Evernote and Online Archiving: Powerful New Tools for the Pastor

How I Use Evernote in Ministry

I've been using Evernote for a little less than a year. It is a powerful organizational tool that is simple to use and flexible. I have about 15 notebooks set up. Notebooks are how notes can be categorized. Some of my notebooks are for personal use, such as music I might want to download or books that pique my interest. For ministry, I have notebooks set up for sermon illustrations, finished sermons, academic subjects (I'm an adjunct professor at a nearby Baptist college), current events, leadership and funerals.

Here's an example of how I used Evernote and associated apps recently. I had attended the funeral of a brother of one of my church members. The presiding minister shared a very simple, biblical and clear message for dealing with the loss of a loved one. I liked what the preacher was saying and wanted to jot down some notes. If I had pulled out my smartphone it might have appeared that I was texting during a funeral—not good! Instead, I jotted down the speaker's outline using a pen and the back of the funeral home program.

Previously, I would have taken that scrap of paper and put in a file folder of unfiled material that I later would file using the index card/tape method. With Evernote and a smartphone, I could record the information more quickly, easily and clearly. I took a picture of the scrap of paper and used JotNot to convert it to a scanned document. Then I sent this document to EverNote and specified that it go to my "Funerals" notebook. The next time I sat in front of my PC, I logged on to my Evernote account; sure enough, there the scanned document was in my "Funerals" notebook. The scribbled notes were legible and in digital format for ease of storage and use. I could have printed a hard copy if necessary.

Another example: I was recently on the elliptical and heard a story on NPR that I thought would make a good sermon illustration. I used Evernote to record a voice note and stored it in the sermon illustration notebook. Later at my PC, I retrieved the voice memo, found the story at the NRP Website and copied it to Evernote.

One more: I was reading an article in Time magazine about a salt mine under the city of Detroit. My sermon illustration radar was activated. I pulled out my smartphone and found the article online. I was then able to clip it and send it to Evernote to the "Sermon Illustration" folder, all using the iPhone app.

A few questions remain regarding the use of Evernote for ministry. The first is whether or not to spring for the premium membership. I have not upgraded and have been very satisfied with the free version for as long as I have used the service. I would be more open to upgrading if I started to exceed the monthly data limit; so far I haven't gotten close to going over the 500 megabite-a-month limit. I also would look into upgrading if I saw an increased need to attach a wider variety of file types to notes.

Not all of the apps mentioned in this article are free. JotNot Scanner Pro is a $1.99 download and well worth it. Olive Tree BibleReader is $.99, with specific Bible translations costing less than $10. I would think that most pastors who have a smartphone already have downloaded BibleReader and at least one translation. AP Mobile is free and is an amazing app all on its own.

Another question to explore is how Evernote compares to other online archiving tools in terms of ministry use. I tried Microsoft's OneNote program that came bundled with Office 2007. It does not appear to have the ease of use that EverNote has or the simple multi-platform capability that makes Evernote so practical. AP Mobile and JotNot specifically work with Evernote, not OneNote. Using Excel would not afford a person the advantages of the multi-platform features.

Evernote has been a useful discovery for me in ministry. Combined with a smartphone, amazing new ways of collecting and organizing ideas and information are opened up. It has helped me capture, categorize and retrieve all sorts of information for sermons, writing, ministry and personal use.