Get The Word Out

Every Wednesday night at my church is our Worship and the Word Bible Study night. It is always a great night and I always leave feeling like I've learned something.  When I was in college I was an usher in my church and on the Wednesdays when I ushered I would walk around the church after service and pick up all of the bible study handouts people had left behind.  It's not that people didn't care about bible studies or enjoy them but what were they really going to do with them when they got home?  How many people in your church keep a running file of all the bible studies you taught last year?

However, in today's world, we can provide digital copies for the members of our congregation.  This will not only help your members have permanent records of the word of God, but also cut down on the cost of paper.  Everyday I work with teachers in my district as an elearning coach and my main goal is to help teachers integrate technology into what they do.  One of the biggest ways I have helped teachers is teaching them how to share out information quickly without running hundreds of copies.  Here are a couple of power tips on how you can share out information quickly, efficiently, and cheaply.


1.  Invest in learning how to effectively use google docs.


If you have not familiarized yourself with google docs, then I highly suggest you take time to learn it.  It is a program offered to anyone with a gmail account.  This is by far the best way to create and share information.  I will spend a great number of post talking about the ways we can use google docs to better the work we do in our churches.

In the meantime, I would highly recommend Cybrary Man's website about google docs.  In the world of education, there is nobody better at curating information.  With many of the post you will easily find ways the church can take advantage of the technology.  He is on twitter @cybraryman1.  I would also recommend following @web20classroom.  He puts out great information on technology tools.

 2.  Learn how to shorten links


Let me give you an example.  Lets say you are having a youth week and there is a great bible study you want to share with your young people.  Here is the link:

http://download.pentecostalyouth.org/Youth%20Week%202012/Youth%20Week%202012-%20NEXT.pdf

Now try to put that in a bulletin, on your sign out front, or an advertisement.  The great thing is you don't have to.  There are several ways you can shorten a link.  My favorite tool to use is called bit.ly.

bit.ly screen shot

From here you can copy and paste the large link above and it will shorten it to this: http://bit.ly/xgqloG. Once the link is shorten, then you can easily put it in your bulletin or project it during service.  Then people can pull it up on their smart phones or tablets.  Having a working wifi system in your church is also essential.

You can also look at my previous blog and see how to take that link and make it a QR code.

Scan this QR code for this week's bible study

To help show you the process of how this could work and demonstrate the power of google docs, I put together about an 8 minute video demonstrating how easy this can be done.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave below!  I hope you enjoyed the post!

God bless!