The Fantastic Four of Youth Ministry Apps

By Clint Followell January 15, 2019

The amount of technology available to assist you with youth ministry is overwhelming. There are so many places to go to find resources! Instead of letting you drown in the vast sea of possibilities, I wanted to give you my 4 favorite youth ministry apps that have reshaped the way I work.

Must-Have Youth Ministry Apps:

1. Organize and Plan Your Week with Trello

My weakest area of ministry is organization, by far. But I actually get excited when it’s time to update my plan on Trello. Trello is an app that allows me to plan my Wednesday nights visually by creating “lists” that stack with “cards” that sit side by side in the app. I use lists to represent my sermon series or events and each week or section of the event is a separate card. I love it because after I create and maintain these, I can share it with my team so we all can stay on the same page. You can also create collaborative checklists, which I use to share random to-do lists and shopping lists with my team. If a volunteer picks up an item, they can check it off and it will appear checked on everyone’s app.

For Apple – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/trello/id461504587?mt=8

For Android – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trello&hl=en_US

2. Keep All Your Communication in One Place with Slack

Communication is vital in youth ministry. The problem is, there are so many different people you need to communicate with, making it incredibly difficult to keep all conversations in one place. This is where Slack comes in; it’s a chat app on steroids. Besides being your one-stop solution for communication with your team, you can add hundreds of features like file-sharing from Google Drive, Google calendar alerts, and polls/questions. To keep communication clear and organized, you divide your contacts into as many “channels” as you need inside your “workspace.” Each channel can have a separate group of people. For instance, I have a “Youth Leaders Slack” chat, a “General” chat for everyone, a “Leaders Only” chat, and a “Worship Team” chat for my student worship leaders. For DNow this past year, I created a separate workspace and different channels for each host home, our worship team, and our leaders. Ultimately, it helps keep my communication organized and in one place!

For Apple – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slack/id618783545?mt=8

For Android – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Slack&hl=en_US

3. Keep Parents and Students in the Loop with Remind

Remind is the easiest announcement tool I’ve ever used. It was created for schools, so teachers could communicate with parents and students, but it works flawlessly for churches as well. It allows you to send out announcements that are one-way texts or push notifications on your students’ and/or parents’ phones. I use it to share event details or any urgent announcements. The best part? It is 100% free!

For Apple – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/remind-school-communication/id522826277?mt=8

For Android – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.remind101&hl=en_US

* https://help.remind.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002396740-Service-disruption-for-Verizon-Wireless-users-in-the-United-States

4. Save Time and Up Your Game on Social Media with Canva and Hootsuite

Social Media is a huge avenue for youth ministers to reach students. I believe it is important to have a consistent presence in your students’ lives; this is one easy way to do that. Sweet graphics make your posts pop, but I used to waste hours trying to make them myself. That is, until I found Canva. Canva has thousands of premade templates or graphics you can edit and use for your own social media posts. It’s easy to use and can be done on your phone or computer. I mention Hootsuite as well because it allows you to schedule posts for up to three social media networks. Once a week, I create graphics on Canva and then schedule them to be posted throughout the week with Hootsuite. Not only does scheduling save me time, it forces me to plan ahead so students know what is going on before it happens!

For Apple – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hootsuite-social-media-tools/id341249709?mt=8
For Android – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hootsuite.droid.full&hl=en_US

For Apple – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/canva-photo-editor-design/id897446215?mt=8

For Android – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.canva.editor&hl=en_US

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Looking for more youth ministry apps? One that will help you get intentional about discipleship, communicate with adult volunteers and parents, and track student’s spiritual growth? Can you even find all those features in one place? You can – with a new product for LeaderTreks’ HERO Members. We designed Youth Ministry Apps with your needs in mind so it offers the solutions your looking for. So what are you waiting for? HERO Members click here to access your Apps.

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