It’s Sunday morning, you’re sitting in a row surrounded by church-goers, and your mental countdown starts. No, it isn’t your mental timer for when the service begins, but instead it’s a countdown to when worship is over and you sit down and pull out your phone.
In other words it’s a countdown to judgement.
This is the point when your neighbors, or even worse the pastor, looks at you with a puzzled and disappointed look.
You know that you’re not trying to beat the latest levels of Angry Birds, beat your wife’s Tetris score (how is she so good?!), going through your work email, or texting your bud about the game after service. You’re just trying to take notes. Trying to remember that great sermon that people will talk about for weeks, the one where the DVD or CD series sells out in a few days because people want to re-live and share this great word from the Lord.
But to your neighbors, you’re “that guy.” The one not paying attention. It feels like you might as well be texting the Devil to organize your bowling league. And you could almost live with that perception until you notice her. The old lady with the notebook that looks like it was shot repeatedly before being plastered with Ralph Lauren patterns. She isn’t bothered at all by your behavior because, compared to sermon-phone-users like you, people think of her as a saint. And she likes it.
The Dilema
Smart phones have taken over the cell phone market, and they’re convenient note-taking machines. Whether it’s writing down a quick appointment on the go or a 45 minute note-taking marathon from the service that takes you back to your college days. Note-taking on mobile devices is here to stay.
Exacerbating the dilema is the fact that app stores are littered with a variety of apps that take your notes and sync them through all your devices, computers, etc. Even the web! They contain useful features to help search for a verse, take voice notes, or snap a quick picture of a visual aid.
Every good thing, however, comes with its set of pros and cons.
Pros
- Always have your notebook and even your bible with you.
- Always have access to your notes across multiple platforms and devices.
- Less paper equals a greener world, and everyone from the old saints to the preschoolers love that.
- Saves you money, most apps are free or around a buck, compared to 10-20 dollars for a new notebook that only survives a few months.
Cons
- Questionably acceptable in a typical Sunday morning service.
- For most people, it is slower than pen and paper notes.
- If your battery dies, you can no longer take notes.
- Bright screen may distract your fellow church-goers.
- Having your phone out can lead to lots of distractions for you (Twitter, I’m lookin’ at you)
So what do you do? Below are two options that can help lead you in your path to note taking at church.
The Solution: Rebel!
So you’ve decided you’re going to rebel against the old way of note taking, heck maybe you can even get the ball rolling to making electronic note taking normal in your church! Well you’re going to need a few things to get started and do it the right way.
- You will need a mobile device. This can be your iPhone, Android phone, Blackberry or even a shiny new iPad (look! Another reason to justify one!).
- You will need a note app on said device. Most phones come with a built-in app, but I’m a fan of Evernote (available for Mac, PC, iOS, Android, Blackberry, and even the Palm Pre and Pixi). It is clean, easy to use, and contains lots of nice features. Best of all, it starts off free with a paid premium version that adds more features. There are also plenty of other services out there so run a quick Google search and try what suits you. Also, while we are discussing apps you should take a look at a bible app. YouVersion.com has a great free bible app that has more translations than you could ever need. And now that most smart phones can multi-task (or pretended to do it) it is easier than ever to flip from 1 John to your notes with a press or a swipe.
- You will need to be confident that you’re not doing anything wrong. Also, be responsible! Don’t play games or check Facebook, those are the things that cause the negative stigma with electronic notes. If you feel like you need to explain yourself to someone, do so in a polite way. And even offer to email them a copy of your notes (I have done this a few times).
Every time I attend a new church or service I make sure to find the speaker and tell them I wasn’t playing around, but taking notes. My experience is that they find it to be a great tool and like the idea. But of course, if someone from the church asks you to put it away for whatever reason you should be polite and do so.
The Other Solution: Conform!
If you don’t feel like you can handle typing on your phone for a long amount of time, or that you just can’t handle the thought of people thinking you aren’t paying attention, by all means don’t do it. There are tons of great paper notebooks out there (that I use frequently for other things) and a lot of them are really nice looking and can even make you look cooler than someone with their new iPhone 4. It’s OK to just love the tactile feeling of writing down notes, doing so can even help you better remember the content.
Conclusion
Whatever path you take remember that you’re trying to learn more about your Lord and build your relationship with Him, and that is the most important thing. The next most important thing is to drop a comment down below and let us know what you think of electronic note taking.
[images: bionicteaching, kevindooley, Evernote, drewsaunders]
Matthew says
If we go through this life worrying about what others think, we will never get close to God. Focus on HIM alone and we will get places. I posted up a similar question but have since stopped caring what others think about my iPad or Iphone in church. If it’s disruptive I apologize but it’s none of their business what I am doing.
What if my wife were pregnant and went into labor?
What if my father was deathly ill?
Who cares what they think!!
Brett Barner says
I kind of do a mix of both. I rock YouVersion on my phone for my Bible, and take notes on a notebook. This allows me no to struggle with two books on my lap. But yeah, I still get looks. 🙂
Stacey says
I’m in this group with you too. I use Logos on my iPhone, and have a Moleskine for taking notes. Sounds strange to some, but I love the old-timey meets new-hotness of having both!
Adam Lehman says
I usually just open twitter and see what interesting tweets are being pumped into the interwebs….
But seriously, people at the church look at me like I’m some irreverant punk when I rock my moleskin for notetaking. Well, little do they know, I’m judging them for their lack of notetaking. If they loved jesus, they’d take notes. (preferably in a moleskin)(preferably with an apple sticker on the cover).
dewde says
That’s the ticket, Adam! Out judge them judgmental clowns!
Love it.
peace | dewde
Graham says
ha!
Justin Phillips says
Where did you get that Evernote widget?
Chris Ames says
Pretty sweet, huh?
http://blog.evernote.com/2010/08/11/evernote-for-android-update/
peace | dewde
Brian says
I try to create a live event on YouVersion for my church each week. I put all the verses for each message together and add places where people can take notes in the app. You can see one here. http://www.youversion.com/events/11086
Graham says
I’m totally cool with electronic note taking in church. Being the tech guy at my church, I’m always looking for ways that technology can help me accomplish a task. For me… your “pros” far outweigh your “cons”.
nicely done