When we talked about a definition of mobile ministry last week, one of the three observable instances of mobile ministry was described as mobile as moment. Or basically, those experiences of mobile technology which start as personally beneficial to one’s salvation/faith experience, but have the potential to connect to others through direct interactions.
We get an excellent view of this via the folks at YouVersion who have recently posted a story about a woman who was able to use YouVersion to help youth engage with the Bible.
Here, we see some of the fruits of a solid platform: there’s access, accountability, goal-setting, and then the technology comes in to thread the entire experience. It makes for a solid example of what can be done with connected spaces and technologies.
How are you using technology to engage with others’ experiences of living or reading the Bible? Do you see any areas where things can be better for your given audiences?
What is Mobile Ministry
Thursday, November 18th, 2010In one of the recent conversations that I was around (about the kiosk), we talked about how ventures like MMM would do well to be certified – it would add validity to the effort around this site and the perceptions towards mobility and mobile ministry. Thing is, mobile ministry isn’t something that you can be certified in (yet) – frankly speaking, it isn’t old enough for there to be sufficient best practices and/or innovations above those.
And yet, I (and some others) sense this need and therefore, we’ve got to define what mobile ministry is, what are the key applications, and what are its clear implications. This post will sit as MMM‘s re-introduction to the public conversations on this topic.
A Working Definition
Mobile ministry is the skillful use and application of computer technology classified as mobile for the context of fulfilling the Christian (religious?) designation of forwarding the proclamation of the key ideals and history of the faith, following form to and innovating on top of cultural and faith traditions within applied contexts.
Mobile [technology] can defined as:
Another way to look at this definition is to look at these specific mobile characteristics of mobile technology as identified here:
via Tomi Ahonen, Communities Dominate Brands
This differs from what we commonly hear about mobile. The market definition of mobile is any device that contains wireless communication capabilities (cellular or IP) and is designed around a viewport (screen) of less than 5in. This cosigns mobile into a personal computing context that both magnifies the characteristics, and presents the framework in which to approach mobile for service/life application.
Working Applications of this Definition
With this definition in mind, we can start looking at contexts in which this action of ministry (sharing and multiplying faith experiences) happens. Here are some of these contexts (as defined by MMM‘s case report categories):
Indeed, within these constructs, the definition and application of mobile can get very wide and deep. The challenge therefore, is to identify the characteristics of mobile, with the applicable technologies which are mobile in context, to create opportunities for ministry-type engagements.
Missions, Media, and Moments
There are currently, three focuses that I’ve seen in the area of mobile ministry which have come to light over the past 6-10 years: mobile in missions, mobile in media, and mobile capturing/definiting moments.
Mobile in missions looks at the application and use of the technology and characteristics of mobile primarily within the context of fulfilling missional engagements. This includes SMS/MMS campaigns, multimedia sharing/engagement, web media development, educational facilitation and mobile health/wellness campaigns.
Mobile in media ascribes the characteristics of mobile to existing media domains (TV, radio, Internet) to bolster activities and engagement to fringe audiences, and to bolster connections to existing audiences. Here we see SMS/MMS campaigns as a subset of a larger media campaign. There is more of a focus on creating experiences through dedicated applications. And we commonly find those persons whom are missional in business contexts creating Gospel-led moments through these activities.
Mobile as a moment is largely the space where personal use and experimentation of the technology becomes the driver of Gospel engagements. Here, we have the use of religious applications such as bible readers, reading plans, and messaging alerts. Many missional and media engagements start also at this level – where a single person, directly with a mobile or with the assistance of a messaging/social networking service, reaches out to friends and loose associates with messages of encouragement, reproof, instruction, etc. In the marketing space, this would be akin to grassroots and viral methodologies at their most basic levels.
Where Do You Stand
Given this short look at defining mobile ministry, I’d hope that you’d be able to better see where you or your organization might stand in respect to how you choose to engage mobile contexts.
At this still early stage of making this field a viable option for ministries and individuals, such definitions are not just helpful, but frame and understanding towards what can and should be the aims of the tools and behaviors that we shape as mobile ministry becomes yet another avenue to share the wealth and depth of the Christian faith to others.
Stay tuned to the Mobile Case Studies/Research page as items there will also continue to contribute to this (working) definition and the means to identify trends in this space.
Tags: application, church, discipleship, engagement, mobility, resources, smartphones, SMS
Posted in Commentary, Future Trends | 8 Comments »