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for
West New Britain Province
New Britain New Ireand Mission
PNGUM
CONCEPT PAPER
Church Membership Database Management System Concept Paper
1. AIM
To create and establish an electronic Membership Database Management System for the
Seventh-Day Adventist Church in West New Britain Province.
2. OBJECTIVE
2.1. Capture membership records for a church for both baptized and non-baptized
members of a particular church.
2.2. Present updated records when needed.
3. PURPOSE
3.1. Capture Records
The electronic system purports to capture record of all members of the church
and be able to present updated reports on membership status for monitoring,
evaluation, reporting and planning purposes.
3.2. Store Records
The electronic system will store data in a systematic and efficient way. When
one member is either received into the church by baptism, letter or vote, or,
leaves the church by letter, vote or death, his or record be safely stored. Also,
personal and disciplinary records must be stored.
3.3. Manipulate Records
The electronic system ensures that new entries of records can be made,
existing records updated, as in deletion or being archived.
3.4. Secure Records
In the event of accessing the system and manipulating the data, the electronic
system should be highly secured. Records security and confidentiality is of
utmost importance to the Church.
3.5. Present Records
Retrieval and presentation of data is the whole reason why the electronic
system is established. The electronic system should be able to present specific
data where required and on time.
As long as the records are updated in the system when one is received or leaves, or is
disciplined, you can be certain that the statistical reports for membership of that particular
church can be presented with promptness when required at any time. Not only that, moreover,
the statistics will truly reflect the current membership status of the church.
4. BACKGROUND
The Seventh-Day Adventist Church developed a systematic approach in keeping membership
records with an objective of using the data as a tool to analyse church growth and forecast
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planning for the Church. Manual as is it; the processes however are distinctively outlined in the
church manual and various resources (books) intended to guide us in managing church
membership records.
4.1. Manual Record Keeping
In Papua New Guinea setting, the Church has been far too long keeping membership
records manually with the formal Church Membership Record Book. This method is
however appreciated as technology (in Papua New Guinea back then) was not initially
developed as it is today. Still many churches in remote parts of this country cannot resort
to an electronic data keeping system as electricity and technical support are major
setbacks.
4.2. Guides and Tools
Simple guidelines were provided by the Church to be used as tools to effectively manage
church membership records. These are:
Church Manual
Baptismal Certificate
Church Membership Record book
Membership transfer forms
Discipline Record book
Sabbath School rolls
Etc…
There should be no excuses for a church to be erring in keeping its record and presenting
non-updated and ill information to the authorities or the Mission at large when required.
4.3. The System
Membership record keeping concept initially gave rise to the way records should be kept
and managed in the church. In other words, a system was born to capture and manage data.
Its base is the church and the responsible officer in charge is the Church Clerk. In brief this
is how it looks:
VOTE
The Sabbath School Department is the main feeder of
the church membership.
RECIEVE STATUS
BAPTISM LETTER
CENCORSHIP Here it shows how records of membership structure is
kept.
CHURCH
MEMBERSHIP
(BAPTIZED)
The church is the base of these records.
SABB SCHOOL
DISCIPLINE STATUS
Members received in three methods; baptism. Letter
DISMISS STATUS
(transfer case) and vote (where no transfer can be
LETTER DEATH DISFELLOWSHIP sought from the members original church).
Dismissal is likewise threefold; letter, death and missing.
Disfellowship also comes in from Disciplinary status.
MISSING
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Thus, when we are required to present the actual population of our local church, we can be certain
that our reports presented will statistically reflect the actual and updated population of the church;
the population that comprises of both baptized members and non-baptized members.
This proposed electronic membership database management system is not intended to replace the
conventional record keeping system that was initially introduced by the church. Rather, it aims to
help organize records in a more convenient way to efficiently store, manipulate and present
updated reports on time with accuracy. This can only be only achieved if the database system is
constantly updated by the Church Clerk or the Church Communication team.
The conventional record keeping system (Church Membership Record Book) of the church
system. They work hand in hand and should balance up when presenting required reports on
membership status. It is the blueprint of the electronic system that is developed. Should the
Mission review (add or subtract) this conventional system and produces a revised version of the
Church Membership Record Book, then it must be reflected in the electronic system.
This justifies that the electronic database system is only a reflection of the original Church
Membership Record Book. We must still maintain the conventional hard copies with utter care as
it is blessed and is mandated as a church asset and guide to keeping membership statistics.
In fact, the Membership Record Book, plus other church documents relating to keeping
membership statistics will be the number one referential guide to designing and producing the
electronic database system. The concept is derived from those documents after all.
9. ADDED FEATURES
Apart from just keeping membership statistics, we try to add some more features into the database
system to help make reporting easier for responsible departments within the local church.
9.1 Church Incomes
9.1.2 Tithe Records
a. The church is keen on collecting tithes and reporting it to the Mission but most times
fails to report back to the individual tithe payer how much total he had paid in quarter
or year, or for that matter the duration of the time he is church.
b. All tithes paid be receipted (in the book) as usual, but the treasurer will have to enter
the receipt number against the member’s name, date, and the amount paid into the
system.
c. The system should be able to generate each member’s personal tithe statement when
requested for by date, lesson, quarter or year.
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d. The system should be able to generate reports of total tithes paid in by date, lesson,
quarter or year.
9.1.3 Offering Records
e. Offerings of different categories (FNF, AY, Divine Service, Sabbath School Weekly,
Sabbath School Thanks, Investment, thirteen sabbath) will have different account
ledgers.
f. Each offering collected will be entered into each respective account ledgers.
g. The system should be able to automatically divide the offering amounts on a 50%
basis for the mission and local church.
h. From these account ledgers, the system should be able to generate a report or
offering statement for each category by date, lesson, quarter or year.
9.1.4 Other Incomes
i. Departmental registrations, donations and sales should have their own ledgers under
Other Incomes.
j. The system should generate reports of sub categories by date, lesson, quarter or year.
The church (with the help of the treasurer or an accountant) should come up
with items of expenditure list for accounting purpose. The expenditure items
must be grouped in categories so that each item will have each own ledger to
fill in the expense details.
Examples are; fixed costs, utilities, stationaries, fuel and transport, salaries
and allowances, office materials, food, etc. These should be coded.
9.2.2 Actual Expenses
Whenever an expense is made, it must be committed under the right item of expenditure.
This means, the church must be more organized in keeping its expenses in a
more transparent and accountable manner.
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