{"id":256,"date":"2026-01-24T21:17:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T03:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.phonelive.io\/?p=256"},"modified":"2026-01-24T21:17:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T03:17:42","slug":"ctc_ep6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/","title":{"rendered":"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this conversation, Zachary Norris discusses the critical role of technical ministries in churches, sharing his journey from traditional IT to church tech. He highlights the challenges faced by IT professionals in the ministry, including time constraints and the need for effective financial stewardship. Zachary emphasizes the importance of viewing IT as a strategic asset rather than a cost center and offers insights on financing IT projects, the pros and cons of freeware, and the significance of advocating for churches. He encourages aspiring church tech professionals to seek God&#8217;s guidance and work diligently in their roles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TAKEAWAYS<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Diligence and excellence in work are crucial in ministry.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@ChurchTechCareers\"><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There is a significant need for technical ministries in churches.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Zachary transitioned from traditional IT to church tech to fill a gap.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Time constraints are a major challenge for IT professionals in churches.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Effective financial stewardship can lead to miraculous savings for ministries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>IT should be viewed as a strategic asset in ministry, not a cost center.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reallocating funds from commoditized services can help meet IT needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Freeware may have hidden costs that can impact quality and control.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Advocating for churches in IT is a passion for Zachary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Aspiring church tech professionals should seek God&#8217;s guidance in their careers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this conversation, Zachary Norris discusses the critical role of technical ministries in churches, sharing his journey from traditional IT to church tech. He highlights the challenges faced by IT professionals in the ministry, including time constraints and the need for effective financial stewardship. Zachary emphasizes the importance of viewing IT as a strategic asset [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technolgies","tag-video"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.7 (Yoast SEO v26.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6 | PhoneLive Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this conversation, Zachary Norris discusses the critical role of technical ministries in churches, sharing his journey from traditional IT to church tech. He highlights the challenges faced by IT professionals in the ministry, including time constraints and the need for effective financial stewardship. Zachary emphasizes the importance of viewing IT as a strategic asset rather than a cost center and offers insights on financing IT projects, the pros and cons of freeware, and the significance of advocating for churches. He encourages aspiring church tech professionals to seek God&#039;s guidance and work diligently in their roles.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6 Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris Ep. 6\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this conversation, Zachary Norris discusses the critical role of technical ministries in churches, sharing his journey from traditional IT to church tech. He highlights the challenges faced by IT professionals in the ministry, including time constraints and the need for effective financial stewardship. Zachary emphasizes the importance of viewing IT as a strategic asset rather than a cost center and offers insights on financing IT projects, the pros and cons of freeware, and the significance of advocating for churches. He encourages aspiring church tech professionals to seek God&#039;s guidance and work diligently in their roles.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PhoneLive Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PhoneLive.io\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-25T03:17:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-25T03:17:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/PL_Site.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hugh Plappert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PhoneLive_io\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PhoneLive_io\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hugh Plappert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hugh Plappert\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45f58a0a738f6be4e4ef0519f99d117\"},\"headline\":\"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-25T03:17:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-25T03:17:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/\"},\"wordCount\":220,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Video\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Technologies\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/\",\"name\":\"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6 | PhoneLive Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-25T03:17:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-25T03:17:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"In this conversation, Zachary Norris discusses the critical role of technical ministries in churches, sharing his journey from traditional IT to church tech. He highlights the challenges faced by IT professionals in the ministry, including time constraints and the need for effective financial stewardship. Zachary emphasizes the importance of viewing IT as a strategic asset rather than a cost center and offers insights on financing IT projects, the pros and cons of freeware, and the significance of advocating for churches. He encourages aspiring church tech professionals to seek God's guidance and work diligently in their roles.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"PhoneLive.io Church Tech Blog\",\"description\":\"Turn your live stream into a phone call. Phone streaming for churches and local governments \u2014 reach seniors and offline members, no internet needed.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"PL - Church Tech Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PhoneLive.io\",\"alternateName\":\"PL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/New-Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/New-Logo.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"PhoneLive.io\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PhoneLive.io\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/PhoneLive_io\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/phonelive\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@PhoneLive\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45f58a0a738f6be4e4ef0519f99d117\",\"name\":\"Hugh Plappert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32555a63035a9b779ebc61330c883b660034bf089be5a5d0cac05919ea27b117?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32555a63035a9b779ebc61330c883b660034bf089be5a5d0cac05919ea27b117?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hugh Plappert\"},\"description\":\"Hugh Plappert co-founded PhoneLive with his son David, building the phone-streaming platform now used by 1,200+ churches and local governments to reach members and residents who cannot get online. Drawing on 41 years in ministry and operations, Hugh leads PhoneLive's operations and customer success, keeping the technology simple enough for any volunteer to run so homebound and offline members are never left behind. Based in Saint Paul, Minnesota.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/plappert\/\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Co-founder & Chief Officer, PhoneLive\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6 | PhoneLive Blog","description":"In this conversation, Zachary Norris discusses the critical role of technical ministries in churches, sharing his journey from traditional IT to church tech. He highlights the challenges faced by IT professionals in the ministry, including time constraints and the need for effective financial stewardship. Zachary emphasizes the importance of viewing IT as a strategic asset rather than a cost center and offers insights on financing IT projects, the pros and cons of freeware, and the significance of advocating for churches. He encourages aspiring church tech professionals to seek God's guidance and work diligently in their roles.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6 Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris Ep. 6","og_description":"In this conversation, Zachary Norris discusses the critical role of technical ministries in churches, sharing his journey from traditional IT to church tech. He highlights the challenges faced by IT professionals in the ministry, including time constraints and the need for effective financial stewardship. Zachary emphasizes the importance of viewing IT as a strategic asset rather than a cost center and offers insights on financing IT projects, the pros and cons of freeware, and the significance of advocating for churches. He encourages aspiring church tech professionals to seek God's guidance and work diligently in their roles.","og_url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/","og_site_name":"PhoneLive Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PhoneLive.io","article_published_time":"2026-01-25T03:17:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-25T03:17:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/PL_Site.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Hugh Plappert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6","twitter_creator":"@PhoneLive_io","twitter_site":"@PhoneLive_io","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hugh Plappert","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/"},"author":{"name":"Hugh Plappert","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45f58a0a738f6be4e4ef0519f99d117"},"headline":"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6","datePublished":"2026-01-25T03:17:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-25T03:17:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/"},"wordCount":220,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Video"],"articleSection":["Technologies"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/","url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/","name":"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6 | PhoneLive Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-01-25T03:17:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-25T03:17:42+00:00","description":"In this conversation, Zachary Norris discusses the critical role of technical ministries in churches, sharing his journey from traditional IT to church tech. He highlights the challenges faced by IT professionals in the ministry, including time constraints and the need for effective financial stewardship. Zachary emphasizes the importance of viewing IT as a strategic asset rather than a cost center and offers insights on financing IT projects, the pros and cons of freeware, and the significance of advocating for churches. He encourages aspiring church tech professionals to seek God's guidance and work diligently in their roles.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/ctc_ep6\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Faithful Stewardship in Church IT Insights with Zachary Norris | Church Tech Careers Ep. 6"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/","name":"PhoneLive.io Church Tech Blog","description":"Turn your live stream into a phone call. Phone streaming for churches and local governments \u2014 reach seniors and offline members, no internet needed.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization"},"alternateName":"PL - Church Tech Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization","name":"PhoneLive.io","alternateName":"PL","url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/New-Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/New-Logo.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"PhoneLive.io"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PhoneLive.io","https:\/\/x.com\/PhoneLive_io","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/phonelive","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@PhoneLive"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45f58a0a738f6be4e4ef0519f99d117","name":"Hugh Plappert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32555a63035a9b779ebc61330c883b660034bf089be5a5d0cac05919ea27b117?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32555a63035a9b779ebc61330c883b660034bf089be5a5d0cac05919ea27b117?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hugh Plappert"},"description":"Hugh Plappert co-founded PhoneLive with his son David, building the phone-streaming platform now used by 1,200+ churches and local governments to reach members and residents who cannot get online. Drawing on 41 years in ministry and operations, Hugh leads PhoneLive's operations and customer success, keeping the technology simple enough for any volunteer to run so homebound and offline members are never left behind. Based in Saint Paul, Minnesota.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/plappert\/"],"jobTitle":"Co-founder & Chief Officer, PhoneLive"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}