This morning, I was reading a pastor’s Facebook group.  Someone posted a question there asking about people’s experience preaching from an Ipad.  It inspired me to write this post.  I have used an Ipad for a year.  I absolutely love it.  Here are the simple steps myself and other use to do this.

Here is what I do. 

1) I create a manuscript in Word on my computer using 14 font. I personally create it in such a way that I have a color outline embedded in it so it is easy to find my place.  My Bibles Passages are red. Stories / illustrations are blue, Main Points are Green.

2) I use DropBox and store the sermon file in a dropbox folder that I share with my computer and ipad.  It is a great free cloud storage system.  There are others out that would work just as well (Apple Cloud, Google Drive, etc.).

3) I make sure I have enough battery life Saturday night.

4) I make sure I sync the file Sunday morning and open up the file from there.   I have to do this because we are in a school and do not have Wifi access there and I don’t have the 3G data plan either.

5) I preach from the Ipad in Landscape position.  I prefer this orientation because it makes the text wider and easier to read.  Using this particular system, I scroll down as I preach.  I find this works fine for me.

Pros:

1) I use way less paper this way.  I used to save all my sermons and recycle them by printing on the back side of them.  I always felt like I had so much paper laying around.

2) Really comfortable: I like having a manuscript even if I am not tied to it.  It took me a few weeks to get comfortable with this system.  Once I did, I really like it.

3) Pages don’t get out of order: Every once in a while, my sermon notes would get out of order.  This was awkward.  This definitely doesn’t happen with the Ipad!

Cons:

1) Passcode: Sometimes my Ipad will go to sleep before I get up to preach and I have to hit the passcode. If I enter the wrong one, I have to look at it and can get distracted.  This happens rarely.  You can set it not to go to sleep or not use a passcode.

2) Finding Your Place: I don’t rely heavily on the manuscript and sometimes have to scroll down pretty far. I used to have the same problem with paper just had to flip through it so it isn’t that big of a deal.

3) Preaching From Gadget: For a while I wrestled with the idea of preaching on things like taking care of the poor from what I consider a pretty expensive gadget.  I felt like it was a bit hypocritical because the Ipad seemed like a toy not a tool at first.  What I have found is that my Ipad has become an indispensable tool.  I use it for sermon prep (reading books) and other things, so it feels very different to me know.   Honestly, most people don’t even know that I am preaching from the Ipad because the music stand (our mobile church pulpit) hides it.

Ipad preaching tips and techniques used by others:

Apple Cloud:

1) Create document on Mac using Pages

2) Save it using Apple Cloud.

3) Open the document on Ipad using Pages app.

 

PDF & Ibooks:

1) Others create a manuscript or outline and save it as a pdf.

2) They save this on Dropbox like I mentioned earlier.  You could use Apple’s cloud service if you have a Mac.

3) They use Ibooks to open the file.  This allows them to tap on it switch pages rather than scroll it.

Google Drive:

1) Create document in Google Drive on your computer

2) Open this document on your Ipad.

What system do you use?