Two Days Down

With laptop in hand and aching feet finally up, your Suran correspondent is pleased to report that according to our attendees, Day 2 was filled with excellent training. It also featured another delicious lunch in the historic Rathskeller and—a first for this year—a panel discussion that was exceptionally well-received.

The first of our three presenters for the "Impact Ministry" panel was Michael Currans, senior minister of Pathway Church and Ministry Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Mike started us off with an entertaining series of questions that proved just how little attention we pay to what we think we already know...not a good practice in church accounting.

Vicki Gonzalez, who serves on the executive staff of Victory Christian Center in Lowellville, Ohio, made us all realize that there's a lot more to be gleaned from a careful look at contributions than just the amount your church will be depositing in the bank.

Our last presenter, Tom Black, has served as Guest Director at Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentuky for 16 months and that's just how long he has used CDM+. Perhaps because Tom is relatively new to CDM+, he lacks some preconceptions about what the system is "supposed" to do—and that's a good thing! A natural "pusher of the envelope," Tom showed us the tremendous potential for outreach ministry that we already have in CDM+, especially in Web Ministry Tools and Check-In/Check-Out.

Well, there's more to be said, but Day 3 starts early, so goodnight to all from Louisville.