like a fire

OK, a while back I wrote about several youth zines and I was especially discouraged by the first run of the Journal of Student Ministries. Actually this is an old magazine that has just undergone a buyout by Zondervan, so it isn’t really a startup. My big issue with it was it’s look. It was very hard to read and just looked less professional than I thought a publication of this caliber ought to be.

Today in my in box was the new issue and I was very pleasantly surprised. Though I wouldn’t say that the look is what pleases my eye (I am a minimalist), but it looks tons better and is very readable. I haven’t had a chance yet to actually read it for content but it looks like they are really improving their look and trying to make this a quality resource for youth guys. Way to go Journal.

OK, here is a no brainer for guys in the ministry who manage multiple teams. This is a really easy, free tool to help you from Google called… Google Calendar. Don’t tune out yet, it is way more than a calendar.

My issue with calendars goes way back. Mostly, if I try to manage more than one calendar, then I always leave something out and forget about a meeting or something very important that I should have remembered. At the same time, if I put everything I need to remember into one calendar, it is daunting to look at and I can’t see the things that are really important. Enter Google Calendar.

Google Calendar is free and easy to set up. You can manage several calendars at once and you can turn off each group to simplify your viewing. For example, I keep a calendar for my personal schedule, for the church schedule, the youth ministry schedule, my special programs shedules and a small group schedule. They are all separate and color coordinated to help me see quickly what is happening. I can turn off any one or all of these groups to print for my staff in each group or just to see each groups activities. If this doesn’t seem really cool yet, let me give you some specifics.

I get calls from parents regularly asking me when their child’s small group meets. Most of the time I don’t know the answer. With Google Calendar I make a small group calendar and invite all the small group leaders to view and edit it. They maintain the calendar and everyone can view it. I simply look it up and find their group and tell the parents where and when they are meeting. Easy!

I keep track of my team meetings in the same way and since members of each team can edit meetings, they can tell me if they can make the meetings or not. They can see each months meetings and know when they are happening well in advance and communicate (if you work in a church, don’t freak out from that word) effectively.

I have used many apps that try to make my life easier from Outlook to Backpack and this is the best one I have found so far.