First, I think most Church Management Software (ChMS) solves the wrong problem. Ministers of the gospel don't need a database to track minutia -- they need a system to help them engage their members, produce volunteers, and most important, draw people to Christ. I haven't yet found a ChMS that does any of that well (or at all).

Sure, having at least a list of your members is a must -- you don't want anyone to slip through the cracks. But the database of the system should be a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.

When churches feel the need to hire a secretarial staff member whose sole responsibility is to manage the database (let's call it Management of the Church Management System, or MoChMS for short), I think that's proof that we've failed as Christian software engineers.

I have the opinion that ministers and pastors should [want to] be using the software themselves. The software should be an extension of their work -- it should support them -- and not the other way around.

And I think part of the reason that MoChMS has become such a common need is because most church software has very poor user interface (UI) and, more importantly, poor user experience (UX). They're largely overgrown databases with different features ("modules" as they're often called) bolted on top. No wonder no minister wants to touch it. Managing the database is an afterthought for most.

I'm not sure I know how to fix all this, but I tend to blame the poor UX for generating a certain feeling of dread that most staff have toward even firing up their ChMS.

And for these reasons (and many others I don't yet want to bore you with), I have half a mind to write church software that solves the right problem and has excellent UX.