Every now and then I see folks post the tools they use to “get the job done” in ministry. For some reason I always find myself gravitating to these posts to see if there are any tools that I’m missing that could enhance the ministry. I figured that I would throw the stuff I use out there. Maybe this will help you. Maybe you can comment and suggest better tools for me to use. The goal: To help each other do what we’ve been called to do and do it well. This will be a series of three posts over the next couple of weeks covering hardware, general productivity software & apps, and specific ministry software.
Hardware
- Desktop Computer – Dell OptiPlex 390 (Core i3 w/ 8 GB RAM, running Windows 7 Professional). This is my main office PC. I use it because our church uses Windows machines. I find it works well for my daily work.
- Laptop Computer – 13″ MacBook Pro (2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo w/ 4 GB RAM, running OS X 10.8.2 Mountain Lion). I jumped into the world of Macs about three years ago. It is fast, was much thinner and lighter than comparable Windows machines back then, and did things like video editing so much easier. I use it for traveling, at home, around the church, in meetings, and of course I still use it for all of my video editing work. I am actually planning to upgrade this machine in the coming months to a newer 13″ MacBook Pro.
- Motorola Droid 2 phone. So i really wanted to move into the world of the iPhone two years ago. But as a Verizon Wireless customer for many years, I simply got tired of waiting for Apple to release an iPhone on Verizon (which they finally did about 3-4 months after I stopped waiting). So I went with the Droid 2. I really like the Android platform and have thoroughly enjoyed this phone. However, I am looking forward to upgrading some time over the next few weeks as I renew my contract. Looking seriously at the Motorola Droid Razr M or Motorola Droid Razr HD. I just can’t move to an iPhone now that I’ve experienced the Android OS.
- HTC Flyer 7″ tablet. Yes, this is also on the Android operating system. I planned to get an iPad but just didn’t want something that big. All of my friends tried convincing me that I did want one that size, but after playing with several, as beautiful as they were, I just didn’t want a tablet that big. I wanted something smaller around 7″. Loving the Android OS on my phone, getting an Android tablet was a no-brainer. The 7″ format is perfect for preaching from (about the same size as a half sheet of paper which is what I used before), reading from on my Kindle app, using at meetings, and hitting up a website when there’s no laptop around. It’s WiFi only which is all I need since our church and house are all WiFi enabled as are most places I’d go to sit and chill for a bit.
- iPod Classic. Gotta be able to have music for youth events and when I need to relax. 160 GB. Plenty of room for that without all of the extra stuff that my phone and tablet handle for me.
Those are the five main pieces of hardware that I use as tools for ministry. Yes – I am an equal-opportunity-OS-user (2 Apple products, 2 Android products, 1 Windows product). My motto – use what works and works well for you. What about you? What are you using that I’ve missed? Or why are you using something different?
Youth Ministry Is For Lovers 