Tech Corner 14

Once again we are looking at all things tech.

As Andrew said on Sunday we find ourselves in strange times. In this Tech Corner, we will be looking at a few things that will help in our current isolation conditions and help house-groups stay engaged and in contact with each other.

WhatsApp

What is it: It’s an instant messaging App for your phone that allows text messages to be sent to the whole group and for them to respond.  It also can be used to send photos and documents out to each other.  It’s a way of having an ongoing chat without all the hassle of creating emails.  Most phones will allow you to dictate the messages, saving you the time of typing them.

To commence, download the app from the App store appropriate to your brand of phone.

The person initiating the group is the group administrator. Click on the chats tab at the bottom and then the new chat icon in the top right.  This gives you the option to start a group chat and presents you with a list of contacts.  Select a number of your house group and click next. In order to be able to add members / participants, they must be in you address book with a mobile phone number.

Once the group is established, you can tap on the header at the top of the screen to get the group properties.  In this list there is the option to add more participants by clicking on your contacts again, or by sending a link to people to enable them to join the group. In addition, it is possible to give other group members administration rights, and to create a picture header to help the others identify the group page more easily.

All of this can also be done using instant messenger, but WhatsApp is easier.

Bible App

If you are using the YouVersion Bible App on your phone or computer, there is now a facility in the ‘More’ section to create a Prayer list that can then be shared with all the members of your group. To get it click on the logo (right) or download it from the app store.  Each member can add to the list as the days progress and they will all automatically be share with the whole group.

Prayer Mate

If you are one of those people who struggles finding regular time to pray, take a look at a small app called Prayer Mate.

It’s free at its most basic level, allowing the user to create individualised prayer lists.  The app will give you a daily alarm – prayer reminder and allow you to create numerous lists each of which can contain multiple prayer topics.  Each topic has space for notes and the program will create different lists of prayer topics each day, depending on how you’ve set it up. So, for example, you can create cards for your family that come up each day, and a card for your aunt Susan that only appears once a month.

In addition, can load stock prayers and subscribe to regular feeds from a variety of providers.  All this comes in the free version.

For a small subscription (99p pr month) The app allows you to change the colour scheme and more importantly allows you to create groups and share prayer topics around a group of people.

House groups can create a private group to share prayer topics around the group. At its top level the app allows for churches to register and create multiple lists and prayer topics.

Give me a call if you are struggling to set any of this up.

Neil

Tech team…