Not sure when the idea hit (I’d need to look back at notes and such). But, at one point during 2011, during one of the many calls had with several members of the Mobile Ministry Forum (MMF), I got the idea to just make a small website that had essentially all of the information points that the MMF aims for, but also serves as an example of a non-app approach to being an information point. The resulting actvity is simply named MobMin.Info (http://mobmin.info).

A Portal and A Reference
MobMin.Info is simply a portal page pointing to much of the resources and research that’s been done to date in the area of mobile ministry.

The URL was grabbed as a result of conversations around the #mobmin Twitter search term and the search tendencies of those looking for information about mobile ministry.

Structure
MobMin.Info is a single-page website (11K) site broken into separate sections:

• Websites
• Case Studies/Research
• Bible Apps
• Dev & Services
• Articles, News, and Discussions
• About the Mobile Ministry Forum

Each section simply links to the content from sites already involved in the Mobile Ministry Forum.

It is designed using HTML5 (Modernizr template) along with jQuery. It was completely developed on an iPad using Textastic.

Why Is This Relevant
One of the issues that some have had with the MMF is that it is quite difficult to find what information is out there for mobile ministry. There’s been a good bit published, and much of it is and isn’t quite in a format that some have needed for it to be in order for it to be actionable. A single destination that points to clearly defined resources is much more actionable.

The other reason for doing this is that Mobile Ministry Magazine is in dire need of a redesign itself. In the process of cleaning up information structures on the backend for an eventual redesign, it just made sense to take some of what we’d done so far and make that available, along with others in the mobile ministry space who have been steadily putting out content and resources. Given that our brand is quite strong, and the Mobile Ministry Forum is so closely aligned in both brand activity and name, it made sense to just go ahead and make this. The redesign for this site will follow a format more along the lines of existing content and the (hopefully this year) pending release of a mobile ministry methodology.

Sharing, Feedback, Future Directions
Ideally, MobMin.Info would be what you’d put into your mobile device’s browser and leave it there as a favorite/bookmark. Anything that’s happening in this mobile ministry space, that’s being referenced in this space, should be accessible from this URL. So, use it as a primary link or just as the one you have to share what happens in mobile ministry if someone where asking you what this is all about.

Your feedback is welcome, but aside from adding additional content streams from MMF members, there’s not too much that’s going to happen to this design (for example, its not getting published in an app store, its not getting a PC or tablet-optimized view, etc.). Not that your feedback isn’t worth it, but this is something that would be best served if MobMin.Info were sitting outside of the brand/authority of Mobile Ministry Magazine. Feel free to leave your comment here, or to post it at the Mobile Ministry Forum discussion board.

Future directions:

• Handover of the MobMin.Info site and domain to the MMF
• Possible change of this into a WordPress (or other CMS) template
• Added offline capacity (its almost there, its made using HTML5)

Ok folks, so no excuses for not having something in your head regarding how to find information about mobile ministry. Add MobMin.Info to your (portable) resources.