Mobile Ministry Magazine

Most of the time when people in ministry think of email, the first feeling that comes to mind is "blah." Email has really gotten to the point where its a necessary item, and yet something that we at times can look at with a good level of disdain.

One of the reasons for starting MMM harks back to that specific feeling of email and how often emails would go unanswered or passed along to an administrative aide because of the volume or intensity. I prescribed smartphones and data packages that took advantage of the email aspect of what came in, so that the burden of reading and replying to email could be spread out through the entire day, not just given one large window (that a single email could easily discourage).

Tonite, I checked email after a long day and noticed that in a few of my email accounts, I had over 30 messages that I never downloaded to my device. Nevermind the amount, the fact that I did not read them was alarming. Here I was at the end of a Friday night, and I am cheking email. Instead of the chore being lessened, it was now amplified because I forgot to check it during the day.

Its in a situation like that where I look at solutions like RIM's Blackberry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Information Server/System and Microsoft's ActiveSync as viable options. Yes, emails come to you either timed or immediately, but the active noticing of them usually means that there is some part of your mind that will take a minute to look and discern whether the email is worth now taking time or later.

For all but one of my email accounts, I use a Push email solution, and it just happens to be on all of those that I fell behind. Email became blah when I saw how much to go through. To change that I've got to go back to setting a time when emails come in automatically, so that they are not left too long if important. And at the same time, have a more positive attitude about email, it just makes replying to the important ones that much easier.

Here are some solutions for email on the go that may or may not require a smarpthone, but do require a data plan on your mobile, or an active WiFi connection to work:
- Microsoft ActiveSync via MS Exchange
- Nokia Intellisync
- Nokia Mail for Exchange
- Yahoo Go for Windows Mobile and Symbian
- Mail2Exchange hosted MS Exchange
- Google Mail IMAP
- Yahoo Mail Plus

There are many others, and most are compatable with mobile devices and latops. The hosted solutions out there might also be a good idea for those of you in organizations that need to not only have email on the go, but a shared calendar, assignable meetings, and other 'big office' features, without the expense of an IT department.

As for me, back to reading email so that the weekend can really be a time of rest.