Okay, I know that is not exactly proper English, but this is the web, can’t we say whatever we want? I don’t believe that everyone must have an IPhone to find this article useful, but for those that have an IPhone and are in ministry, than you will certainly find some nugget of value here.
I have not had my IPhone very long, but once I got mine, I wanted to be an IPhone expert. Okay, that still has not really happened, but one thing I have found is that there are many Applications and uses for this incredible phone. Over the years, I have been a Palm and a Windows Mobile user and was actually quite opposed to the IPhone in a ministry environment till version 2.x came out. Now with version 3.x, it is hard to argue its value. I have recently used the Palm Pre and if this is Palm’s attempt to compete with Apple’s IPhone then I think it is safe to say that we are going to see the final end of Palm technologies. There is no comparison. I digress.
If you are not using social networking in your ministry, you are seriously missing out. Read some of the other articles in this blog to read my thoughts on those technologies. But the IPhone is so much more than a phone. With this technology, you can update your Twitter account, your blog (like this one), your Facebook account and oh yes, even your email. If you want to get in touch with your “community” (however you define that) then your IPhone has the tools to make that happen.
I use the Facebook app to keep the account status/photos/video/etc updated daily. There are many different Twitter apps (some free, others not) that will let you focus on the message and less about the technology. If you are as mobile as I am (and more of course) than having your IPhone able to gleam from just about any electronic source out there, than you never have to keep from knowing what is going on. Now if you are planning a trip to the beach, leave the phone off the sand and out of the ocean, but why not share your experience with others as you do experience the relaxing experience before you.
One of my clients recently purchased each minister and church secretary an IPhone. Why because they wanted each of the staff to be on the same page when it comes to the technologies that they will be using. No one on the staff can’t say something like “I did not know” because the church can so quickly communicate to the whole staff with the touch of a button.
I am pondering the idea of what if the church purchased an IPhone account for each adult member of their church (or those that would “qualify”). Could the church actually justify such a crazy purchase with we can really quickly and efficiently communicate with our members and part of the deal is that the members must communicate back. Certainly there are many logistical issues not counting the costs but I believe if done correctly, a church could easily “pay back” their costs if they had a way to get the word out to their members of any event, online tithing options, registration, “news bits” and whatever you can imagine. Just think about the possibilities. Certainly there are costs, but if you had each member who would participate in the free “IPhone” program, go through a 4 week course on how they are expected to use this technology, covering Twitter, Facebook, Email, and Text Messages. Once they complete the course with an understanding of why they are getting this incredible offer, then they would “qualify” for the free phone.
Okay, this is a little strange, but at least think about it. I have run some numbers and for a church with say 100 qualifying partipants, the monthly costs may be around $5000. If played right, you should be able to make that back. Of course that does not work out the cost of the phone costs themselves, but I am sure ATT may work out some deal. Just a thought.
I am curious how crazy you think this idea is. Share you thoughts either from a minister’s point of view or from the members point of view. Would you even consider participating in such a program?
