mobile ministry

Churches use many apps for presenting media, tracking membership, helping with budgets, and even updating their websites. Some churches also offer a church app primarily for people who attend their church. They contract with a church app provider to make an app that is branded for their church and focused on the needs of people in the pews.

Apps are an indispensable tool for accessing digital information and services quickly. There is an app for anything and everything, including churches. Why are apps so useful? Is it because they are fast and easy to use? Or because they sidestep the trouble of opening a browser, logging on to a website, and then searching for a desired function or feature? Of course, websites are amazing resources and necessary components of any healthy communications system, but when it comes to performance, speed, and agility - apps are definitely out in front.

Instagram has become the ‘place to be’ for social sharing of images and videos for individuals, businesses, and organizations like churches. With nearly a billion users, it also seems to be the place for fun. Ask any millennial and they will say Instagram is where they spend their time following and catching up on the news of the day and with their own social circles.

Mobile technology has revolutionized how we do everything these days, even ministry. Administrative tasks and the management of personnel that were once arduous and labor-intensive are now quick, easy and accessible from anywhere at any time.

You know the scene. You succumb to your elementary-aged child begging to play Candy Crush on your phone. Ten minutes later, your phone is down to 50% and it's only 11:00 am. You're rushing to a lunch meeting and as you hand your child back to your spouse to take an urgent call from a church member in need on the way there, you discover that your phone is suddenly down to 25% by the time you get to Panera. It's only lunchtime and you have visits and errands before making it back to your desk where you can plug in. You could join a support group for pastors with old smartphones that don't hold a charge well, or you could employ some of these helpful smartphone battery-saving tips:

From the early days of dial-up internet to the first cell phones commercially offered, communication methods and tools have drastically changed over the last twenty years. For churches, cumbersome analog systems (that’s fancy-talk for pen and paper) were the only option before personal and business computing emerged. Now

I am writing this during the weekend where much of the Northeast (and some of the Southeast) of the United States is reeling from a series of blizzards that dumped 18-30 inches of snow. I just received a message from one church regarding how they are cancelling service in order to maintain some of the wisdom of keeping folks off the road. And while I do agree with keeping folks from driving in dangerous conditions, many of our weather-cancellation messages just stop at "don't come out this week, we'll pick up next week."

Fall is a crazy time of year for ministries: it’s back to school and back to church. Fall is also a key season for small groups, kicking off new communities, classes and gatherings. Here’s how to use your app to make the most of your small group launch.