After a year-long discussion with the Council of Six and much prayer, I announced my resignation as the WARBC State Educator at the Annual Meeting on October 20-21st, effective November 1st. Serving the Association through conference planning, website management, and providing content and resources has been an honor. My decision to step away from the State Educator role comes with no animosity but out of the need to reorder my time and ministry responsibilities. Additionally, input from my church’s Elder Team, close friends, and my wife were instrumental in my decision. I have nothing but respect for the Council of Six and hope I can be an encouragement to each Association church in the days ahead.
My wife, who has served as the WARBC Communications Coordinator, will also be stepping out of the role at the end of this month. Drew Wilson and Norm Smith will carry on the responsibilities moving forward. You can reach them at: drew@warbc.org / info@warbc.org and norman@warbc.org.
As I post this final blog entry as the State Educator, I thought I would leave you with some of my favorite ministry tools. I find each tool helpful, so I commend them to you.
In no particular order, several tools I find extremely helpful are…
Evernote – This is the place where I store my notes, receipts, sermon illustrations, and pretty much anything else. The mobile app is helpful, particularly when paired with the Scannable app.
Canva – Graphic design made easy! Any 501(c)(3) organization can get a free Pro account with access to many more great graphics. We use Canva for all our posters, graphics, slide backgrounds, and more. Pixabay is also a great place to get free graphics.
Proclaim—This presentation software is easy to use and designed for small—to mid-sized churches. The user interface is simple but powerful, and adding songs and verses is remarkable. If you use Logos, it is easy to import sermon slides created within Logos’ Sermon Builder tool. I don’t personally use that feature, but I know people who do. It is also easy to import image files or PowerPoint files if needed.
Logos—Speaking of Logos, this Bible study software has become the standard. Their new pricing models may make it a bit more affordable as well. I use Logos for my language studies and commentaries.
LibraryThing – I recently wrote about LibraryThing here. This tool has been invaluable to me.
Calendly – This application helps me schedule meetings with people, and it helps me be disciplined with meeting times and study time.
Planning Center – We use Planning Center for database management, service planning, registration, calendar, and church app. Highly recommend.
Google Drive – Shared storage space is necessary for ministry teams, whether paid or volunteer. It is crucial to have one place to store documents, policies, budgets, financial reports, etc. Google offers a free non-profit account, allowing 2TB of cloud storage and domain name emails.
Zoom—While we have flashbacks of the pandemic when we see the word “Zoom,” it remains a valuable tool. This week, I have four Zoom meetings on my calendar. It’s a great way to connect with people without having to spend a lot of time commuting. There is nothing better than in-person meetings, but Zoom helps us be more efficient with our time.
Fathom—I am just starting to use this service. It’s an AI service that takes notes during Zoom meetings and automatically sends a summary to the meeting participants. The free version seems adequate, and they take security seriously.
Castr – We use Castr to simultaneously send our live stream to our YouTube channel and Facebook page. It’s easy to set up and works well.
Grammarly – This app polishes my incessant use of the passive voice and smooths out my rough syntax!
ChatGpt - Don't abuse it. You have to check the work, but it's a great tool. I wrote about using ChatGPT for sermon planning here.
There are many more great tools out there – we truly live in a time of plenty! Do you use any of these tools? Which ministry tools would you add to this list?
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