Ask HN: Any Christian software engineers here?

Re:Ask HN: Any Christian software engineers here? by dahjelle on Saturday July 09, 2011 @09:08PM (#2746745)

I actually work for a church management software provider, Icon Systems (http://iconcmo.com). I think our aim is rather different than yours, though: we intentionally aim at management tools, where I get the feeling you are aiming more at engagement tools for ministry. Is that a fair statement?

If so, you might take a look at the Table Project (http://tableproject.org/). I think there might be some parallels between your thoughts and theirs—plus, it is a free product, to boot!

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Re:Ask HN: Any Christian software engineers here? by timmorgan on Saturday July 09, 2011 @09:16PM (#2746754)

David, you've nailed it.

I guess the problem is that ChMSs are notoriously bad with interoperability in my experience and want to keep the data within their black box. A separate engagement tool would be fairly impotent if it was separate and had no way of accessing the membership database.

Viable solutions for churches tend to be afterthought bolt-on modules for their existing ChMS, which is a shame.

My dream would be for ChMS vendors to agree on a standard API for exchanging member information. But I'm afraid hell might freeze over before I see something like that.

Out of necessity, a good church engagement tool may have to be also a ChMS as well.

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Re:Ask HN: Any Christian software engineers here? by timmorgan on Saturday July 09, 2011 @10:08PM (#2746828)

The Table is a product similar to my other project OneBody, and I haven't yet seen how far it goes toward helping ministers/leaders engage with members via existing social media (rather than just creating another private social network). I definitely need to take a look.

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