PC-based Bible study tools also became available. The earliest ones (e.g. Verse Search in the early 1980s) were quite simply searchable digital versions of the Bible (typically just the King James Version). New features, more translations, additional resources, and better user interfaces soon followed. BibleSoft was formed in 1988 and Logos Research Systems (now Faithlife) was formed in 1992. Today the Logos software supports over 200,000 different titles of resources for Bible study and research.
The biggest danger in the first wave was system failure. As churches became more dependent on digital technology, the impact of any downtime became more significant. What if bulletins couldn’t be printed in time for Sunday? What if a projector bulb burned out and no one had the words to sing? Worse yet, what if a database crashed, losing membership information and giving records? Like other organizations, churches put in place data backup procedures and had more than one computer that could be used to complete each task. Until computers became connected, security was less of a risk, but awareness was growing of the sensitivity of the information being digitally stored by churches.
Wave 2: The Internet Revolution
Unlike the PC, the Internet has dramatically changed the way that churches work. Consider the impact of just a few Internet capabilities on how churches operate:
- Church websites
- SermonAudio
- Online giving platforms
Bible study tools moved online. BibleGateway was launched by a Calvin College student in 1993. Today it is owned by HarperCollins and provides over 200 bible versions in 70 languages, in addition to other Bible study and devotional resources.
Church Management Systems also moved into “the cloud.” In 1998, Church Community Builder (CCB) was launched, a web-based church management system that not only provided church staff with access to the tools they needed, but also gave church-goers the opportunity to update their personal information, access church directories, and see upcoming church events. In time, many more features would be added.
Connecting members and visitors into the system provided a natural means for creating community and streamlining communications. Moving the church database and software out of the church office and into the cloud made the entire setup more robust, eliminating concerns about backup and recovery. Now, any authorized church leader or administrator could access the system and perform administrative tasks from any Internet-connected computer anywhere in the world.
Of course, this accessibility also introduced the greatest danger as churches moved into the Internet era — privacy and security. To some extent, relying on online software experts (like CCB) to safeguard church data, rather than on the church’s own IT staff, provided a higher level of protection, but many churches were still hesitant to risk exposing church members’ personal information.
As church members increasingly moved from no Internet access (~1995) to dial-up access (~2000) to broadband access (~2005), multimedia content became increasingly viable. SermonAudio launched in 2000, later adding streaming of uploaded sermon videos, and more recently supporting live streaming of church services. Of course, without live video streaming, most churches would’ve been unable to meet at all during the lockdowns caused by COVID-19.
