[This post is a part of the Technology in Youth Ministry Series]
The percentage of people using smart phones has increased tremendously over the past few years. Since youth workers tend to be on the early adopters side of things, many youth workers not only have smart phones but are quite saavy with downloading all the latest apps. I'm quite fond of my iPhone and have spent a bit of time developing apps for it. One of my favorite things has been finding ways to utilize iOS apps (apps for iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad) within student ministries.
10 iPhone Apps for Your Youth Ministry
10. Clips ~ Teach the Bible; use scenes from movies. I'm biased and can't help but include this in the list. I made it, I use it, and I encourage our team to use it. It's a great tool for helping build teachings or for leading a small group discussion based on a scene from a popular movie.
9. TableTopics. This app is an awesome discussion starter that provides random discussion questions that could work great as an icebreaker within a small group. One of the examples of questions is, "If you could design a postage stamp what would be on it?"
8. Evernote. I have not yet found a way better than evernote to take notes everywhere and keep them in sync acrossed all my devices and have them all organized into an easy-to-categorize, searcahble databse. Evernote does this incredibly well across all devices (they even have an Android app).
7. iBooks 2. iBooks has always been great tool for standard books, but now thanks to the iBooks Author tool there is a new realm of possibilities for books that could be great tools for students and leaders.
6. Garmin. I prefer to not get lost on our retreats. It's that simple.
5. iMovie. Edit your movies without ever having to touch a computer. The app is simple and great for making basic videos. Use your iPhone or iPod Touch to shoot the video and then quickly edit them into a highlight reel.
4. Wordpress. I use wordpress to power our middle school ministry website as well as my blog so this app comes in handy if I need to quickly update something, moderate comments, or check some stats.
3. Church Apps. I love to stay in touch with what other preachers are talking about. Download some of the churches that have apps and stay in touch with what they are talking about.
2. Facebook/Twitter. Most people probably already have these, but they are especially helpful in student ministry. Use the apps to stay in touch with students or to connect with other youth pastors worldwide.
1. Things. I still think that Things is the best to-do list app out there. I can't function well if I do have a running list of things that I need to do and that I can categorize and schedule. I put Things on my phone and computer and keep them in sync so i can easily know what needs to be done.