Students love to text. Some say they can do it in their sleep, and I believe it (if anybody has been able to catch this phenomenon on film, let me know). How can we harness this power and use it for good? These tools let you utilize the potential of text messaging in your youth ministry for communication and entertainment.

• Simply TXT: Send individual or group text messages to your students, parents, or volunteers. This tool seriously blew me away. I’ve been dreaming about being able to create groups and send text messages on the fly, like I do with email now, but I had never seen something that could actually do it. Simply TXT lets you build groups and send messages whenever you like–you can even schedule them in advance–and the pricing is pretty reasonable.
• Poll Everywhere: Create polls and free response questions your students respond to via text message. Results are updated live and can be displayed right on the screen. Another tool I was honestly thinking, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” before I heard about it. Pricing is also very reasonable with a free option for audiences under 30 people.
• Twitter: If you don’t know Twitter already, get on it, and start tweeting regularly. Self described, “Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” Don’t ask me why, but teens love it. A good friend told me they’re using Twitter to send text messages to their whole youth group without paying a dime. Here’s how: Set up a Twitter account for the youth group, tell students about it, and show them how to sign up for “mobile updates.” Every post you make to your Twitter will go as a text message to the entire group! (Confused? I’ll be posting a detailed how-to on my blog soon.)