Even when pastor John Riemenschnitter is away from the office, he doesn’t like to be far from his flock. He wants his church’s vital information -- from members’ phone numbers to details on new Sunday school participants -- at his fingertips.

Now he has it. Riemenschnitter has started using a Web-based software management program called ViServ. The technology lets him keep up with his 325-member congregation from any location that has a computer and Web access. That means he can work from home or on the road when traveling.

"I’m on the move a lot, and the Web-based system lets me get it all on the go," he said. "That’s significant to me and to my ministry."

Riemenschnitter said ViServ has become one of his key ministry tools. From one screen he can send e-mails to specific church groups, find notes on new members, or track follow-up activity with church visitors.

"I’m one click away from whatever I need to do," he said. "I can’t tell you how much time I’ve saved."

The idea is far removed from the homemade database his HighWay Community church in Palo Alto, Calif., had been using. Like many churches, HighWay stored its key information - from contacts to contributions -- in a database maintained by someone in the church office. Most office staff didn’t know how to use it, and volunteers couldn’t access it.

"We could store some information, but information isn’t helpful unless you can easily access it and make use of it," Riemenschnitter said.

Riemenschnitter decided to try ViServ at the beginning of the year. ViServ is one of the newest Application Service Providers (ASP), a company that creates and hosts Internet-based computer software applications. The Mountain View, Calif., company is one of the first ASPs to reach out to churches and parachurch organizations with a Web-based management program.

Other such ASPs targeting churches include The Crossworks and WebACS.

Bill Smith, ViServ’s founder and CEO, said his Internet-based system allows access to church information anytime from any online computer.

"All a person needs to manage this product is a computer, Internet access and the basic knowledge of how to navigate the Web," he said.

Making the database available to a congregation’s key volunteers gives the church staff more time for ministry, Smith said.

"By making the program so accessible and easy to use, churches can actually let their volunteers do a lot of the work," he said.

Church leaders can control who has access to the information and other security factors, including blocking sensitive information such as financial contributions.

The program has been good for communication, too, Riemenschnitter said. His key volunteers have access to the database from their homes or offices. Rather than pass information from their Sunday school classes or visits with new members through various people in the church office, the volunteers can enter it themselves.

"There’s no longer a bottleneck for that information to get hung up in," he said. "Our volunteers feel more in control of their particular areas, and things get done a lot faster."

The traditional software management programs don’t offer that flexibility, he said.

ViServ customers pay a monthly fee, from $45 a month for congregations of 500 or fewer to $525 a month for churches with 7,000 or more members. In exchange, ViServ takes care of all software issues and provides help online and over the phone in case of problems or questions.

While any size church can benefit from such a Web-based program, churches with 200 to 1,000 members might see the most benefit, said Greg Leith, ViServ’s vice president for marketing and sales.

"Those tend to be the churches with one pastor and a limited staff who have a lot on their plates," he said. "They’re just beginning to have IT (information technology) problems as they grow and see the need for a better system."

Leith, who has been helping churches and non-profits for many years, has seen plenty of churches bring in volunteers to set up a network system that ends up getting out of hand, he said.

"It’s so much easier to have your information on the Web, where all you have to worry about is updating it," Leith said.

Internet technology has improved during the last two years, making way for more ASPs, Leith said. One of the most successful to date is eTapestry, a Web-based fund-raising software company that stores information on secure off-site servers.

eTapestry, which began operations in 1999, reported 1,500 customers in January, most of which are nonprofits. eTapestry specializes in tracking donations.

Jay Love, the company’s founder and CEO, said a few hundred churches around the country are using eTapestry. His system allows churches to link their Web sites to eTapestry so that online donations are automatically updated in the database.

"Our goal is to make things as easy as possible and save as much work and time for church staffs as we can," Love said.

Atlanta-based Action Ministries, which includes eight organizations located throughout northern Georgia, needed a better way to track donors and donor prospects. Rather than each of the eight offices operating its own database, they now work off the same database online through eTapestry.

"We discovered that many of our donors give to more than one ministry," said Nancy Hruschka, the agency’s development director.

The system’s ease of use and on-the-road access has proven popular with volunteers, Hruschka said.

Internet-based programs will continue to gain popularity, predicts Walt Wilson, author of "The Internet Church."

"Contact information is now essential to create a sense of community," he said. "Computers are not about computing but about connecting members with each other and with non-members."