As Dave Warnock has noted, Methodist ministers and deacons now have new support for all things computing. After a lot of imaginative thinking (only teasing), it has been called ‘Computers For Ministry‘.
The best part is undoubtedly the chance to have a proper work email address, something certain other denominations have had for a while. Anglican and Catholic dioceses in my experience have a system; the Salvation Army has a national one. I have registered one this morning. So my new work email address is:
david DOT faulkner AT methodist DOT org DOT uk
(set out in the strange way above to stop spammers harvesting it from this page).
Dave Warnock thanks those who have put this in place, and hints there would be a long shopping list for improvements. I think he is right on both counts. I think the frustration for me with the new system is a selfish one: I can’t expect it to be set up for technophiles. Instead, it is computing for people who don’t like computing. (Rather like buying a Gallo wine has been said to be wine for people who don’t like wine.)
The giveaway is on page 6 of the booklet we were sent last week, where we find these priceless words:
‘Activating the Computers for Ministry WebMail System: Please note that this process requires access to the Internet.’
It’s on a par with buying a bag of peanuts, and being warned they may contain nuts.
So the webmail is a good start, so long as you accept that as with most church things in the UK, it’s not on a par with ‘secular’ offerings. (A real sign we’re not professionals, Dave!) The inbox will only contain 256 MB, rather short of the 2 GB my Gmail inbox will take. Messages are limited to 15 MB in size, so there will be no emailing around of grooving video files.
A more serious problem with the webmail, though, was this. Although the actual webmail is on a secure web page, the page that generated my default password was not. I went to log out of that page, and realised it was safer to close that tab in Firefox!
The parts I shall opt out of are the broadband and PC equipment provisions. Methodism has done deals with two companies I loathe: BT and PC World. (But again, they’re more likely to be suitable for people who are afraid of computers.) I think there are real problems with these parts of the package. I don’t see the need to tie in with PC World for the purchase of PCs; it seems an unnecessary layer. I certainly don’t see why any agreement needs to be with their Business division. It all sounds professional, but the average Methodist minister working from home is doing so in a very different way from someone in an office. A business contract means paying out more money, usually.
Which brings me to the fact that we’ll also have dead trees sent to us by BT. Methodism proudly tells us it has negotiated a discounted package with them. Except again, it’s a discounted business package. Er, why? Especially as the discount still comes in at £23.99 per month, a rate that is easily beaten by other ISPs offering comparable packages. I won’t be migrating from the excellent PlusNet (even though, sadly, they were bought out by BT some months ago).
I read out the BT and PC World parts of the glossy booklet to my wife. By profession, she is an auditor. Her reaction was, ‘Backhander.’ Now I don’t suppose for one minute that someone in Methodism has done any such unethical deal, but I do have to query whether the PC and broadband parts of ‘Computers For Ministry’ have produced ‘best value’ for the church. They don’t look that way to me, as an outsider. The booklet says on page 15 that consultation happened between
‘members of the Connexional Team and various groups and bodies (chief among them the Ordained Ministries Committee and the Connexional Allowances Committee)’.
I would have been reassured if they had told us that people with technical expertise had been involved. I expect they were, but they don’t seem to have been given sufficient prominence.
In passing, the one relief about the PC equipment part of the package is that the derisory sum of £150 per year that circuits must put away for ministers to buy a new computer every four years is confirmed as a minimum amount. It would buy a modest laptop, but not the software, nor the peripherals such as a reliable printer. I am glad to serve in a circuit that has for some years given a rather more generous computer allowance to its ministers. They also pay our broadband subscriptions (we refund a proportion for personal use), whereas the BT deal here is invoiced to the minister or deacon.
There we go, glad I’ve got that off my chest. (Aren’t blogs great for that?) Now off to worry about things that put this in the shade – like the unevangelised, the poor, the sick and those suffering injustice.
Technorati Tags: DaveWarnock, computersforministry, BT, PCWorld, SalvationArmy, Gallo, PlusNet
Big Circumstance 
David,
I did follow up by email and conversation on a number of security issues before I posted.
Given the very limited resources being used for this I am reasonably happy with the current limitations for the webmail part of email system. Less happy with POP3 and SMTP issues although I have hopes that at least the POP3 issue will be addressed fairly soon.
I totally agree that the broadband offer is a waste of money, time and paper.
Actually getting any money at all from circuit for IT will be a welcome improvement for some of us. Also the hookup with PC World is a waste of space for some of us.
I would have thought it would have been sensible to actually talk to ministers about what they use their computers for. Projection of services, video presentation (and often editing) etc etc mean that in fact many of us have need for more powerful machines than administrators in Church House yet there is not parity in resources.
As I attempted to point out at conference the lack of advice and standards in areas such as security, and privacy are a concern for me. Also the waste by not providing advice and help on what is available as free software will continue to cost us money and waste resources.
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Dave,
Amen to everything you say. I certainly noticed the difference when moving to this circuit, where I found they take an honest and sensible approach to IT costs for staff. I then reflected on my previous circuit, where there was never an offer to help with my ISP subscription – they were just happy to see me pay and have lower claims for postage and stationery.
I certainly think the end-product (if I may call it that – one phrase that grated with me in the booklet was ‘Your customer journey’: spare me!) betrays a lack of specialists at the heart of it. There are plenty in Methodism who could have helped. The £150 per annum for a PC would have been mitigated if, as you rightly say, free and open-source software had been promoted. OpenOffice would have been perfectly decent. Likewise, online collaborative apps have great potential for circuit use. The Plan could substantially be made by use of Google Spreadsheets or the Zoho offering, for example. But these things aren’t in the mix.
No, the official email address is far and away the best part. I was pleased when I logged on to find that they were using AtMail, which my ISP uses for webmail, too. I have found two major problems with it so far, though. One is that the Mozilla emulation for Firefox is inferior to Internet Explorer (pardon my bad language). The other is that it insists on filing your contacts in alphabetical order of email address. I click to order it under name (which just seems to mean Christian name, not surname, which I use in Outlook), but next time it defaults back to ordering by email address. I know you can search by name, but why do I have to resort to that every time?
Anyway, let’s end my latest rant there. I have the small matter of preparing for an assembly tomorrow morning, and this week’s online grocery shopping to sort out.
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