5 Uses of YouVersion​ at Our Church

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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]

Jeremy Smith

Jeremy is owner of ChurchAndMentalHealth.com and the Co-Occurring Program Coordinator and a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor at a community mental health center. Jeremy has a history of working as a ministry director for Youth for Christ for 8 years and then working as a mental health and substance use adult counselor in Colorado and Ohio, specifically running an Opioid Residential Treatment Center.