Tools I Use In Ministry: Google

I remember many years ago, I was frustrated with the emails programs that were out there. I had a Hotmail, Yahoo and even created my own pop email program. I was very annoyed because they were slow, full of Ads and I would get tons of spam. I was talking to friends and found out that Google had created a email program that was way different than everything out there. I got excited and began begging for an invite into their private beta. I ended up buying my invite into Gmail and the $.99 was well worth it. I have never looked back.


Since then, Google has become a main stay in my life. I still use Gmail and have added Calendar, Docs, Tasks, Google+, Blogger, Picasa and varies other products that Google offers. In this post, I am going to explain how I use these in ministry. They have been great in helping keep my life in check and it can do the same for ministry.  Google has made it very easy for ministry to have some excellent office resources without actually having an office or spending a lot of supplies.


Before you say it, yes there are other resources out there that do the same thing as Google but I have found all the Google resources to work well together and are very easy to use.  They also offer the ability to host our own domain using Google Apps.  This is also free to non-profits and allows you to use an @churchname.com email address and can also provide the ability to share tools across staff members.


Here is how I use each tool...


GMail is the basis of the Google products.  I know their search is great but to me their email program changed email.  Gmail has a great interface that is easy to use and nice to look at.  You are not bombarded by add or other sections with more information.  Gmail has one of the best spam filters in the business (this helps with productivity).  One of the features I love is the embedded email history.  This means that an email conversation is contained in one thread so that you can easily look back and see how the message developed.  Gmail contacts is also a great information manger for people in your life. Gmail also allows you to label an email.  This means you c an tag each email with multiple labels for easier searching when you need them in the future.


Docs is a great online document editor.  Google gives you Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentation and forms.  Everything is online, so you can access it from everywhere and on any computer.  This gives you the ability to create and store docs that can be shared with others.  Two or more people can even edit the same document and Google keeps track.  I have used Docs to work with my assistant to make sure we were using the same version of a document.  One of the great pieces is the Forms piece.  You can easily create a document that can be shared or embedded on a website.  This is good for collecting information from students, parents or whoever.


Calendar & Tasks is your online space for keeping track of your life.  Calendar allows you have to have multiple calendars (I have one for each ministry area) and you are able to share them with other ministry people.  You can also embed the calendar in your website, so that everyone can see it.  This makes for very easy updating.  Tasks are just that, tasks that are connected to your calendar to keep track of those little annoying things you need to do :).


Voice is Google' attempt at entering the cell phone arena without actually putting up any towers.  Google Voice gives you your own phone number to use for making calls and text messaging.  The great thing about Voice is that allows you to send the calls to whatever phone you designate.  I used to have it forward to my cell and office because my office never got a cell signal.  The other great benefit is that everything is web based.  You can initiate calls via the online dashboard and send/receive text messaging also.  The best use in ministry is having a number that parents can call and get information without the cost of purchasing another phone line.


Google+ is Google's new piece of the social media pie.  Plus is very cool in that it gives you the ability to limit who sees what you put out there.  You have Circles of friends and can determine which group sees which post you want.  The biggest piece for ministry is the Hangouts.  Hangouts give you the ability to have a conference type call with up to 8 people at once.  Google is also working on the business piece of Plus, so for now it is only open to real people.


Search/Images/Youtube are great places to look up information for games, graphics, videos and more.  Youth pastors are always looking for great ideas and Google helps to make it easier.  Of course, you need to be careful of copyright use.  Google Image search makes it very easy to see images that others have done or to find royalty free images.  Youtube is an excellent place to find videos, countdowns and more.


Picasa & PicasaWeb.com are free tools that you can use for editing and displaying photos of your ministry.  Picasa is the problem that you install on your computer that is a great resource for editing your digital images.  Google has built a great program and given it away.  You can apply different various filters, crop the image and even send it to a printer.  Picasaweb.com is the online space that Google gives you to upload and share your images.  This is also free and allows you to have public and private space.


There are other Google services that  you can use like Reader, Maps, Sites and much more.  Each ministry has different needs and thus different uses.  The best part is, it is all free, so trying it out doesn't hurt anything.  Google gives you a ton of space when you a create your account and you are able to purchase more for a very reasonable price.