It is a typical Monday morning at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Yorba Linda, California. A secretary has just finished adding names to what is now an updated church directory of the 3,000-member congregation.

The directory is not just your average church directory, however. Besides the names of everyone who's involved regularly in the church, it categorizes members by age, occupation, marital status, number of children and their ages, interests, spiritual gifts, and potential involvement in the ministry of the church.

Despite the complexity of the directory, its weekly maintenance is just one of this secretary's many responsibilities. It took her less than an hour, using a personal computer. Now, if anyone needs a volunteer to help with a specific need, a complete list of possible people can be produced in seconds with the push of a few buttons.

After she has finished updating the directory, someone else may use the computer to finish compiling a complete record of giving by Vineyard ...