5 Computer Tricks to Save You Time and Money

One of the most important parts of ministry is communication. But what is often the case in ministry is that the hours in the day are not enough to cover all of the needs. This is especially true if you work part-time in ministry, as I do. Here are five computer tricks that I’ve learned to help me be a better communicator without spending a lot of time.

1) Social Media Management in One Spot: You repeatedly here that the church needs to be using social media. So, you now have a Twitter account, Facebook page, Instagram account and a YouTube channel. Great! What you don’t have is time to give to each of these entities. So instead of managing each account separately use a service like HootSuite. HootSuite can give you dominion over all your Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and other social media profiles where you make updates and follow the streams in one place. Many of the services will let you schedule information blasts. If you have news to announce, and it is super early or late at night and you know no one will see it then, schedule that information to go out at a later, more opportune time.

2) Use Email Signatures: very often, you find yourself writing the same emails repeatedly. Save time and energy by using your email signature functions to create stock emails that only need minor edits before sending.

3) Keep Notes Handy: Fabulous ideas do not always happen during office hours. Have some handy methods for keeping notes and ideas. A notepad and pen work great, but what if those aren’t available? Use dictation tools available on most cell phones to create notes. Applications, such as Evernote, help you jot down your ideas and sync them to multiple devices and computers, including the web. As the name describes you can keep those notes forever or just until you can transcribe them in another form. You can then email those notes to yourself, post them to a blog, send them as a text message and more.

4) Close Your Email: Being ruled by your email inbox is the worst productivity practice ever! One email that is low on your priority list, can sideline you for 10 minutes or longer. Those interactions generally lead to more and longer email conversations. Schedule blocks of time to check email and set up alerts or alarms to let you know when to start and stop.

5) Automate Wherever You Can: With technology tools today, you can set up all types of actions to happen automatically. Using an email system, such as MailChimp, gives you many automated options for communicating with the group you are trying to be in ministry with. The best part is that it’s free. You can automate special messages like “Happy Birthday” or encouraging words via email to individuals to arrive on those special days and times.

These are just a few suggestions that I’ve run across that have helped me in the past. Give them a try and see what you think!

Helping Students Grow on Their Own

Helping students develop a desire to grow on their own is an important part of the discipleship process. Too often, youth ministries primarily encourage attendance at programs, which sets students up for a spiritual drift after graduation if they can’t find a “program” to attend. Here are a few ways to help students develop their own relationship with Christ.

Give them a book you’ve read.
Think about the books that shaped you as a teenager and find the equivalent today. Tell students the story of why this book was important to you and your faith and encourage them to take steps down that journey as well.

Issue a challenge that’s out of their comfort zone.
Owning your faith usually takes root when a student rises to a challenge. Want to see someone grow? Push them to participate in a missions trip a long way from home. Watch them grow raising the funds to participate, and enjoy a front row seat to the refining process as they get to push past their breaking point into a moment of deep spiritual cementing.

Read something alongside them and meet occasionally to discuss.
You gave one of your core students a prayer journal? Did you share a 1-Minute Bible with them? Read a copy of it yourself at the same time, and meet up a couple times to check in and discuss what you’ve been learning.

Equip your small group leaders.
Last year we did “grow on the go” tubs filled with a few resources for leaders to give out to their students along the way. A push for a devotional during a message is great, but a personal nudge and gift of a devotional from a small group leader is the best.

Live it out Yourself.
If you want to help your students grow on THEIR own, model it to them yourself. So much is caught rather than taught, so frequently do personal “check ups” in your own life to make sure you’re growing, too.

To Love Another Person Is to See the Face of God

Recently the movie adaptation of the highly acclaimed Broadway musical Les Miserables has come out. If you haven’t seen the play or the movie, I would highly recommend you go do so. The setting is during the French Revolution and the main character is a man who was put in jail for trying to feed his family and his journey to find redemption and salvation. (The dork in me says you should go just for the music)

There is however a very strong message at the end of the story that I had forgotten until I recently saw the movie adaptation. There is a line in one of the final songs that goes:

“To love another person is to see the face of God”

If I had to sum up the gospel into one word it would be love. Too often we forget that loving someone is one of the most important things that we can do as a Christian. The fact remains that each and every one of us (good, bad, skinny, fat, male , female) are all created in the image of God. That is something incredibly special that we should not so easily forget.

So my request to you this week is this: First, go see Les Miserables (it’s money well spent); Second, show love to your neighbor because as the song says “to love another person is to see the face of God!”

The Do's and Don’ts of Student Leadership

If you are creating a student leadership program in your group, here’s a quick punch list with some basic ideas of what to avoid and what to include.

DON’T only ask the shiny students to join.
Too often the leadership of a youth group is made up of the “chosen ones”—the shiny kids who show up at everything or squeak the loudest. Instead, consider that one kid who is so close, yet so far away. What about the student who is totally on the outside, looking in? Instead of just obvious leaders, think outside the expected and see what happens.

DON’T let your meetings pull them out another night of the week.
Often times, being part of the student leadership program requires an extra night out every week. The result is that many students miss out on it because they can’t give up another night. Instead, consider meeting on an occasional basis unattached to core programs (like youth group) so your students can be focused. We prefer once a month for a few hours, which gives us plenty of time with them but without an ongoing weekly commitment.

DON’T be afraid to give them big stuff.
Student leaders need to be challenged. The quickest way to disillusion these key teenagers is to be unprepared for your time together or waste their time with piddly projects. Instead, give them the teaching calendar. Let them plan services. Challenge them to come up with next quarter’s youth group calendar. Let them run wild.

DON’T be the only voice challenging them.
Many youth workers see the student leadership program as their chance to really “pour into” their students. While this may be true, you are robbing them if you insist you’re the only/best leadership voice they are hearing. Instead, bring in an outside speaker ever so often or even go on a field trip with your core students to a local business or spread them out to visit a few churches and report back about their experience.