I am a BIG fan of Lifechurch.tv.
They have the vision, people and resources to get things done. They work hard to figure out how to reach people, and their grasp of the concept of using social networking as a tool of influence is renown.
In my neck of the woods, I have slightly less resources. Okay, a whole lot less. Instead of dreaming about endless resources (which is a myth anyway), I do need to concentrate on using the tools I have been blessed with.
Having a good smartphone, a laptop and a trusty work XP-powered desktop — along with cloud computing — helps me bridge the gap.
First, I try to satisfy the congregation’s love of media. Pictures, videos and music. I have albums worth of music on my Android EVO all the time, and a few more on Dropbox. With a good sound guy (and ours, Jay, is the best in the world), we could run service from my phone if needed. The Android OS “Share” functionality allows me to instantly upload videos to Youtube, and I have started using the cloud capabilities of Google+ to store Church pictures. I can get pictures on the Church’s Facebook page and further disseminate via Twitter. Even the two free navigation apps are useful, as anyone who has traveled half a dozen hours with a van full of spirited teenagers can tell you.
A big part of the strategy, here, is to have access to all sort of functionality at the lowest cost possible. For example, we would like to be able to access Church pictures from numerous machines that have access to the cloud without being handicapped by the failure of one machine (a recent laptop crash brought this to the forefront). Dropbox plays a major role in this strategy.
Dropbox has evolved from just a cloud storage option to something of a virtual jump drive. The possibilities are wide and quite varied. For instance, when we had to get a web link for youth t-shirt order forms, it was easier to use the Church Dropbox public file to host it. Reimbursement forms and permission slips are placed there too.
When it comes to news dissemination, Twitter, Facebook and mobile email are great tools. Our congregation has gotten used to seeing me on Sundays putting information out via Android Seesmic simultaneously to Facebook, Twitter and our website. With our younger members, Google Voice and group texting apps help greatly. And, we still have the good ‘ole phone tree.
I also use the YouVersion app for messages and sermons.
Corporately, with a new website, we moved to Google Apps for our calendar and email needs. Free business tools that are attached to our domain is a true blessing.
It is a blessing to be able to serve, and a treat to find ways to use technology to affect service.
What do you use to beat the “Technology Blues”?
Adam Lehman says
You nailed it! More often than not, I’ve found that the tech envy I felt towards other churches was really budget or size envy. Yes, I wanted to use the latest & greatest presentation software, but in a group of 25-30 teenagers, is it necessary? I wanted the coolest group texting options, but I didn’t really need them. I wanted to use an ultra-slick database, but I could remember attendance over the past 3 weeks in my head.
The options you mention in the post are phenomenal. There’s a lot of options out there for a budget strapped organization. And if the organization is budget strapped, they probably don’t need the expensive solutions.
Dave Shrein says
Up until recently, we were using an online service called smartevents.com which allows churches to faciliate event signups. You can set custom questions with multiple answer, check box answer, radio button answer, or text anser. You can also keep track of payments for different events through Smart Events as well.
The key, it’s very affordable and it also is very user friendly… actually, VERY VERY user friendly. We migrated everything to Fellowship One recently and though their online signup is really horrible, it integrates into their overall system which makes a lot of things a lot easier for us.
Antoine RJ Wright says
In a simple sense, it seems that the prescription is to know the devices you purchase, and have enough of a grounding on the services you need when you already have the goals for communication and connectivity. Can’t complain about that logic. Though, I’m seeing too often that most don’t have clear goals, and therefore the dearth of “solutions” tends to stime productivity than an actual inability of a solution itself.
Marcus Williamson says
Anything free 🙂
More specifically…Evernote
Tre Lawrence says
Thanks for the comments… you guys have pretty much helped pick a new topic (how I pick apps).
I have found that tech envy hobbles me. I can really, really crave a Mac with Final Cut Pro, or get going with what I have. That simple. It was changing perspective from “I need this to do that” to “I can do that with this.”
Now, am I overly reliant on cloud computing? I hope not!
Dave: will check out Fellowship One. Sounds interesting.