Texting is a must. Being available is a must. We live “on call” all of the time. If you work in youth ministry you know the importance of a great cell phone. Students live on Facebook and texting, parents email and voice calling. This thought led me to the poll question of the week – does your church pay for your cell phone? At my church they’ve recently changed from paying for it outright to a stipend plan each month, either way it is an incredible benefit but also a necessary tool. Vote now!

Just an aside: in an economy like we have today, it might be hard for a church to increase salaries of their staff or even bring you on full-time. One idea to still ask for an increase might be to suggest a development account (for books, etc), more vacation time (which costs the church nothing out of pocket) or small wins like a cell phone stipend, mileage, etc.

JG