My church has been using YouVersion as our primary digital bulletin on Sunday mornings. Some churches only use their website or have a dedicated app specifically for their church, but we went with the Bible App.
It’s not just a Bible on your phone. No, if you use the Live feature, it can become your link to online giving, Life group questions, announcements, introduction of the speaker, and Bible verses with the bonus of social media sharing within the congregation. We love the app.
Below is an explanation of each of those points and how you can capitalize on this for your church this weekend for FREE!
The image above is a screenshot of part of our church’s YouVersion Live we had for that Sunday. But it’s so much more and better than a paper bulletin, and not just because of the $1,000 we save every year not paying for paper and ink!
Here are each point we use:
- Announcements
As with any bulletin, we need to have announcements, but these are at the very end of the Live sheet for the week. We do video announcements and reference the Live section which has links to any signups or further information on our website. That’s right. During the announcements parents can click the links to sign their children up for VBS, summer camp, or a marriage retreat. No waiting. - Life Group Questions
We live by life groups at our church and so questions are on every live sheet and stay up for the whole week. They do also get emailed to leaders via our ChMS, but members can prep themselves with the questions for further discussion later. - Online Giving
We have a link to our online giving in every Live bulletin. In the church service, you can give if you want, but for those listening on the live stream and following along in the Live bulletin, it’s even more powerful. - Introduction of the Speaker
We do not have the same speaker every week and we run four different services on two campuses, so the introduction is going to be a bit different for each. This gives us more info about the pastor or elder who is talking so we can contact them if we need to. - Social Media Sharing of Bible Verses
Of course we use the Live bulletin for the Bible verses we go through. Our pastor loves to go through whole books of the Bible instead of preaching topically. But even better, we are just seconds away from highlighting that in our app when we read later, can leave notes for each verse we cover, and share it on social media. Digital evangelism from the pews!
What is your church’s main digital presence on Sunday morning?
[Featured image via South River UMC]
Frank Ramage says
Hi Jeremy, thanks for the tip on this app I also use. I looked around their site but didn’t see anything relating to a church using it like you mention. Can you give me a 1…2…3… step guide to how you setup your Live content? Thx!
Jeremy Smith says
No need to, YouVersion already has that one their site: http://youversion.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1260429-how-to-create-a-live-event-on-ios?b_id=204
Frank Ramage says
Live Events is the key, and a church must setup an account first:
http://youversion.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1504054-set-up-account-for-live-events?b_id=206
Thank you for bringing this feature to our attention… what would we do without blogs like this? 🙂
Eric Dye says
Sweet!
Jeremy Smith says
🙂
Shaz Jones says
Great article – thanks for sharing.
Can I ask what the engagement/uptake with the congregation is? (e.g. do 100% of the congregation use the online giving but only 10% do digital evangelism/social media sharing etc)
Jeremy Smith says
No, only a smaller portion use online giving, though it would be better for that to increase. As for engagement, do you mean the church sharing/evangelism? Our church is focused to serve the homeless, foster care system, and widowed so very little digital evangelism right now.
Carrie L. Hayes says
Hi Jeremy , I am a Minister of a Church Page and I was looking for some new Ideas on how to put up scripture on the Weekend and also say Thank You for coming to my page. Thank you!
Jeremy Smith says
Let us know how you use these!
Gregory Jackson says
Hello Jemery, does it cost or fee to do online giving?
Jeremy Smith says
I don’t know of any free online payment/tithing services, though it is minimal.