication need not be confined to communication within each organization. It also is being used to transmit news from the mission field.
Christian missionaries are increasingly using electronic mail to transmit news and concerns from the mission field. Routine reports from the field, requests for help and urgent prayer requests are sent to large groups of supporters around the world within seconds. Encryption software is used, if needed, to provide the same security and privacy as found in a private corporate intranet.
The speed, power and flexibility of Internet technology can be valuable assets for most Christian organizations. Many Christian organizations may want to reevaluate their methods and strategies to make use of this powerful new technology.
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