Youth Ministry App Completed and Submitted

MANY THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PITCHED IN TO HELP THE EFFORT TO COMPLETE OUR YOUTH MINISTRY APP. THIS APP IS DEDICATED TO BISHOP PERSICO IN HONOR OF HIS ORDINATION.



My role as youth minister was to initiate this project and to "pitch" the concept to our administration. It had come to my attention that our youth were not reading the church bulletin. So, I saw an opportunity to do something very special for our youth and I laid out a vision: we could have our own iOS app for iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches right here in St. Marys. I had taken a poll at a Life Teen session a few months ago and found that all of the youth present owned iOS devices. I was not sure what to expect when I asked for support to create this app. It was exciting to receive approval. Once it was approved, it took a fair amount of paper work to sign up to be a developer due to our non-profit status. Many thanks to Sr. John Paul and Kim Kerchinski for helping with the paper work for this.




Chris Dollinger, a local computer programming student from Seton Hill College and myself did 100% of the software development. Chris contributed all of the actual coding while I provided a step by step plan of incremental features, researched various methods for accomplishing functionality, and at times laid out the concept of rewriting entire chunks of code from scratch. Chris has released all code for this project under the so that we are free to use it. Chris did a fantastic job and rapidly assimilated new skills. Chris is extremely talented and bright. He is also very hardworking. He and I worked closely together since last Christmas to build this app, work that started long before we were even approved as developers who could put an app on the Apple App Store. Back in December we were able to form a rudimentary app consisting of a few menu items and a display view. In time we added the ability for the app to import content into itself. We added preferences, JSON data parsing, and other features. Today the app is an engine of dynamic content display. For my part, I constructed a PHP/JQuery page which allows anyone to add content that is smashed into a zip file that can be imported into this app. Kurt Floyd, a local professional graphic designer, provided world class design skills for graphical elements such as the amazing icon.



Today, our completed app has been submitted to the Apple app store, and the moment it is approved, it will be available for use. During the development process, it became clear that there were so many different people interested in using this app, that if we tried to cram all of the content into it "up front" it would become a sprawling mess. I was wrestling with this in June and went for a walk where I prayed the Rosary. By the end of the walk, I had an illuminating moment: schemas. We could "open up" our app so that every part of our church could insert their own content into it, whenever they wanted. This means that Life Teen could have its content in the app, middle school could have its content in there, and so could the Confirmation program, the parish itself, and even schools if they are interested. If not, that is just fine, but if they do want their content in the app, all they have to do is to create a "schema" which can then be downloaded into the app.



The day I was sharing this concept with Chris, I said it once and he said, "Okay." A few minutes later, some technical question arose and he asked me what I meant by schemas, so I shared the concept again, and he said okay. Then, once more, a few minutes later the matter came up again, and I shared the idea of schemas a third time. His eyes opened wide and he said, "Anybody can turn this app into their own!" Yes! We made this app for youth ministry, but then we went further and opened it up. It has "fill in the blanks" content. Any other church group, club, or class can "fill in the blanks" with their own content and make this app their own. This is everybody's app. Our schema page is . Go ahead and make your own!



Suffice it to say, this app is not a "one size fits all" project, but is now opened up so that any church educational program, club, or ministry can put it to use for their own goals. As youth minister, I am excited about this. It means I can focus on teaching classes and running events, meanwhile our app is there, running day after day, being used in ever more ways. It will help any church group put their content into a form that will be relevant to young people. It is also found in open source form on so that anyone can use it. Most youth ministry involves directly teaching, or directly running events and gatherings. But a wider picture view of youth ministry also involves advocating for the youth within the Church itself, always seeking ways for every aspect of the Church to be more accessible to young people. This app is a part of that broader picture, and I am so proud and grateful to have this wonderful tool to place at the service of our church!



This app forms a crucial part of the structure of our youth ministry ladder which I had the honor of forming and presenting to the pastors and parish councils of St. Marys through the past six months. An entire side of our youth ministry ladder which connects many rungs consists of this app, and now it is done. God is good!
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