The Eagle Eye

conference offices, over 60 district offices, 4 campsites, and on numerous laptop computers throughout the United Methodist connection. Our main product goes by the name of MissionBase, and our web enabled applications are offered under the name of UMCData.com.

Elsewhere in this newsletter there is a concise list of the various software modules that make up our product. One might look at this list and say, "you have developed a lot." Yet we do not, and can not, let it stand still. New ideas and new needs are constantly being suggested and requested of us. We also frequently have ideas of our own, based upon observations of our customers. We are continuously adding, refining, and sometimes correcting these products. Sometimes when one of you submits an idea to us, I'll say, "I'll add it to the list." The list, referring to our development list, is very long.

When the hours get long, and the days off infrequent, we ask each other, "will the development ever end?" Yet we know that the answer is a resounding NO, as it must be. You, our customers, will continue to think of new and better ways to use computers to support your ministries, whether it be through increased efficiencies of operation, or through new connections between the data that can create new

This newsletter marks the beginning of a new effort at Great Spirit Systems to provide better, regular communication to our customers. It is our goal with this newsletter to offer you more frequent updates about our ongoing efforts to enhance and improve our software for the support of the ministries of The United Methodist Church. We will strive to publish this monthly. In this first issue I will use my space to very briefly review where we have been, and where we are today.

It has been twelve and a half years since I began a little one-person consulting operation known as Great Spirit Systems. At that time, I had only my college education in computer science, and my experience and knowledge of church computing from my years at GCFA to draw upon. Today, thanks to you, our software is used in 23

Great Spirit Systems has recently begun using the web-based product "GoToMeeting" for some of our training needs. In exploring how we could further use this product to benefit our customers, we would like to throw out this opportunity to try something new!

Many of you do not have the time or budget to schedule a MissionBase training session, but you might have a couple hours one afternoon to focus on sharpening your MissionBase skills along with others, perhaps from several different conferences.

We would like to host a "GoToMeeting" a couple times each month centered around the topics that YOU, the user, have requested. Meetings are limited to 10 persons, so participation would be on a "first come, first serve" basis. The training will cost only $20 per person for the session, which will last until the topic is thoroughly covered and attendees have no further questions (generally between 1-3 hours.)

If you are unfamiliar with how the "GoToMeeting" works, you will be verbally connected to all attendees via a telephone conference call, and visually connected to a view of the host's computer via your computer's internet connection.

So lets get started! Send your specific training requests to lori@greatspirit.com, along with the time of day, and day of the week, that is best for you. I will then put together a schedule of upcoming sessions. Watch The Eagle Eye for dates and times!
~ Lori Smith

	conference offices, over 60 district offices, 4 campsites, and on numerous laptop computers throughout the United Methodist connection. Our main product goes by the name of MissionBase, and our web enabled applications are offered under the name of UMCData.com. Elsewhere in this newsletter there is a concise list of the various software modules that make up our product. One might look at this list and say, "you have developed a lot." Yet we do not, and can not, let it stand still. New ideas and new needs are constantly being suggested and requested of us. We also frequently have ideas of our own, based upon observations of our customers. We are continuously adding, refining, and sometimes correcting these products. Sometimes when one of you submits an idea to us, I'll say, "I'll add it to the list." The list, referring to our development list, is very long. When the hours get long, and the days off infrequent, we ask each other, "will the development ever end?" Yet we know that the answer is a resounding NO, as it must be. You, our customers, will continue to think of new and better ways to use computers to support your ministries, whether it be through increased efficiencies of operation, or through new connections between the data that can create new	insights and new opportunities for you to reach more people with the message, the mission, and the ministry of Christ. This is exactly as it should be. From the beginning, our goal has been to provide the software tools you need in order to support and enable the ministries of the church and its people. We hope that we are doing this. We know that there will always be room to improve and enhance these software tools. So please keep the ideas coming. Yet, it is not sufficient that we limit our thinking and our software development to enhancing the efficiencies of operation within the church. We need to be thinking beyond that. We need to be thinking of new ways to put the data together to create not just information, but new ways of seeing opportunities for ministry through that information. Trends, connections, "ah ha" moments when we examine the data in new ways all come to mind here. We need to "think bigger." And so, in the next issue I will share a couple of stories and a few of my own thoughts in an article called, "Thinking Bigger. " Shutting down for now... Al Fifhause
GSS: The Early Years
This newsletter marks the beginning of a new effort at Great Spirit Systems to provide better, regular communication to our customers. It is our goal with this newsletter to offer you more frequent updates about our ongoing efforts to enhance and improve our software for the support of the ministries of The United Methodist Church. We will strive to publish this monthly. In this first issue I will use my space to very briefly review where we have been, and where we are today. It has been twelve and a half years since I began a little one-person consulting operation known as Great Spirit Systems. At that time, I had only my college education in computer science, and my experience and knowledge of church computing from my years at GCFA to draw upon. Today, thanks to you, our software is used in 23

Our current Add-on modules: Benefits (Pension & Medical, Flex, & Life Insurance billing) Property & Liability Insurance billing Event Registration Cabinet Decision Support Certified Leadership (Safe Sanctuary) Candidacy Process tracking Year-End Statistics (Tables 1,2,3) Church Remittance Online Local Church Leadership Online Statistics entry Online Event Registration Onsite & web-based training For more information on any of these modules, contact lori@greatspirit.com	Training Opportunities Available Great Spirit Systems has recently begun using the web-based product "GoToMeeting" for some of our training needs. In exploring how we could further use this product to benefit our customers, we would like to throw out this opportunity to try something new! Many of you do not have the time or budget to schedule a MissionBase training session, but you might have a couple hours one afternoon to focus on sharpening your MissionBase skills along with others, perhaps from several different conferences. We would like to host a "GoToMeeting" a couple times each month centered around the topics that YOU, the user, have requested. Meetings are limited to 10 persons, so participation would be on a "first come, first serve" basis. The training will cost only $20 per person for the session, which will last until the topic is thoroughly covered and attendees have no further questions (generally between 1-3 hours.) If you are unfamiliar with how the "GoToMeeting" works, you will be verbally connected to all attendees via a telephone conference call, and visually connected to a view of the host's computer via your computer's internet connection. So lets get started! Send your specific training requests to lori@greatspirit.com, along with the time of day, and day of the week, that is best for you. I will then put together a schedule of upcoming sessions. Watch The Eagle Eye for dates and times! ~ Lori Smith

Module of the Month: Our newest module, Web-based Local Church Leadership, allows the church secretary, or other person from the church, to enter and update their church leadership rosters on the web!





	to keep in mind during this transition to CRSP: Each of our customers uses a different formula for calculating CRSP. Some are very simple, while others are highly complex. The customized formula has been programmed into MissionBase for each conference. If you want to verify that your formula is calculating correctly, assuming you have already entered some 2007 clergy compensation records, you may do so by selecting a clergy with a 2007 compensation. Go to the Pension Participation form and select a billing date of 1/1/2007 from the drop-down in the upper-left of the form. You will see the MPP area change to CRSP, and the monthly CRSP billing amount will appear. (If you have previously given me the formulas you are using to calculate Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC), you will also see these amounts on the form.)	If you need to make any changes to your formula, or if you want to add the breakdown of DB and DC to the displays, then let me know as soon as possible and I can make those adjustments. In December, I will send each of you samples of your CRSP statements for review and approval, unless you have already completed this task previously. IMPORTANT: If you wish the DB and DC portions to be printed on the statement, I need to know this as soon as possible. Otherwise, the statement will show one total for CRSP and one for CPP, where CRSP will appear in the same place MPP shows on your current statements. ~ Bill Johnson ("Bull")
Greetings Benefits customers! It will soon be that time again for sending my annual benefits letter. This letter will describe year-end and new year procedures for benefits to help you make a smooth passage from 2006 into 2007. If you have any concerns or questions before you receive this letter, don't hesitate to contact Lori or me. For our Pension Customers... The new year of 2007 brings momentous changes for all of us as MPP becomes history and CRSP becomes reality. I have been working on modifying MissionBase for a year now to accommodate the CRSP billing procedures. Here are some important things
Wishing you and yours a very blessed holiday season! ~ GSS Staff