Product Updates | Shepherd’s Staff Blog

We are pleased to announce version 9.0 of Shepherd’s Staff, which features a completely revamped Finance Module. Matching the updated design and functionality of the other modules, the new Finance Module will allow you to manage your church’s resources with more efficiency and ease than ever before.  

Updated Saturday, August 15, 2020 at 9:15 p.m. (CDT)

Late Friday, August 14, 2020, we became aware that Microsoft released an update to their Microsoft Defender Antivirus software that incorrectly flags Shepherd's Staff as a threat. This means that Microsoft quarantines the main application file and the corresponding shortcut, making it inaccessible.

A church can accumulate a lot of inventory over the years, and knowing what you have, its status, and where it is stored helps save time and space when preparing for different events.

Scheduler’s new Inventory tab in Shepherd's Staff 2020 houses all this information to keep you up to date on exactly what you have and its availability.

Our segmented rewrite of Shepherd’s Staff continues this summer! The Concordia Technology Solutions team is excited to announce a redesigned Scheduler module.

The Shepherd’s Staff 2020 software will work on the premise that everyone in a congregation has a household. For this reason, when a person is created, selecting or creating a household will be required. Earlier versions required you to create a household first, then add people to the household. This updated module streamlines this process by creating both households and people in the same window.

Each member of a congregation has significant life events that many churches document in a register book. In the Shepherd’s Staff 2020 Membership module, these events are recorded and accessed all in one place.

Maintaining a good rapport with your congregation is very important. With Shepherd’s Staff 2020 recording, Pastoral Visits are no longer restricted to tracking only physical visitations. In our new update, we introduce the Ministry Tab with a focus on a new feature: Touchpoints.

Currently, Shepherd’s Staff is going through an interface redesign, module by module. Last year we released the redesigned Attendance module and this year we will be releasing the redesigned Membership module. The new software conventions seen in last year’s Attendance module release will also be seen in this year’s Membership module release. Some of the new conventions you may look forward to seeing are the Tool Bar, Module Tabs, and Favorites.

After January 14, 2020, Microsoft will no longer support Windows 7. This means Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or any other form of support. As a result, computers running Windows 7 will be vulnerable to hacks, viruses, and other issues if they are not upgraded to the most recent version of Windows. This directly impacts users of Shepherd’s Staff.

Shepherd’s Staff 2019 is here! If you have an active support contract, you can upgrade to the new version for free.

Some features in the new Attendance module are in different places from in Shepherd’s Staff 2018. Here is how to find the tools and utilities you need in the 2019 version.

With a redesigned Attendance module, the 2019 version of Shepherd’s Staff features more flexible reporting options. Pastors and office staff can use reports to find non-attendees, follow up with visitors, and compare monthly attendance year to year.

The newly redesigned Attendance module in Shepherd’s Staff 2019 has not just one but two attendance batch entry methods. These are in addition to WebTools, which allows for online batch entry.

Shepherd’s Staff is currently undergoing one of its largest enhancements in quite a few years. We are redesigning all the modules, and the new Attendance module is now ready. Many of the conventions in the Attendance module will be seen in the redesigns of the other modules.

The Vanco eGiving (EFT) import utility connects to GivePlus from Vanco Payment Solutions through a web service, and it downloads the electronic offerings given within a specified date range.

The next version of Shepherd’s Staff includes a simplified method for entering attendance batches. This will become available in September 2018, when an entire new Attendance module will be released.

WebTools makes it possible to enter attendance while you are away from your church computer. Volunteers can enter attendance from home or even use a tablet to track it during a worship service or event. This saves ample time for your church office!

Windows recently released a new version of Windows 10 (version 1803) that is causing problems with reports in Shepherd’s Staff, mainly in the previewing and printing of reports. The issue is causing Shepherd’s Staff to stop working or to display only a white screen. Having an outdated printer driver is the cause of this issue.

When a couple gets married, there are a few housekeeping items that need to take place in Shepherd’s Staff. The essential updates to make are to edit one or both people’s Household records and to potentially change one person’s name.

With its Accounts Receivable (AR) system, Shepherd’s Staff can help your daycare or school keep track of all the moving parts of tuition.

The Reminders tool allows you to flag events and be reminded of them when you enter the Membership module. You can also set up personal reminders, such as for tasks you don’t want to forget about. The Reminders tool stores information by user, so each user can set up different reminders that appear only to them.

Your Shepherd’s Staff database can be set to a variety of denominations to make it easier to compile the reports your church may be required to provide. The denomination options are Assembly of God, Catholic, Lutheran, Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, and United Methodist. With denominational reports, the information you need to report will all be gathered into a single place within Shepherd’s Staff.

The first feature pack for Shepherd’s Staff 2018 is available! Here are some of the changes you can take advantage of when you install it.

We recently rolled out updates to Shepherd’s Staff WebTools to save you time and assist your accuracy in regular ministry tasks.

If you’re not familiar with WebTools, it’s a secure web portal that allows volunteers to record attendance and offering information, saving time for church staff. All the information can be easily synced with Shepherd’s Staff on the church computers. WebTools is only available with an active support contract.

Shepherd’s Staff 2018 is here! We’re introducing the option to store a backup of your database on CTS’s secure servers, plus several additional improvements. See the complete list of new features below.

The Shepherd’s Staff 2017 Feature Pack 2 is now available! We’re introducing a new streamlined process for software updates, as well as several additional improvements. Download the feature pack to take advantage of all the updates listed below.

The end of the year is rapidly approaching! We always get a lot of questions about how to finish out the year on Shepherd’s Staff. Here are a few resources that will help you take simple steps to prepare your Shepherd’s Staff database for 2017.

Concordia Technology Solutions works with a number of partners to provide our customers with digital tools for ministry. One of those partners with whom we have worked for a number of years is Vanco Payment Solutions.

We recently discovered that the latest update to Windows 10 has prevented some Shepherd's Staff users from running the program. Follow these six simple steps to get Shepherd's Staff running again.

We've recently seen a few stories about ransomware affecting churches. We realize that many of our Shepherd's Staff customers could potentially be infected through a ransomware attack, so we wanted to share a quick overview with you.

On the Concordia Technology Solutions' blog, Technology & Your MInistry, we shared an overview of ransomware and how you can protect your church against getting infected. Here are three specific things you can do to get started.

Shepherd's Staff 2016 Feature Pack 2 has arrived! Download the feature pack here to take advantage of the improvements and bug fixes we’ve made.

In December, we posted about a workaround for the error that came when exporting PDFs from Shepherd's Staff. We have just learned that Microsoft has fixed the issue.

Time for an update! Download the 2016 Feature Pack to take advantage of the improvements and bug fixes we’ve made to the 2016 version of Shepherd’s Staff.

Introducing Shepherd’s Staff 2016! See below for a full list of what’s been updated and improved in the new version.

Take these simple steps to prepare your Shepherd’s Staff database for 2016.

Microsoft recently released an update that causes issues when you go to export your reports in Shepherd's Staff.  The issue is caused by an automatic Windows update (KB3102429).  It appears that it only affects users on Windows 7 and Window’s 8.1, and only when exporting to PDF.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it would be releasing Windows 10 on July 29, 2015. Since that time, we have had numerous questions about it's compatibility with Shepherd's Staff.