Alex Kerr’s 2011 Mobile Ministry Forum Consultation Presentation: Reaching the Masses (view original PPT). Learn more at PhonePublish.

The 2011 Mobile Minsitry Forum Consultation occurred a few weeks ago and was certainly chock full of presentations, connections, and insights. Per our usual fare, there’s a sketchnote containing all of the moments we attended during the 2.5 days. Check it out, and look forward to detailed stories about some of the ministries and their efforts in future articles.

• Download/View PDF Version
• Article: The Story Framing Our Mobile Ministry Forum Presentation
• Presentation Slides

Got comments? Let’s hear them here and on Twitter (@mobileminmag).

It is that time of the year when predictions, resolutions, and trends-spotting makes the headline news. At the time of writing, I’m not sure that we’ll do too much (more) prophecying about mobile in ministry, but we will jump in with some of those putting forth some credible commentary towards activities, challenges, and advancements to come.

In this set of predictions, IBM looks at some technologies which are (definitely in development/testing now) which may play major roles in a majority of areas of society as we move foward in the next five years. This series, 5 in 5 has been done previously, and certainly deserves a look backward to see how accurate these proponents of a smarter planet have been in their views:

View all of the 5 in 5 videos on the IBM YouTube Channel

There are five aspects of technological/cultural change being talked about with 5 in 5:

• Energy: People power will come to life
• Security: You will never need a password again
• Mind reading: Not just science fiction any more
• Analytics: Junk mail will become priority mail
• Access: Mobile is closing the Digital Divide

Read about these through the press release and blog posts from IBM which explain each of these in detail.

I’ve got my debates about the closing of the digital divide (it does, and then it doesn’t when actual costs are looked at), and think that we are well entrenched towards an analytical-driven future where recommendation engines and security becomes a more accepted norm of being in digital-enhanced spaced. The mind-reading is happening in kit projects now, that part will get fun (especially as AI and adaptive computing models become the norm).

I do wonder about the lack of seeing anything in these in respect to language and literacy, as I do think that we are getting into a time when language is no longer a barrier if connectivity is addressed (real-time, passive, and active translation protocols between service points). That’s just me though. I’m all aboard the energy idea (see my thoughts on kinetic energy for mobile accessories at Nokia’s Ideas Project). We definitely need to ditch the personal dependence on grid energy infrastructure, and make it more economical and environmentally sustainable in industrial applications. These are all addressable tennants of any mobile ministry efforts, and it would be nice to see this alongside other goals for mobile ministry.

What about you? Got thoughts on 5 in 5? You can also join in the global conversation about 5 in 5 via the following channels:

• IBM’s A Smarter Planet Blog
• Twitter: #ibm5in5
• Facebook: People for a Smarter Planet

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, and seeing just how you see internet/mobile ministry efforts going forward around and through these changes.

Keeping with yesterday’s meme about SMS (text messaging), we want to highlight some confirmed information care of Tomi Ahonen and his consulting services. I’ll let the work speak for itself:

That changed this week, as we received the brand new Ofcom study of international telecoms markets. They surveyed 5,636 consumers in six major countries on three continents and part of the usage survey were questions ‘do you use SMS on your mobile phone’ and ‘do you use voice calls on your mobile phone’ And for the first time we have solid comparable measurements.

The countries are all in the ‘Industrialized World’ and are Australia, France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the USA. They found SMS usage levels from a low of 64% in the USA to a high of 86% in Australia. They also found voice calls ranging from a low of 68% in Italy to a high of 80% in Germany. The population-weighed average of the six countries gives an average SMS usage level of 71.52% for SMS, vs 71.48% for voice calls. So these percentages are ‘per capita’ and not ‘per subscription’ by which more often SMS usage levels are reported. The actual human consumer ‘per capita’ measurement is more accurate obviously, as it ignores the phenomenon of multiple subscriptions and multiple phones on the same person. And we have massive news! We have JUST passed the tipping point.

First, on the measurement, if you prefer to use the statistic of ‘per subscriber’ rather than ‘per capita’ – then the subcription-weighed numbers are even more strongly in favor of SMS ie 72.4% vs 71.5%…

Read the rest of We Are Hitting Major Milestone: Time to stop calling it ‘mobile PHONE’ at Communities Dominate Brands.

Read the latest Communications Market Report at the Ofcom website.

Such a study should have some profound implications towards how you pursue efforts in mobile ministry. Not that you should forget your applications, nor that your mobile web efforts are worthless. You should do those, but to gain the best reach (and in some works that I have read in the past, the best response rates for your efforts), text messaging should be a signifying part of your planning.

“But, Antoine. If we do text, then we miss that face-to-face connection. And if we only see their heads down, then how will we know that the message reached them?” Always valid questions, however, these are borne in a sense of you not having control over the message’s end point. If you are fostering culture appropriate communication patterns, or at the worst adjusting to the changes in communication streams across economies and age groups, then this won’t be the problem as you will be able to get the feedback you desire, the face-to-face moments will happen. We are designed to connect to one another, anything that increases the friction to do so (yes, even forced meetings in small groups and social events) will degrade any ability to connect. SMS is such that it offers so little friction, that it flat out works. Add to that how cheap it is for most folks, and you have the activities which broker this report.

Take a look at the companies we list for SMS services, some are platforms, others allow you to build your own solution. Yes, it might take some more work, butch attention, until video (via MMS and web) becomes more normal than not, this is the route towards making your efforts count in less than 160 characters.

Personally, I love it when companies as large as Nokia speak into moments of tech and faith. And when the conversation goes beyond applications, then it is somehting that really piques interest. Here’s a snippet of their latest article on the topic App-aggedon – Should mobiles do God?:

…Religion has never been afraid of making the most of modern technology. The printing press drove popular readings of the Bible and spread the Protestant Reformation across Europe, and, more recently, the US has become the home of TV evangelists. So it makes sense that the next stage of ‘spreading the word’ would happen on mobile phones. 

Bible apps and guides are some of the most popular reference downloads from the Nokia Store, and Nokia’s team in Pakistan have run a successful campaign to tell people about a host of Ramadan apps. The new Nokia font, Nokia Pure, was specifically designed to accommodate both the Torah and the Koran.  

Mobile technology is a useful tool for anyone wanting to connect with a large congregation, and it can create a powerful sense of a global community – but are mobiles changing the nature of religion…

Read the rest of App-aggedon – Should mobiles do God? At the Nokia Conversations blog, and put your voice into the conversation. What is the place of mobile tech when it comes to faith, and why should we broker that conversation beyond apps and evangelism?

Note: the image in this post turns to a now defunt service (TruthText); we have pointed to some SMS (text) service providers which are up and able to do similar services. If you have others we should be highlighting, do poke us (contact page, Twitter).

We rarely ask for much, aside from a comment, share or retweet, so I thought it good to open up our box a bit towards some Christmas wishes (gift-wise):

– 3 more daily writers, 1 who exclusively writes in another language
– an editor
– a travel 2012 budget fully funded/taken care of
– a site redesign
– a return to some device/software reviews
– a few funded software and hardware developers, with their own lab to play in
– Jesus to come back and join the party

Yea. We don’t ask for much. But, these things would sure be nice gifts to ring in the new year with.

[Media Release]: Dream Year Weekend in Charlotte, NC – January 27-29, 2012

I’m pleased to announce that Dream Year, an event from the makers of STORY family, is coming to Charlotte.

This event is a weekend-long, boot camp version of Dream Year’s year-long coaching process that helps people achieve a larger-than-life dream within 12 months. Participants include everyone from filmmakers and church planters to entrepreneurs and authors. No dream is too big, and no idea is too far-fetched.

This fast-track coaching event will be hosted at Team Church on January 27-29, 2012. During this three-day, intensive retreat, you’ll cover much of the content of Dream Year, collaborate with other dreamers, hear from special guests, and get personal feedback on your particular dream.

Whether you don’t know what your dream is and need clarity or you’re certain of what it is and need to know the next steps, Dream Year weekend is right for you.

More info is available at the Dream Year website; to register, do so at their Eventbrite page.

This course is designed in a way that can be tailored to your dream for a price that is less than the cost of one college credit at most universities: $249.00. Most meals are included. Seats are limited.

Location:
2301 Stevens Mill Rd
Matthews, NC 28104
View on Google Maps
Add This Event to Your Calendar

Just in time for your last minute shopping, This Lamp has posted a review of the new Kindle Touch 3G. Here’s a snippet:

…The Kindle didn’t cause me to give up my iPad; in fact, because there’s a Kindle app on the iPad, and because I depend on my iPad now for so many other things, if I had to choose between the two, I’d reluctantly give up the Kindle and keep my iPad. Yet I’m glad that I don’t have to make that kind of choice. For periods of reading longer than 10 minutes, I find the E Ink screen of my Kindle highly preferable to reading on the iPad. Reading the Kindle instead is like reading paper vs. reading a computer screen—it’s simply easier on the eyes for extended sessions.

In the time I’ve had my Kindle, I’ve observed a very interesting phenomenon when I hand it to the uninitiated for examination. Almost without fail, anyone who handles my Kindle immediately touches the screen or tries to swipe it to turn the page. I think we can safely call this “the iPad effect” because Apple’s tablet has definitely changed our expectations for the way we interact with our devices…

Read the rest of the Amazon Kindle Touch 3G review at This Lamp

Am writing this as I am preparing a presentation on tablet computers in ministry for the Mobile Ministry Forum. Some application ideas have come to mind as I’ve looked at the sad state of things in this niche of persona/mobile computing:

Choose Your Biblical Adventure
In the mode of the Choose Your Adventure books of my youth, wouldn’t it be suitable to create an interactive ebook which takes a selection of Bible stories and allows a person to insert themselves into the story. When they choose a route that follows the chronology of literal reading of the text, the person is shown the reference to the text. Such an application would be built with the in-app purchases tech so that stories can be added over time instead of getting the entire text at once.

Color Me A World
A coloring book which draws solely on Genesis 1. As each “day” is colored, additional items appear in the screen to be detailed/colored. Maybe add something like a canvas/palette enhancement where you might only get a few colors to start with, but by the time you get to the 6th day, you have the complete color wheel. Limited use, but invites the artist to join into the understanding of what God went through when creating the world.

Life of a Disciple
Given that there’s little known about most of the disciples, a comic that uses art, text, and video to expand the story of following Christ through that perspective. Something like a cross between Operation AJAX and The Jesus Film Project’s My Last Day.

Scout Out the Land
Using Google Maps/Earth, create a photo book which encourages a person to see the lands talked about in the Bible as if they were walking through it. Here, they’d choose the century/kingdom, and then be pulled down ground-level to the land and its up to them to explore and collect facts. After a certain amount of facts are collected, the maps zoom out and the Scriptures along with other data are given to fill in the blanks about the stories.

Beatitudes Devotional
A 30 day devotional based on the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12, Luke 6:20-26) in which a person is invited to write, record (audio/video), or link to a demonstration of that beatitude. 

Seriously, all that I’m seeing in the app store is variations on Bible/devotionals. How about we take things a considerable step forward and actually using the tablet space to instigate maturity in the faith, but making applications that compel us to want to share the outcomes of our steps in Christ?

When I started reading the Communication Arts article Learning to Be Happy, I had not expected to leave it with a huge smile on my face. Personally, it was because the author, DK Holland, was able to hit on so many points about technology, language, education, culture, and even religion, that I couldn’t help but to be tickled to a sense of joy about the core goals for MMM.

I’d wager that some of you might find similar reasons to smile after reading this – even if there are points in this piece that you don’t agree with. To be challenged to take ownership of the implications of technology and culture is how we truly learn to be happy. And then what you do with what you own… well, that is a story we well know which has its own set of results.