Ministry | Jon Manna

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Some New Tools I’m Learning To Use in Worship Ministry

April 2, 2012 — 4 Comments

March was an extremely busy month. Not only did I start at a new church but I renovated my office (painted it and learned how to install hardwood flooring) and had to start commuting with/into Toronto traffic.

Along with all this, I’m learning what it means to be an associate pastor and to also oversee the worship and young adult ministries.

Those who know me know that I love technology and that I like to find ways to use it to make work and life much easier. Lately I’ve been playing with a few new tools that I wanted to share with you.

1. The New iPad

When I turned the big Three-0 back in December, I received a boatload of Apple gift cards for the express purpose of purchasing my first iPad. Being the Apple geek that I am, I asked for gift cards so I could wait for the new iPad. So as you would know, I picked up the New iPad a day after its release.

This past Sunday I prepared to preach from my notes on my iPad. However, being a little cautious, I also printed my notes out. When the time came to put it to the test, out of habit, I placed the printed notes over my iPad and began to preach – never to look at my iPad again until I was done.

Did my plan fail? Yes, but I will get there one day. I am loving the possibilities that my iPad affords and I am just skimming the surface.

Here are some apps that I am loving for worship/ministry purposes: Planning Center Online, SoundCue, GarageBand, Pages and Evernote.

2. Planning Center

Because so many of my friends already have been using Planning Center for so many year, I feel like a loser revealing that I’m only starting to dig into it now, but I am so happy that I started. We are currently using the free plan (good for up to 10 volunteers and 1 plan) to explore a little and I know for a fact (when the budget gets approved) that we will be moving to a paid plan and will make this the brain of our worship/weekend planning.

3. ProPresenter 5

I am not new to ProPresenter but we just upgraded to ProPresenter 5. All I’ll say is that it’s a no-brainer! It integrates incredibly well with Planning Center and I love how I can train someone on it in less than 20 minutes.

4. ScreenFlow

I used ScreenFlow a while ago here and there, and now I am starting to use it to record tutorials/workflows for our volunteers who use Planning Center and ProPresenter. They can watch how I do it and then can use it as a reference as they learn the ropes. As a blogger, you can also use ScreenFlow to record tutorials to post on your blog. So who knows, you may see a couple pop up here. If you want you can order it here from Telestream.

So there you go. Some tools I’ve been learning to use lately.

Also, my friend Chris has a helpful blog series called Worship Leader’s Toolkit where he shares some valuable tools he’s using in worship ministry. Check it out!

What techie-tools are you using? I’d love to check some of them out!

In Blogging, Ministry, Technology, Tips and Tuts

Leaving Well Takes Hard Work, But is Well Worth It!

February 10, 2012 — 5 Comments

For the last four years I’ve been a pastor on staff at New Covenant Christian Fellowship in Brantford, ON. A few Sundays ago I had the arduous task of standing before my church family to announce that I was leaving.

For someone sitting in the pew and listening to these words, it is easy to begin to analyze and wonder “what happened?” or “Is there something else that he’s not telling us?”

In Life, Ministry

Leadership Lessons from a Dancing Guy

September 19, 2011 — 1 Comment

Here’s an interesting video that shows a random guy dancing like nobody’s watching. What’s interesting is that he gains a follower, then another and then a whole crowd. The voice-over explains the leadership applications.

Check out the original transcript.

Momentum is a powerful force! Do you think the church can/should grow in the same way? Why or why not?

In Leadership, Ministry

Where Was I 10 Years Ago On September 11?

September 14, 2011 — 2 Comments

It was a busy weekend in our churches across North America as we took time remember and honour those who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, ten years ago. It made me stop and recollect on where I was and how that day went about. Let me share it with you.

In Life, Ministry

My First Apple Store Grand Opening and What the Church Can Learn From It

September 5, 2011 — Leave a comment

Lineup just before the doors opened.

Waiting In Line

Having never been to an Apple Store grand opening before, besides the free T-shirts, Pris and I were clueless as to what to expect. The first thing we wondered was “what time should we show up”. Mapleview Centre opens at 9:30am on Saturdays, so we decided to show up at 8:30am. There were roughly 75 people in line and we were still fairly close to the front of the line.

This guy showed up around 5am and was first in line.

To back track a little, all I got was a simple email from Apple on Tuesday at 1pm stating the opening of the store and that they would be giving away T-shirts to the first 1,000 customers.

Back to waiting in line, Pris and I had a conversation that went something like this:

Pris: “I don’t get what’s so exciting about this. Are there any sales or deep discounts?”

Me: “Nope! They give us a free T-shirt and we’re here for the experience of it all.”

Pris: “This is LAME! Will people line up like this outside of Victoria Secret when they’re ready to launch?”

Me: “Only if they’re giving away free bras”

And that’s when this happened….

The Grand Opening

I could’ve simply described how it felt to see the actual grand opening at 9:30am – and they were right on time – but I know that these videos will be worth a million words.

Here’s my turn to walk through the line:

What the Church Can Learn

After an experience that has been unique in every sense, I couldn’t help but tie it to the church and what she can learn from the grand opening of an Apple Store.

Here are my takeaways:

Serve good coffee – they didn’t, but thankfully Starbucks was open #FTW
When you establish something meaningful and practical, people will get on board very quickly, in this case, even the first time it’s announced
People are willing to show up (really) early when they believe in a product, brand, or community (or want a free t-shirt of the brand they believe in)
Employees/volunteers are excited because they believe in what they’re doing.
Employees/volunteers will want to get involved and be there because they are a valuable part of the team.
Although not everyone gets “it”, the atmosphere can quickly influence the outsider and make them a believer
Don’t let the atmosphere/environment dictate your enthusiasm, instead let your enthusiasm dictate the atmosphere/environment
Noise/excitement will attract a crowd – passer-byers will stop and wonder what’s going on
Doing something totally cool and unexpected will jolt the momentum in your favour and make it memorable.
When you make something memorable people will talk about it and spread the word.

Based on the videos and pics, is there anything else you can think of?

How are you making your church experience memorable?

In Ministry, Technology

Jay Bakker On Homosexuality, Religion & Politics

August 24, 2011 — 5 Comments

Don Lemon talks with the son of televangelists Jim Bakker & Tammy Faye Bakker Messner.

Interesting interview. Thoughts?

In Ministry

Giveaway: 1-year Membership to Sharefaith

July 4, 2011 — 4 Comments

I’ve blogged about Sharefaith before, and how our church has found it to be an awesome time-saver! Today I’m pleased to announce that the guys at Sharefaith have been generous and are allowing me to giveaway a 1-year membership.

What You Will Win

Boasting 38,000 Worship Templates used by 18,200 churches, the winner will have complete access to all the goodies that Sharefaith has to offer. Here are some of their offerings: