Informational Purposes only from Information Technology committee.

Google Apps (“GApps”) is an impressive and efficient tool for business and organizations alike. It consists of various tools online: Email (same Gmail); Docs (similar to Office suite, but online), Chat for audio/video;  Calendar, and Sites (for web-pages on Google’s servers).

We implemented GApps early in February for Cowan Mill and so far it seems to be a great success. Prior to GApps, we used various tools to achieve email and like features and they did not function well together. This way, we can collaborate together much easier and we do not have to use the data space on the CMC website servers. So communications will flow much smoother between contacts and people who visit the CMC website and email us.

Andrew
CMC I.T. Chairman

It has been my vision to create a Flash website (with and without help from tutorials) for church (for CMC and even back at my former church). However, no matter what, and with several attempts, it was always a no-go. Adobe Flash is an industry standard program used for creating interactive features for websites, or for creating a website itself.

Finally, to some avail, I thought I’d give it another go seeing as I had some extra free time on my hands. I finally created a Flash website with the help of a tutorial. What I’ve come up with is merely a rough sketch of a long-term project, but 99% of it is functional…which is great!

Now keep in mind, I am running a trial right now to see if CMC needs a Flash site in addition to a basic HTML website. This trial will run through at least Mid-October and from there-on will be based on how efficient it is having two websites. If a Flash site is not yet appropriate for CMC, it will simply be stored away (so not to loose the work!) until it is needed. Please make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Flash. I will use Flash within the HTML website at some point regardless of the outcome of the individual Flash website.

TIPS FOR USING THE FLASH WEBSITE:

–Since this is a first-time design for a Flash website, there are some kinks to be worked out. Below are a few tips on how to work around them.

1. The way that Flash is designed, you will need to click exactly on the word before it will transition you to the link.

2. Some pages, such as the photo gallery, I.T. homepage, and any type of form, are available only on the HTML version of the CMC website. You will be sent from the Flash site to the respective HTML link. You’ll need to re-access the Flash site to use view it again.

3. Some of the picture quality will be low in the Flash site, that is due to the facts that this is my first Flash site and I didn’t have as much time to devote to extensive visual designing but primarily that’s a good thing because it helps keep the size of the Flash website quite low so it will load faster for Dial-up Internet users.

Since some computers, and most network administrators, do not have or allow Adobe Flash, I will continue to update our website through both HTML and Flash methods. I will try my keep both versions in sync as best as possible.

I encourage any and all to venture out and learn about the computer and such areas of the Information Technology (I.T.) field. And if you ever want to help out on the website, either through constructive feedback or literally working on the website with me, then by all means do so! This is a collaborative effort and God can use all of us!

I’m quite positive these new changes will confuse a lot of people, which is expected. I’m available to answer any questions and to help you adapt to the changes as best as possible.

I hope you enjoy the CMC website!

As always, we are here to pray for you during your times of need and in times of praise. Fill out the prayer/praise form to share your requests with us.

Truth Trek went very well this year. It was a great success! Thanks to all who worked, or gave donations, food, money, crafts, etc.

Our attendance was double that of last year!

Monday – Children:24 – Adults: 17

Tuesday – Children: 24 – Adults: 23

Wednesday – Children: 23 – Adults: 17

Total Enrollment: 47

All around the state and nation are various types of Vacation Bible School held. Some see immediate results and some do not. All that is to be expected is for the seed to be planted and the Lord to take it from there. We continually pray that God will use VBS each and every year to bring young (and old) to know Him and to glorify His kingdom.

Thanks all!

At the moment, there is currently a weird orange and blue layout that has taken place of the blue and blue-striped layout before it. Both were/are only temporary.

As stated on the website homepage, I’m gathering up ideas and stuff based on the way the current design works and doesn’t work, and from that I will come up with a more elegant, CMC-appropriate final design.

Heads up: Most completed designs (or “layouts/templates”) will exist on the website for 6 months to a year, depending on the availability of time and resources to design another after. Too long of a wait will make a site stagnant and boring thus loosing activity. So the 6m-1y seems to be a good balance.

I strongly encourage you to email me your ideas of what you would (and wouldn’t) like to see on the CMC. ALL feedback will be reviewed and considered, so don’t think your ideas are too easy or complex; or small or large.

I will keep this current layout up for at least a couple weeks so you can think up and email me your ideas.

~Andrew

EDITED 4/5/2009.

I’ve dropped the original 3-column layout idea and decided on a design that is elegant, crisp, and technical looking all-in-one! I do hope you enjoy the layout. Please let any of us know if you have feedback or questions for CMC or the CMC website.

~Andrew

The [Kid's] Activity Day is at the Smith’s house. We hope you will join us for a fun, restful Saturday afternoon.  We are meeting at their house at 1pm. Lord willing it doesn’t rain (if it does we have board games and stuff on backup 8-)). If it doesn’t rain -or isn’t that badly wet out- we are planning on playing paintball and riding go-carts around.

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Speaking of paintball, for the New Outreach Idea, I (Andrew) and Brother Tom have been talking for a long while now, and did in more detail this past Wednesday evening, about possibly starting up paintball at Cowan Mill. Granted there are safety/liability concerns and paintball expenses that are the most prominent areas of focus at the moment.

Some will approve and some will dis-approve -that’s to be expected in any community whether church or other organizations. Several ideas, rules and safety guidelines are already being drawn up and implemented should the interest really take off for paintball. A good many secular activities can be incorporated into church settings if the right Christian mindset and atmosphere is established and maintained. That is our goal. Attractive, secular sport in a Christian setting. What could you ask for more!? Well, the answer to that is accepting Jesus as a personal Lord and Savior. That’s the ultimate goal of the prospective paintball ministry!

The main rule at this moment is that nobody (aside from staff/leaders) would be allowed to just “show up” and play, regardless if they have their own gear. You have to “work to play” and the “work” part is attending both Sunday School and Worship for four Sundays -not necessarily in a row. This would allow the a person a “pass” to play at any upcoming/future games. The other rule is:

+No outside paint nor markers will be allowed, at first that is, thus minimizing and possibly eliminating the use of premium or low-end paint and markers that could be an unfair advantage/disadvantage to the game. For those who are seemingly interested, we are looking at using the Tippmann 98 Custom paintball package. By personal opinion with thousands of random verbal/written reviews, Tippmann is the best value both quality and money wise when it comes to paintball. Here’s a image of what marker we’re looking into: (image link)

Majority of paintball players usually average around 10 (the legal age) to around 15 or 16. Then the ages branch out from 16-25; 30-40; and the minority being 41+. So the target audience that CMC is focusing around is a compilation from 10 to 30, however anyone interested in engaging in this fun and energetic activity is more than welcome to participate.

I (Andrew) have literally seen people who you’d thing to be older than “allowed” to play paintball, but they were the ones who were gaining all of the points . So in fact, age has little to do with how you enjoy activities in life.  I say that for those of you who might be interested but would be cautious of injuries. They are possible, but, quite honestly, paintball, when using and following safety guidelines and equipment, is the safest sport out there. No lie. Yes, paintballs are flying around at nearly 300 fps (feet per second), but they are no match for being tackled by a 300lb man in a fully padded football uniform! I’ll leave it to you to decide which one will leave you hurting the longest. Ha-ha.

As I mentioned, we are still in the works and feel that the Lord is at work in this prospective outreach activity for Cowan Mill Church and we also hope that those who may not see paintball as an activity “proper for church” would keep an open mind and see that you have to go where the people are and find worthy activities that can uplift one another and worship the Lord, Jesus Christ.

I understand that some of this paintball information may have made little to no sense and some of the thoughts mentioned may be a bit contrary, and that’s alright. Just email or speak with Andrew or Brother Tom with your thoughts, questions and suggestions.

As always, we are here to pray for you during your times of need and in times of praise. Fill out the prayer/praise form to share your requests with us.

The Lord was without a doubt present in our services Sunday through Wednesday!!! We had tons of fun and fellowship. Neal Beard really preached on the good ‘ol gospel (the Bible). His down to earth illustrations we’re that of which you could personally relate to in some way or another and it brought out his messages 10-fold.

We hope you enjoyed it if you attended, and if you were not able to attend, just remember to come on this Wednesday and Sunday and see what God has in store for you to learn or share for or about your life.

As always, we are here to pray for you during your times of need and in times of praise. Fill out the prayer/praise form to share your requests with us.

We hope you have been praying and preparing your heart for Revival. Come and let the Lord fill your spirit with His Word (the Bible) and through music! CMC Revival spans across four days: starting Sunday, March 1 through Wednesday the 4th. (Mon-Wed meet at 7:00pm.)

Here are some highlights of Revival:

• Neal Beard will be presenting the sermon on Sunday morning.
• There is a covered dish fellowship following the Sunday morning service.
• Sunday, at 6:00pm, there will be an evening Revival service.
• For the children and students, we are having pizza on Wednesday at 6:15pm.
• Each service will feature a great variety of special music that you don’t want to miss!
  

Have your family and friends join with us also during this awesome Revival we will have at Cowan Mill Church! We will see you there!

As always, we are here to pray for you during your times of need and in times of praise. Fill out the prayer/praise form to share your requests with us.

Luke 15:7 [show] Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (ESV)

We had a GREAT (did I mention great?) turnout at the Valentine Soup & Chili Supper!!!

We anticipated maybe 20 or so attendees but we had well over 50, maybe 70 or so join us. God does work wonders doesn’t He?

If you missed it, a quick recap includes great food, fun entertainment (our choir, soloists, and a guitarist), and a great mini-sermon from Pastor Tom. You can checkout the Valentine Banquet photo gallery at the website for some photos of the event.

As always, if there is anything we can pray for you about, don’t hesitate to contact us.

2/3/09 – We now have our forum (an online message board) up and running. As with the website, it will grow over time and will also become a main-stream place for CMC members and visitors to communicate and interact. For now, as many members as possible are encouraged to register (it’s free). Once registered, login and you will be able to interact. Even as a guest, you can visit the forum and suggestively the Support board to get the idea of how to use a forum.

The address (“URL”) to the forum is http://cowanmillchurch.org/forum

Click here to go to the forum homepage, here to register, or here to login.

New user registration has been activated. Any changes will be posted here in replies.

There are 5 user levels of access (or ULA for short) with WordPress blog software:

• Administrator – Somebody who has access to all the administration features
• Editor – Somebody who can publish posts, manage posts as well as manage other people’s posts, etc.
• Author – Somebody who can publish and manage their own posts
• Contributor – Somebody who can write and manage their posts but not publish posts
• Subscriber – Somebody who can read comments/comment/receive news letters, etc.

All new users automatically default to subscriber ULA. Only members and staff of CMC and other churches can be given access as Contributor or Author ULA. Only after verification that the account is legitimately created and owned by the member or staff AND after confirmation they are a member or staff of the respective church will an account be changed to a different ULA.

So register today (see left-side panel for a link)! Any questions, please contact me (Andrew).