United Methodist agencies swat at Year 2000 computer bug
8/24/1998 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn. By Tim Tanton* A bug is on the way that has everyone fidgeting and reaching for whatever repellant they can find.
It's called the Year 2000 computer bug, and depending on whether you're an optimist or a pessimist, this technical glitch may cause minor problems when the new millenium dawns, or it will signal the end of orderly society as we know it.
While everyone from corporate chief executives to home-computer users are trying to stave off the worst, key agencies of the United Methodist Church are quietly working to ensure that their systems remain intact when Jan. 1, 2000, rolls around.
"We're in a very good position so nothing calamitous would happen in terms of shutting down the Cokesbury operation or the Abingdon operation," said Louis Jordan, vice president of information technology at the United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, Tenn. Cokesbury is the agency's retail store chain, and Abingdon is the book publishing arm.
The anxiety over the Year 2000 bug is related to how computers around the world mark time. Many of them are not programmed to handle century changes, so Jan. 1, 2000, will register only as 00. Unprepared systems will interpret that as 1900. In any case, widespread crashes and other problems could result. Computers and chips are so ubiquitous that everything from utility stations and traffic lights to hospitals and stock markets could experience problems.
The churchwide Board of Pension and Health Benefits plans to have its systems Year 2000 compliant by the end of this year, except for areas that depend on outside vendors, said Karen Bundy, senior writer for the Evanston, Ill.,-based agency. The board provides benefits to about 25,000 United Methodist Church retirees or survivors and 40,000 active clergy, lay employees and their families.
"We have a Year 2000 task group, and what they're doing now is developing an action plan," Bundy said. "Right now, it consists of about 195 items, and each separate item is going to be assigned to a member of the task group.
"We're going to be reviewing all systems and business partners on which we are or could be dependent, and that would include vendor supply systems, electronically linked business partners, as well as business partners that we deal with on the physical facilities," Bundy said.
The agency is asking vendors for certification that they are Year 2000 compliant, she said.
The Publishing House has been working on the problem for more than two years, Jordan said.
"We're purchasing new systems rather than fix the old ones," he said. The agency is replacing some financial systems, as well as the order-processing and inventory systems for its Cokesbury and Abingdon businesses. Those are to be replaced this fall, he said.
"After (that) implementation, we will eliminate most of our Year 2000 problem," Jordan said. "We will still have about four or five systems left that are not Year 2000 compliant at that point, and we will have adequate time to replace them before next summer. Our goal is to have all of our systems replaced by the end of July 1999."
The Publishing House has been working with an interagency systems task force sponsored by the churchwide General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA), Jordan said. The group is sharing information on the Year 2000 problem.
The strategy of replacing the Publishing House's computer systems has a purpose beyond resolving the millenium bug, Jordan said. "It also provided us an opportune time not only to address the Year 2000 issue but to move our systems to a more efficient, less costly computing platform" to allow the agency to serve customers better.
GCFA also is upgrading its systems. The Evanston, Ill.,-based agency handles much of the denomination's accounting, records and statistics, and other financial activities. In confronting the Year 2000 problem, GCFA has looked at those primary areas of responsibility first, said Gary Bowen, an associate general secretary of the agency.
GCFA is replacing quite a bit of its hardware, which it would have done anyway, said systems analyst Peter Mcgorry. It is getting a new accounting system and redesigning its records and statistics systems.
Bowen and Mcgorry have discussed forming a committee to look at Year 2000 issues outside GCFA and provide guidance to other church agencies and annual conferences. Most people understand the problem, Bowen said, but they forget how much is run by the computer, such as security systems that open and close doors, communications systems, and automatic regulation of heating and cooling.
"What we're going to try and do is sit down and figure out all the possible areas that could be affected and give people a process," he said.
Officials with GCFA, the Board of Pension and the Publishing House say the problem hasn't caused them to add significantly, if at all, to their computer staffs.
There's no way to estimate how much the Year 2000 problem could cost the church, Bowen said.
"It may not cost the denomination much of anything," he said. For example, GCFA was going to upgrade or change its systems anyway, he said.
In health care, computers and chip technology have become as prevalent as scalpels and gauze. The United Methodist Association of Health and Welfare Ministries (UMA) has about 200 members, which cover the spectrum of health care: community-based ministries, residential treatment centers for children, family service programs, long-term care centers and hospitals.
"Our members have been addressing the issue since it first raised its ugly head, when everyone said, 'Whoa, this is going to be a problem,' " said Dean Pulliam, president and chief executive officer of Dayton, Ohio,-based UMA. "Everyone has been quite conscientious about selecting products that have been 2000 compatible since that point."
The UMA offers its members a computer consultation resource called the Field Consultation Program. It is available to nonmember organizations for an additional fee. For details, call the UMA, (937) 227-9494; fax: (937) 222-7364; or e-mail: fcp@umassociation.org.
The joke going around is that you don't want to be on an airplane when the millenium change occurs. Will the computer glitch cause the apocalyptic type of scenario that some predict?
"I would say from my contacts in business and information technology that most large businesses are fairly well prepared for the year 2000," Jordan said. "But I'm sure there'll still be some significant problems, and perhaps some smaller vendors and smaller businesses certainly (will have) disruptions in service. I don't think it's going to be a doomsday situation, but it may have a significant impact in some areas of the economy."
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*Tanton is news editor of United Methodist News Service in Nashville, Tenn.
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