Do you believe in tweeting in church? Do you always see people on their cell phones during the service and would like to tell yourself they’re “participating”? Do you think that it’s dumb when John Piper wants you to “just preach”?
If you answered yes to any of the above or if you’re into checking out sweet new technologies, then YouVersion Live could be for you.
Essentially, people participate in polls, prayer, note-taking, giving and more through their phone while you preach. You set things up how you want them, and then your congregation can participate. Bobby Gruenewald of LifeChurch.tv (the church behind the app) shares some of the benefits, including replacing or augmenting the bulletin, encouraging participation and contribution, and getting anonymous responses on touchy subjects (youth group sex talk?).
Can’t wait to see the full implementation over the next couple of months. It looks like everything should go full-speed in October.
ChurchCrunch has all the details and a recorded demo of the service.
Tony Steward
September 2, 2009
Thanks for the post Joshua!
We are actually having webinars in a couple weeks to walk through the features of YouVersion Live and ideas on how to use it.
People can sign up for info on those at YouVersion.com/LIVE
Best!
Tony Steward
LifeChurch.tv Online Community Pastor
IGnatius T Foobar
September 8, 2009
Why not just install a cell phone jammer in or near the church building?
affordable church websites
December 7, 2009
Well this is the most interesting thing. I think this is a good way to distract people more than helping the church to be honest. I can see where some may think this is good but if texting while driving is bad you need to think about how texting while listening to the word of God is too.
Jeremy Dunn
January 31, 2014
I’m not sure when any of this was published, so I’m probably very late. Lol
But in my honest opinion, focus is an issue of self-discipline. If somebody is gonna be distracted from the sermon by a phone, it’s gonna happen with or without the youversion app. I can speak for myself and say that it would actually engage me more. I already use my phone as my bible in church, and I hear every word. But that’s because I’m thirsty for it. Making your sermon more interactive with an app only increases your chances of grabbing the attention of someone who was already gonna be distracted to begin with. Just my thoughts. Much love in Christ!