Some weeks ago, we asked the question “what are some of your little-used mobile features”? The hope there was to get some feedback from you as to what features you have on your mobile device, but get little to no use from.
Let’s take that question and go a step further:
How does mobile technology factor into your day-to-day ministry work?
Let’s hear from you in the comments.
Over at Mobile Advance, a weekly list of links to news and happenings in and around mobile is posted.Here’s a snippet of what’s in Weekly Web Watch #28:
SMS/Texting
Read the rest of Weekly Web Watch #28 at Mobile Advance.
How about we look at mobile in this respect:
You have already made the decision that you will use mobile as the first channel that you will broadcast and engage your community. You have not settled on applications, websites, or any kinds of marketing tools, but you are certain that you want to use the most that you can with mobile.
Sounds good to me. Here are the characteristics of mobile then you want to keep in mind:
Mobile is the first (and most prevalent) personal mass media
It’s not just that mobile is where markets are focusing, it is where people are focusing on individual levels. And they are actively filtering content and the context of their personal, professional, and spiritual lives thru several mobile devices and services.
Get over the fact that people will not make you their priority, or their authority. You will be one of several streams. But, you can (and should) play a significant role in helping them to manage those streams.
Mobile is permanently carried
A mobile device is seemingly carried by everyone. If it isn’t a phone, it’s a personal media player, game system, music player, and sometimes even a voice recorder. Whatever it is, the device is closer to them than your application or service is. Learn the moments when your mobile effort will best be used, and use the fact that something is carried as part of the reason to be present for that moment.
Mobile is always-on
Always on doesn’t necessarily mean always having a signal. It means that there is power flowing to a device that can garner secondary attention from a primary event. This means that your application or service doesn’t have to sit front and center to their attention, but it should be available in those moments where someone is defaulting to considering something outside of an event going on immediately around them.
And what about those people who aren’t on because a device has lost power. Considering being the point where they power the device back up, and draw a solution for broadcasting or engagement to that point (not necessarily to the mobile device).
Mobile has a built-in payment mechanism
First things that ring in the pocket here are tithes and offerings. Get over it. Unless you are making your online giving systems as efficient as Amazon and iTunes, this won’t gain much traction. Doesn’t mean that people won’t give, but that they will have expectations. Slow services, countless clicks, and an unoptimized experience will simply merit the same responses that giving kiosks have had.
You can, and should, partner with those organizations whom are doing mobile/online giving. Use this as a teaching point for money management and information security. Yes, you are qualified to do so, and this is relevant not only to mobile, but any terminal where payments can be collected.
Mobile is available at the point of creative inspiration
Just because you cannot draw or produce award winning videos on your mobile doesn’t mean that it is impossible. Encourage the creative members of your communities to create and upload to the shared church/organization website the products they create. To those of you already using drama and painting arts in worship services, extend that to those things created dynamically during the service as well. I am sure that sketchbooks and sketchnotes could be really interesting in this wise.
Don’t dismiss the written language. Yes, SMS is only worth about 140 characters, and that’s a good thing. Teach people to pray or write psalms in that space. Again, encourage sharing and broadcasting a specific points in community life. Then, let creative life happen.
Mobile has the most accurate audience measurement
Some of you have justified fears about people tweeting or texting during sermons. You also what that response just as soon as they have it. Consider setting up a Google Voice account where voice and text messages can be set during a service, and then as a leadership team, pray and vet thru the responses for a followup in the next meeting.
Mobile captures the social context of media consumption
If your members are on Facebook more than they are in the Word, consider using those social networks that connect to Facebook as a means to get their eyes in front of the text. And if they are on Facebook and other social networks, are you there with them? What are they talking about? What are the pictures most about? Does your conceptualization of the Gospel meet the, where they live, or where you would like them to live (implying that their lives are meaningless because they don’t follow your pattern of faith)?
Mobile allows augmented reality to be used in media
Augmented reality (and virtual reality) means that you are placing a layer of content, usually online, on top of the real world. Sometimes, this looks like making sure that you are listed in Google Maps so that people can find you using Street View. This can also be the using of QR Codes so that people are accessing their mobile device, and making a shorter step to keeping mind of important information that in just hearing it.
This can also be done in geo-games between churches/groups. This can be a photo mashup compiled from the mobile devices and cameras of several in your community, but layered into the existing web presence your church/org offers.
There are a lot of ways to take mobile and make it work for you. It’s not all about applications, mobile web, or text messaging either. Using the unique qualities of mobile, where you go with it becomes up to your community, not market trends.
As surprised as I was when the news hit my mobile, there was still a lump in my throat. After the arrest, I knew that it would be a matter of time before they’d come looking for the rest of us. Thankfully, with the Passover in full swing, and the numbers in the city swelling, I could hide in a few places, and hopefully get the benefit of time causing some measure of forgetfulness. I only hope that the images we sent to the brothers weren’t intercepted.
The plans were in my head already, but here I needed to act. I told my wife of the situation for as much as I had known. Then asked her to take my mobile and destroy it. I’d keep the SIM card, and would be very brief and random when I’d use it to let her know where I am. I pulled the emergency mobile from the drawer, kissed her and the kids, then left under the cover of the rising sun. I was still excited about last night, and here I’m already running for my life.
Making my way through some of the early crowd, I made sure to keep the SIM in one pocket and the new(ish) mobile in the other. If at any point there was another announcement made about registering mobiles, I was fine with the mobile being taken or destroyed. Not the SIM, I needed that until I could get to one of the brothers and have it duplicated. Time was of the essence, I’d already been tipped off that one of the brothers was seen near where they held him for the night. Not sure if that image was posted, but it sure did make the rounds through a few text social circles.
By this point, I’d not eaten in nearly half a day. The news was now everywhere you could turn. Weirdly enough, there was very little about the officials looking for his associates. They seemed to be more concerned with him, the multiple trials, and later the show of blatant disregard for his lineage. In some of the video coverage, I could see mobiles being used to record, then Roman soldiers as well as religous officials snatching the devices out of the hands of people. They didn’t want this to get out, but they wanted it to be seen. This can’t end well.
Finally making it to the safe house, I pop my duped SIM into the emergency mobile and shoot some MMS messages to my wife and kids. I wanted them to see that I was ok. Hopefully, their devices aren’t being traced, but I have little time to care. I just need them to know that I’m ok. And then, almost like a symphony, all of us in the room hear all of our mobiles go off at the same time – all of us received the same MMS message. Was it them? Did they know where we were at after all? No one dared to even open the message, let along click off the prompt that a message was received. One of the guys who ran out of the house when the messages initially came in reentered the room saying that everyone has received the message. “Open it, look what they are doing to him!”
It was only a 30 second clip. But that was all that we needed to see. There he was, I think. In the face it looked like him, but the body was badily bruised. He had something on his head, but I couldn’t tell – I’ve got a simple mobile without a good screen. It looked like he nearly fell with some beam on his back, but then some other guy grabs the beam from him and then the scene cuts. We all looked at one another terrified. We knew what was next. This kind of message only comes out for certain kinds of capital punishments.
My mobile had been off for a few hours. I needed to relocate and didn’t need any cell towers tracking my movements. Better that my IMEI simply shows up in a different region with a different SIM than traveling across regions. It was around noon when mine and all the mobile around me beeped again. There was another MMS. This one felt different. The sky had darkened before it came in. I had this feeling in my stomach that I lost something very important.
I clicked to look at the message. There he was. Just… hanging there. The recording wasn’t clear, but he said something (John 19:30, Luke 23:46). Then he just hung his head. It was over. Right before this clip cut, a Roman soldier entered the scene. He didn’t look so strong, he looked convinced (Luke 23:47-49) - as I did that day on the Sea of Galilee – he wasn’t a normal man at all. Jesus was a lot more than that. But here, as plain as every recorded message of his that I had and had received from others, is gone.
People who’ve attended those crucifixions say that its different when you are there. I knew Jesus personally. I don’t think that I could have been there at all. The pain would have been too great, I’d try and pull him down or… something. I can’t think about that now. I shoot a message out to the brothers and some of the sisters, we need to figure out what’s next. Surely, in a few days when the Passover is done, we’ll be targeted. We’ve got to have a plan. That’s what he would have wanted, right?
Part two, what happens on Easter Sunday, continues the story.
Tomi Ahonen has been quoted several times on this site as many of his insights have contributed to the understanding and application of mobile technology in the digital faith arena. Suffice to say, when he puts an idea down, it’s worth reading, rereading, and making steps to adjust.
Such is how I feel after having read his latest 20K+ word article about the mega-opportunity in mobile. Thankfully, Ahonen speaks in more than monetary terms. And given the insights he and several others in mobile share, the opportunity in mobile for great gains is just a matter of capitalizing on the opportunity. Here’s a snippet of the article:
MOBILE IS BIGGEST ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY (EVER)
Now, that is a massive statement, isn’t it? I mean, biggest? Ever? But before you jump to your next task on your to-do list, please consider just this fact. One industry on the planet has to be it. All others pretend, but factually, one of the thounsands of industries does truly have to be the biggest economic opportunity of any one time. Earlier on in the past century it was oil. Created the oil barons and billionaire oil sheikhs. Late in the century it was personal computers. Made Bill Gates the wealthiest man on the planet. At any one point in time there is one industry which is the best to be in. (and yes, even if biggest at one point in time, is not guaranteed to be ‘of all time’)
Today that is mobile. Mobile has become a Trillion dollar industry. Not the biggest industry on the planet, but one in a very rare category to pass the Big T of a Trillion. Television is not that big (has never passed half a Trillion dollars in annual revenues). Computers are not that big. Radio is not that big. The internet is not that big. Cinema is not that big. Newspapers is not a Trillion-dollar industry. Neither is air travel, credit cards, advertising, music, pharmaceuticals, hotels, videogames, the coffee industry, etc. Imagine if you were there to be one of the big ‘barons’ of one of those industries when they were in ‘hypergrowth’ stage, you’d have retired rich today with probably universities, airports or even cities named after you…
Read the rest of How You Became Next Mogul in Mobile (and a Millionaire) at Communities Dominate Brands. Also, you might want to add a cup of coffee or tea and a sandwich for this one (the reply from Martin Geddes, then Tomi’s reply).
For something a bit shorter, but packing a similar punch, check out this interview of Tomi Ahonen over at Mobile Zeigeist.
Here’s a small activity that you can do to not only extend your use of a mobile device, but take a traditional concept and by adding mobile to it, realize another opportunity for Gospel intersections.
For the following activity you will need:
Our goal, we are going to turn your smartphone into a device that distribute Biblical (or encouraging) content using a mobile web server.*
Step One:
Download and install Fine Mobile Web 2.0 (iFMW) onto your mobile device.
You will need to sign-up for an account with Fine Mobile Web during the installation process. Once you have done so, you will have a web server running on your mobile device (the URL will be (yourusername).ifmw.mobi).
Step Two:
Take some pictures of Bible verses, or record yourself saying a few verses.
Try to do three or four of these as you’ll be handing these out.
Note: for this step, please do not use content that you’ve downloaded or purchased from other entities (Bibles, music, etc.). The impact of this activity is best felt when you create a product based on your walk with God, not the published activities of another. Plus, its generally illegal to give for free content that you’ve paid for from another.
Step Three:
Within the iFMW software, go to the section of the application called Contents Sharing. On the next screen, select the option to share content from you. Select the content that you’ve just created as the item(s) that you will share.
This step says that you will be sharing content from your mobile device with other people.
Step Four:
Select some people who wouldn’t mind receiving this encouraging content from you.
You will be asked to give them access to that folder where you are sharing the content. You will also be sending them a secret code, which will be sent by SMS. Keep it simple for them (and for you to remember).
Step Five:
Wait for their response.
Here’s Your Opportunity, Take Tracts Digitial
Our mobile devices are very powerful points of contact. There’s a lot that we can do on them that we’ve many times left for other content producers, ministries, etc. to do for us. But, the fact is that we can do a ton of this ourselves as time and tools allow.
This exercise uses a concept based on using a mobile web server to distribute user-generated content. But, we aren’t just serving files, we’ve actually given a URL to our mobile device. We aren’t just sending a file, but we’ve made our mobile devices a place on the web identified for producing content. This content can become picture galleries, blog posts, or something not-yet-invented (hint, hint) to making a place where others can engage not just Biblical content, but our lives as we live out Scripture. And like the websites we use daily, there’s a URL right to it.
If you’ve done this exercise, you’ve taken a step out of the normal box of handing out tracts. Similar, but instead of a physical street, you’ve created a place on the digital highway where people can make a choice about whether to receive what you have to say about Christ. And if you’ve received the URL to a mobile site from someone else, you’ve seen just how powerful and connected mobile devices can be.
And yes, you can do this much simpler with SMS and MMS. This exercise was to go beyond that to duplicating what websites (such as the one for your churches) might do.
How did this exercise works out for you? Leave your thoughts and results in the comments to this post. Please note any technical questions to the iFMW website.
For more information on activities similar to this, read our MMM Mobile Web Server Experiment Report (available in PDF, Google Doc, and blog post (pt1, pt2, pt3) formats).
Images via The Word Street Journal and iFMW.
It is a very common topic these days to talk about mobile applications and whether they are good, bad, and the myths around them. And around some company, they really are the best thing since sliced bread.
Even with the reality of mobile application use, I wonder about the push the “get a mobile app” button. There are a few too many questions that aren’t asked, and when they are, the conversations gets a bit interesting. In some cases, the conversations revolve around a specific platform or application/service delivery method, and this always gets away from the primary focus of engaging people with the Gospel, using the technology as a relevant tool not just for the Gospel, but other parts of their lives.
Over at Youth Ministry, there was a discussion stating 21 reasons why a church or ministry needs a mobile application. It has a many good points for mobile engagement and mobile apps. Here’s a reposting of my comment made for that piece:
I agree that ministries need to use mobile tech in ways to engage and communicate, I don’t agree that you [always] need an app to do it.
(1) Application development (as has been talked about in the comments here) is expensive unless you are using a turn-key solution such as Nokia’s Ovi App Wizard
(2) At that point, its free, but you are merely just repeating what’s on your website [by using RSS feeds] – and now you’d be doing this for every mobile platform represented in your congregation [103 app stores, 6-7 major mobile platforms].
(3) Most people *do not* own a smartphone – there are 6 major smartphone platforms they could be using [and over 100 app stores] – and unless their parent’s are really nice with getting into app stores without supervision, you’ll have to figure out the best means to promote your application which costs you time and more money.
(4) Going the route of taking your existing website, and making it mobile-friendly (use a service like mobify.me, or if you already are using a blog/CMS like WordPress, Typepad, etc., there are plugins for those platforms). If you haven’t made your church’s site mobile-friendly, or at least made it appear nice in a Google Local search, then you don’t need an app as much as you just need to make your content findable.
(5) Mobile interactions aren’t the same as PC; therefore you need to decide what you are going after with mobile. If it is just communications, do you need a mobile app/website, or just SMS and MMS. SMS/MMS isn’t just less expensive, but its already understood, costs less for the user/receiver, and offers faster and better response rates than other forms of communication
(6) Maybe you are under the assumption that they will sit on a mobile and wait for a downloaded song or sermon; nope. These items are usually downloaded while at a PC and then sideloaded to the mobile device. [In cases where connectivity isn't as easy, people swap memory cards to exchange content rather than doing it wirelessly.]
(7) Social networks are already mobile-friendly, and your youth are already there; why not just engage them there, and use the mobile as another window for you and them to communicate and connect. Create wallpapers and ringtones specific to your ministry and post them a Facebook/MySpace and encourage them to download and share them with others. Heck, go really ahead of the game and use QR codes and multimedia as an alternative to handing out tracts. This is mobile too.
Don’t get me wrong, apps are good. But, when looking to engage folks with mobile, you’ve got to look at not just what seems popular, but what is actually going to work. I ask and experiment in this space often, and can tell you that there’s no silver bullet. As with anything engaging in media, you’ve got to use several methods, not just the loudest ones.
Definitely check out the rest of the comments at Youth Ministry; they are insightful from several perspectives and prescriptive of some of the matters that a church/ministry should consider if going the application route.
Also, take with you the understanding that a mobile application (or website, or social network) is not a strategy. It is a tool that is part of your strategy for engaging and communicating with communities. Take to heart our definition of mobile ministry – the behavior of ministry is bolstered by the tools for the cause of the Gospel.
A common question posed to myself here at MMM has been the idea of local engagement. That is, what can churches/ministries do on a local level to engage their communities by taking advantage of the mobile technologies that are becoming more commonly used around their communities. An experience that I had yesterday points to a few ways towards making this possible.
I was invited to Remedy Church by some friends for service this past weekend. The friend and I communicated the entire matter via SMS. He did the noble thing and sent me the address of the church, I promptly looked up the address within the mapping application on my mobile, and got two sets of directions to get there.
I wanted to get a small feel for the church before getting there, so Sunday morning before departing I took a look at their website using my mobile. I browsed through every page of their site, and thankfully, my mobile had the ability to view all aspects of their site. I did have trouble finding the address information – as it was embedded into a picture rather than as HTML text – but other than that found everything that I’d wanted to know before hand.
Using Ovi Maps, I was directed to Remedy and then just made my way into speaking with several people. They are really a nice and youthful community. I even spotted a person using an iPad during service. One of the things that I really liked is that they are doing Scriptural memorization as an entire community. They passed out a card and both sides were presented with passages in 1 John 2 that they were setting to remember. The pastor made the mention that it wasn’t a requirement, but it was something they were doing to help facilitate maturity in speaking the Scriptures within and outside of their community.
The message was on point. The person preaching was not the usual pastor, but a member of the community who has stepped into the calling to be a church planter. His message was not just very direct (re: convicting) but also packed with several references outside of his main passage in Luke 9:57-62. This too was very good to hear as the person stayed very close to the text in interpretation, and kept the application relevant to the listening community.
As the service ended, there was another card to fill out (since I was a visitor). This was the normal connection card asking for name, email, address, and having a few check boxes for a few other items and comments. All in all, the same and nothing too different – except the entry and managing points of all of that information.
So here are a few points where mobile, SMS, and mobile web can be points in this story:
This is not a critique of Remedy or other churches who use these methods. It is a look at where technologies such as mobile and web intersects and it doesn’t cause any more administrative concerns than what currently exists.
Do tread slowly. Don’t try to go so far and so fast with these tools. But, do take a look at what you have in your communities and hands, and think creatively. Then engage locally.
Easter, Narrated Through a Mobile Lens
Sunday, April 24th, 2011Part one of this, the happenings for Good Friday, help set the context.
The rest of us managed to find a room in relative obscurity. Due to our proximity to one another, we decided to just share four SIM cards between us, and let the other SIMs be used only in extreme emergencies. This has caused a problem with some of us who need to contact families, but I think that we’ll be ok if we can hold on a few more days.
Some of the women went down to the sepulchre. It was a very nice gesture Joseph did in granting Jesus his tomb. Surely the Lord will look well upon his gift – it already seems that brothers and sisters from neighboring towns have – offers of sepulchre’s and burial items have been pouring in by SMS all weekend.
Another beep. This time its only one of our mobiles. This doesn’t feel right. It is too early for the women to be sending us a message, hopefully nothing has happened to them. So few others outside of this room have that number. It can’t be good. A brother – bless his aggressive heart – picks up the mobile and looks at the MMS. His face looks pale. Then he droops and begins to sob. None of us dare want to break the silence by asking what he’d seen. He just throws the mobile on the table – a video clip playing.
I can see it from where I’m standing. There a cave, no, a tomb. Looks like the one they described as being the one donated by Joseph. However, its open. That’s not right. We can’t make out much, but it looks like the stone is moved, and there are no guards. Could the body have been… no, they wouldn’t do that. Would they?
Then the conversations start. We’ve got to see what’s going on there. Peter stands before us all cautioning that we’d be better off just waiting until the women return and then see what their report is. The message had to have come from them. Maybe they were just as surprised and shocked as we were.
A few minutes later the mobile beeps. This time just an SMS, and from the mobile held by the women. It was a short message, but stirred all kinds of emotions in all of us when it was read, “He is risen!” First one, then a few more started wailing. The pain of Jesus leaving just a few days ago, and how this – “He is risen” – what does it mean? Was he telling us the truth after all? Is this what it all meant?
A few hours later the women return. They are tired, but seem happier than anything. We asked them to explain, and they responded, “didn’t you get the message. He’s risen.” They go on to explain what happened when they got to the tomb. Its an unbelievable story to say the least. Peter runs out, he needs to see for himself obviously. The rest of us are sure, whether Jesus is risen or not, we’ve got to move. As soon as that news gets out, there are going to be even louder calls for our heads.
It had been three days since seeing my wife and family. I was glad to see them, hug them. And get some freshened clothing. Having some time, I also picked up my solar charger, and swapped SIMs with my wife. She’s got clear instructions not to use it until tomorrow. We’ve got to make sure that it doesn’t look suspicious that she’d changed numbers right now. I show her the message (“He is risen”) and she just beams. She doesn’t understand it much more than I, but she finds some relief in the message. I let her know that I’ve got to go for a few more days, but that I’ll be back. That embrace was hard. I really wasn’t sure if I’d see them again.
The brothers planned to meet near the place were ate with Jesus last. The keeper of that room also received the message from the women and assured us that we would be taken care of and fine there. We had to think and act quickly. And somehow, if Jesus is risen, get in contact with him. I’m sure that he couldn’t get a mobile – but I’ve seen him produce all kinds of things out of thin air, anything is possible with him.
The plans came along quickly. This was much different than in times past. It seemed like this time that we just wanted to be on one accord. Some of us reclined in our seats to breathe, some had been on the run a lot longer than just the past three days. Then something strange happened. The mobiles in the center of the table turned on at the same time, then vibrated, then turned off. That was weird, and we all seemed to see it at the same time. It got quiet, really quiet. Then, near the doorway, there was this voice, “Peace be with you.” I couldn’t believe my eyes. The face was right, and the body didn’t look anything like that battered person we saw on the official clip before the crucifixion.
Oh boy, it was him alright. I didn’t even have words. I was sorry for running, sorry for staying. I believed. I didn’t believe. And yet, there he was.
“Peace be with you,” he repeated. We all ran to embrace him but he stopped us. We couldn’t touch him? Weird, but he was there. Literally, right in our face. It hurt a bit that our mobiles didn’t work while he was there. It would have been great to send the wife footage of him eating with us and joking just like he used to. Weird how they didn’t work until he was gone. There was also some teachings that he gave. Teachings about things he taught before, which were a lot clearer now. I think I get it. The family won’t believe it, but I’ve got the means to explain it now.
Just as quickly as he showed, Jesus left. He still knows how to make an exit. This time though we’ve got some hope. Some of the brothers sat in a corner talking about the plans that we made earlier. Some things would have to change. We were confident that those changes would be for the better. If we are going to continue on the course that Jesus stared, we’d have to live life the way he did.
The only thing that was perplexing to me about the way he lived was that “gift” he kept referring to. What was that gift? And why was he so adamant about us receiving it?
Tags: Easter, Jesus, MMS, resurrection, SMS
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