There is no doubt that the explosion of mobile phone technology is changing the way work gets done! However, trying to figure out which apps would help a church leader can be a daunting task. It seems like there are hundreds of different apps for every conceivable use under the sun. Here are a handful of apps that I know ministry leaders find helpful as they serve their communities.

• Evernote // This tool helps users with notetaking and archiving. Part of ministry is generating content and often ideas don’t come when you are sitting down in front of your computer. Evernote allows to you quickly capture ideas as notes, sounds, pictures, webpages and more on the go. The information is then synced to the “cloud” so you can retrieve it later on your computer or other devices.
• Remember the Milk // There are a lot of “to-do” apps but Remember the Milk is my favorite. It allows you to have multiple lists for various projects … as well as “recurring tasks” for those items that repeat all the time. Tasks can also be geocoded … super helpful if you’re a multisite church because you can have Remember the Milk remind you of things to do at your various campuses … next time you go to the campus RTM will alert you of the tasks associated with that location.
• Dropbox // This service allows you to have a folder on your desktop that is accessible from other computers, the web or your mobile devices. This is particularly helpful for sharing files with various members of your team. Next time you are away from your computer but want to share the video you’re using in the message this weekend just navigate to the file on your phone and email over a link.
• Google Drive // It’s part file storage, part file sharing and part online collaboration tool. Drive gives you the ability to edit files with your team at the same time … documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and more. The app gives you an opportunity to check on the most up to date edits … make changes … switch ownership … and collaborate. If your church hasn’t made the switch to the Google suite of collaboration tools you are missing out and probably paying too much for similar services from other providers.
• Hootsuite // This service empowers you to manage all your social media streams from one simple interface. (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Foursquare, MySpace, WordPress, TrendSpottr and Mixi.) Rather than having to open multiple apps or websites you can do all your interacting from this one app. This is a power tool for engaging your community online!
• Bible.is // I know the “go to” Bible App is YouVersion … which is a pretty amazing app but I want to highlight another Bible app that I kinda dig. This app is built around making the Bible a great listening experience. I love this when I’m in the car or on the go. It includes many dramatic readings of the text and has a simple to use interface. When I use this I’m reminded the Scriptures were originally designed to be listened to … this app brings us back to that!
• Duolingo // This app is a totally free (really!) language learning system. It’s gamification keeps you moving along and wanting to learn more. This would be a perfect app to encourage team members traveling on a missions trip to try and gain a basic grasp on the language of the country you are going to. Recent studies show it’s more effective than the expensive “Rosette Stone” language learning system … did I mention it’s free? To learn more about why it’s free and the thinking behind the app check out the founder’s TED talk.