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The latest Your Church research reveals what office equipment is most sought after by churches today. And not surprisingly, the move—even among smaller churches—is more and more toward equipment that can maximize time, energy, and limited budgets.

The hot printing equipment that churches are snapping up are digital copiers and document shredders. In the past three years, one in six churches (16%) purchased a digital copier (see Table 1); and today, 43 percent of all churches own a digital copier. In addition, one in eight churches (13%) has recently obtained a new document shredder bringing the ownership total to 40 percent.

The bigger a church's budget, the more likely it is to own virtually every one of the products in our study. Large churches with an annual budget of greater than $500,000 are clearly the trendsetters when it comes to owning digital copiers and document shredders (see Table 2).

That said, the majority of churches of all budget sizes own a photo copier and duplicating equipment for their printing needs. The majority of large (96%) and medium-large (69%) churches ($250,001?$500,000 annual budget) own a time-saving paper folding machine. Only one-third of medium churches ($100,001?$250,000 annual budget) and one-tenth of small churches (annual budget of $100,000 or less) are able to justify the expense of such a machine.

Fax machines continue to be a hot communications commodity among churches, even in this Internet age. One in seven churches (14%) added a fax machine to their church office in the past three years. Eight in 10 churches (78%) now own a fax machine, making it second only to the telephone as an electronic communications device found in church offices. Again, ownership varies by annual church budget. Less than half (45%) of small churches own a fax machine, while nearly all churches with a budget of more than $250,000 have at least one.

The majority of churches in our study do not own intercoms, voice mail systems, or pagers. However, the vast majority of medium-large and large churches can probably justify the expense of an intercom due to the size of their ministry staff. Church ownership of pagers dropped dramatically in the past three years probably due to the growth in cell phone usage. And voice mail systems or answering machines continue to grow in usage especially among small and medium-size churches.

A total of 1,989 surveys were mailed and 557 returned, or 28 percent. With a sample this size, results are considered accurate to within plus or minus four percentage points.

John C. LaRue, Jr. is vice president of Internet research and development at Christianity Today International. He may be reached by e-mail at yceditor@christianitytoday.com.

Previous Special Reports can be found at America Online Keyword: Your Church or www.christianitytoday.com.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Your Church magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Your Church.
May/June 2002,Vol. 48,No. 3,Page 88

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