Imagine if you will, the church office of the future the church administrator arrives and checks the email. They go online to check their bank transactions for the past week.

Visitors and new members from the weekend are entered on the church database and welcome letters sent.

The preacher writes up notes on Sundays sermon and emails them round his house group leaders ready for the mid-week meetings.

The pastor starts to prepare his message for the following Sunday researching relevant articles on the internet and using his online Bible to add quotes to his sermon. He then cuts and pastes the highlights of his sermon on to a Powerpoint presentation to accompany and emphasise his preaching.

The youth worker prepares slides and talks for the young people using information and resources found on the internet. She produces a flyer for the next series of kids talks using clip art and publishing software.

The administrator produces the monthly newsletter, prints it ready for the following Sunday and emails it to those members known to be either ill or on holiday.

The worship leader starts to prepare for Sunday by searching through the available songs by keywords to find something to link in with the sermon. The songs are highlighted ready for use on the data projector on Sunday morning.

On Sunday morning the sermon or talk is recorded and a CD burned for circulation to all those helping on crche or with the childrens work.

For many churches - this is not so far from where they are today - an exciting use of modern software and technology to bring the church into the 21st century.