Mobile Ministry Magazine: The Paperless Pulpit

This is part one of a three part series that will be unfolded thoughout the next 24 hours. It was submitted by Pat H. and has had me wowing how well written it is. I think that you all might enjoy it as well.

The Paperless Pulpit
(or how to preach with your PDA; part I)

For a few years now I've had fleeting thoughts of preaching completely digitally with a PDA. After all, I can carry the Bible and notes there without a problem. Several months ago I took a leap of digital faith and decided to preach a sermon completely with a handheld device. The main advantages for going paperless are to:

Free up my mobility by not being tied to the pulpit/lectern
Free up both hands for expression instead of lugging leather and paper around
Be able to avoid the PC, desktop and printer altogether.

I am a mover when I preach or teach, so I may be on stage or among the crowd etc. Were I constantly linked to the pulpit, much of this would be unnecessary.

Being an ex-programmer / analyst I knew better than to go live in a “production” environment without good testing and a solid backup. Therefore, I tried it out in the office function by function and worked out the kinks. Then when the time came to go live, I kept my trusty leather bound Bible and printed notes right their on the pulpit, just in case of the ever possible system crash!

The following is a how to guide for those of you who are interested in taking the power of the Gospel into the digital age. I will describe the hardware and software that I use to do this. Yours may be different, but with the advancement of the PDA, you should be able to find similar solutions on varying platforms.

Two important goals for me were to make sure that I never had to pull out the stylus or to allow the PDA to become the focal point instead of the Gospel. Nothing frustrates me like seeing a mouse pointer or Windows menu system during a ministry or business screen presentation. It is a huge distraction from the message. The hearer's eternal destiny is on the line here, so I wanted to make certain that the message got delivered whether my geek factor got shown off or not.

My Particular System
PDA Hardware:

Palm Tungsten | T3, running Palm OS Garnet v5.2.1
Lexar 1GB SD memory card
Clarivue brand screen protector

Software applications:

Word Processing: Documents To Go v6.008 (Word to Go)
OliveTree BibleReader v3.52 F377

Newer hardware and software exists, but this configuration has more than enough power to get the job done. Features of the T3 such as stability, tiny size, lightening speed, large HVGA display and 5-way directional pad are very desirable. Older devices can still be capable, but a 5-way directional pad may be the most important feature of all.

Getting Started
Formulate your sermon on your PC or PDA in the Word processor and get it into the PDA. Determine the outline, quotes and Scripture references to use as you normally would. Even though technology is raging ahead, I know of no software to replace the leading of the wonderful Holy Spirit! :-)

Visualize and even chart the manner in which you will access your notes and references. Of course, if we all had photographic memories with endless limits, then notes and Bibles would not be needed at all. Some initial hardware tips are as follows:

Pre-determine whether you will use landscape or portrait mode. Landscape reads better, but portrait handles better for one-handed use.
Make sure you have a full battery charge, especially for underpowered devices like my T3
Full display brightness is desired, because your presentation area is often brighter than most others
Disable hacks, add-ins or clocking programs etc, which cause possible instability. Sticking a stylus into the back of your PDA and your “blue screen of death” look will shut down the anointing in a nanosecond!
Turn off, or set to vibrate, alarms because sure enough right during prayer … :-(

Thats the end of part one. You will have to come back for part 2; and it gets really good there too.