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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MARCH 30, 1984
Our calling is to God's ministry.
Our first priorities must be our re
sponsibilities to God in prayer and Bible study: our responsibilities to
our families ( foundational to our qualifications for eldership) to spend
time with them in instructing and loving them as God commands, and as a
right example to the Church: and our responsibilities to our congregations
in visiting, counseling, anointing, conducting regular and in-home Bible
studies, giving Sabbath sermons, directing Spokesman Clubs, and providing
balanced church activities.
If you are one who is capable of fulfilling
these responsibilities and still have time to undertake the commitment that
the productive use of a personal computer will require, that is fine. But
certainly not everyone can.
Please read carefully the two articles we've included here. The first is by
Mr. George Birdwell, Manager of our Data Processing Department in Pasadena,
and the second is by Mr. Norman Smith, pastor of our San Diego, California
congregation.
They give more detailed information to assist you if you
have been wondering about how effective and how feasible a personal com
puter might be for you.
The subject of what confidential member information may be stored in, and
distributed from, a personal computer will be covered in a Pastoral In
structiou soon to be mailed to all Ministerial Manual holders.
However,
for your immediate consideration, a few points from that policy are given
here.
• Member name, status, address and telephone information may only be
kept on a personal computer owned and directly controlled by a Church
employed pastor, associate pastor, or assistant pastor. This informa
tion may not be kept on a personal computer belonging to anyone else.
• Member name, address, or phone listings may not be distributed to the
congregation, or to any outside individual or organization.
• Mailing labels may not be printed for group or mass mailings. Labels
for this purpose must be obtained from Ministerial Services.
• Names, addresses and telephone numbers of Church ministers {other than
a few personal friends) may not be stored on a personal computer.
For more detailed coverage of the full policy, see the forthcoming Pastoral
Instruction.
PERSONAL COMPUTERS FOR USE BY THE MINISTRY
by George Birdwell
Employees in the Data Processing Department are frequently asked by in
terested ministers which microcomputer they would recommend.
Rather than
naming a specific machine, guidelines and cautions are provided here to
assist in your evaluation.
1.
Be wary of claims that computers in general, or specific computer pro
grams, are "easy to use,
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or "user friendly.
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These are relative
terms. How easy it will be for you to learn to use a computer depends
largely on your background and aptitudes.