The iPhone Preacher

Posted by Scott Williams
25 Comments
October 22, 2009
Bible | iPhone | Pastors

you2This past weekend I was about this close to preaching entirely from my iPhone.  In case you are wondering how close “This Close” is; put your index finger and your thumb about 1/2 inch from each other and that’s how close I was.

There are many different methods that pastors use when preaching a sermon, as it relates to their notes and Bibles.  The various methods that Pastors use include, but are not limited to the following: notes in a notebook with the sermon fairly written out, mind-map style notes on a single piece of paper and Bible, moleskin notebook with written notes and Bible, notes placed inside of the Bible, no notes at all and the Bible and the list goes on and on.

Again I was considering using my handy dandy YouVersion Bible App for the iPhone as my preaching Bible and have my Sermon Notes as a document attachment; in other words going completely iPhone for the entire sermon.  I decided not to experiment for this particular sermon; however I think I definitely will do so in the future.  I’m old-school and new-school at the same time; I kinda like having my hardbound “Preaching Bible” in my hand.

What are your thoughts on The iPhone Preacher?  Would this go over well with you and your church?  Is this too new-school?  Is this any different than the standard notebook and hardbound Bible?  Has your Pastor preached from his/her iPhone? Questions, Questions, Questions?

10 Years from now this will be a non-issue; however I’d love to get your thoughts today… Chime In!

  • http://www.iBelin.me Roderick

    Grace and Peace!

    I’ve had this in mind for a while too. It just makes sense. I read the Bible and make my notes there. The congregation I serve would be cool with it since they are accustomed to seeing me with it constantly!

    I’m interested to know how it goes.

    Blessings
    Roderick

  • http://www.newhopecville.org Mike Henderson

    It’s crossed my mind, but we meet in a school w/o wifi. Hoping to get wifi this weekend and will start experimenting.

  • http://www.caffeinatedfaith.com/photo tattood1

    There will always be a few in the crowd that won’t like it – but that’s how it always is! Some don’t like the drums & guitars – some don’t like the lights – some don’t like the casual dress code-or the guys with tattoos leading worship. There will always be someone that doesn’t like what you do. It’s life in ministry.

    iPhone preacher = awesome in my book. :)

    our music minister got up a few weekends ago and said “I want to read as scripture – lucky for me there’s an app for that” and he pulled out his iphone and read the scripture. I loved it!!

    T

  • http://iambendavis.com @iambendavis

    Scott I think it is a cool idea. However I am not a iphone user just yet. But I have friends who have read scripture from their phones from the front of a service. If I am not mistaken, if someone calls you will it not interrupt what you are reading?

    We tried it and it did with my friends phone (we didn’t call during the service), is there a way to shut the phone call part of your phone off?

  • http://jaysonjohn.com Jayson John

    You know I’m pretty old school. I like seeing a speaker with an open Bible. But there are so many tools at your disposal now on mobile devices that this may be the way to go in the future. (especially considering some of the benefits of youersion live)
    I will say the few times I have seen someone do a message from their iphone it was extremely awkward. I’m thinking it was their first time, so there is certainly a learning curve.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jim.pierce Jim Pierce

    So here’s what you do: Ever seen Shawshank Redemption? Take a bible, cut out a space to drop your iphone in & preach from that. Nobody will ever know the difference!

  • http://itsmessy.wordpress.com Steve Patton

    Scott, I am an ipod preacher. Here’s my experience thus far.

    Everything in notes: Worked GREAT! Copy and paste scriptures in my notes this way there was never a need to switch pages or wait for a section of an app to load.

    Notes/Youversion combo: I was sooooooooo excited to do this. I would be able to display the use of tech in our service like never before to use notes AND Youversion while I preach. To me, it would have been the 21st century equivelent of having a printed Bible while preaching after the press was invented. Small problem – Youversion went nuts! The app didn’t work properly while I was preaching. Created some VERY odd time that I had to recover from. FOrtunately I was familiar with my message so I just moved forward and invited people in the congregation/gathering/audience/ekklesia (or whatever term is acceptable in our post-Catalyst church world) to read the scriptures outloud.

    Ultimately, my experience in both youth only Wednesday night services as well as all-ages Sunday morning services has shown that most people see it as a the Church not being behind the times. It also opens up the people on how to use the technology they already take advantage of and leverage it for their growing relationship w/ God. It has engaged the tech-savvy as well as the casual user with a new way for them to experience the truths of scripture. For me, I’m still going to bring my physical printed Bible and read some of the passages publicly from it while also utilizing ipod for notes/scriptures. This way, the tech-savvy people can be engaged in a world they are familiar with while the people who either aren’t tech savvy or just can’t afford the tech will also be engaged and encouraged. This way we never unintentionally send the message that the gospel is only for the tech savvy people that can afford it.

    There’s my 2 cents, you can keep the change.

  • http://210m.wordpress.com 210m

    I think it is purely a matter of prefence. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable and allows you to easily facilitate the preaching of the word…everything else is just conversation. This is like debating what kind of notebook do you journal in – a moleskin, miqelrius, or $0.99 cent notebook from sams club!

    Some additional points to ponder:
    While this is interesting to discuss, does it really matter? Does it make a preacher/pastor more relevant to the younger crowd (or tech crowd or whatever!) if they use their phone for their notes & scripture? Would it turn some of the non-tech crowd off?

    If using an iphone from the pulpit disconnected you with some of the people you were preacing to – say, the older crowd that is not as tech-evolved – would you not use it? Are you willing to displace your preferences and passions for the advancement of the gospel?

  • http://dailylife.ofchrisdavis.com allthenations

    I recently used my iPhone for a wedding. I placed my phone inside my Bible and used it for my notes. I put the phone in Airplane mode so that no calls would come through. And it went off swell! The only people who knew what I was using was the Bride and Groom and they were totally cool with it.

  • http://www.disciplemaker89.wordpress.com disciplemaker89

    I’ve used my iPhone to preach from and it wasn’t an issue – but the people know that I’m a techy kind of pastor anyway. Like the above comments mentioned, I think it shows that we’re 21st century with our methods while remaining uncompromising to the timeless message of God’s word.

    As to the ease of use, I’ve preached from NOTES and cut and pasted all my scriptures there along with my notes so I wouldn’t have to pull up scriptures. I’ve had YouVersion on my phone but haven’t attempted using the notes from that application – I think it’s a great idea and will try it.

  • http://basementseven.com heady

    sounds good to me. the WORD is the WORD regardless of what you’re teaching or preaching it from. some pastors don’t even have a bible when preaching.

  • http://Timothyholman.com TimHolman

    I used it this weekend for a message to students. I only used it for keynote and haven’t thought about uploading the whole message to you version. Great idea!
    Regardless of how you present adapting a preaching method like this takes work and can be distracting to the audiance.

  • http://gods-man.blogspot.com God’s Man

    My Pastor has been preaching from his phone for a while now. He still carries his notes and bible onto the pulpit but everything is uploaded into his phone. At my home church we do power point slides and videos within the message so our Pastor speaking from his phone is not out of place.

    I have done it both ways depending on what technology I have available and the audience. 210m made a good point about it being a possible distraction for some people. I know of one church where it could be an issue. They don’t use much technology at all so when I speak there it is “old school” all the way.

  • http://www.bignorm.net bignorm

    If it works for you..

  • http://www.daveingland.com daveingland

    Just attended the Unleashing Beauty conference at Newsong Church in Irvine, CA and Dave Gibbons used his iphone for outlining his presentation. First time I’d seen someone use a phone for something other than a presentation remote control.

  • Shantha146

    I’m thinking it would create a form of digital divide in my church family – those that don’t get the technology would be distracted.

  • Scott Williams

    Thanks for all of the comments and thoughts… I don’t have time to address everyone; however I appreciate the divergent views.

  • http://yochananpayne.wordpress.com John

    I love the idea Scott. I would say that it would be a good idea to have a hard copy with you in case of a glitch/crash though.
    Outside of that I’d just encourage you to do it soon because if you don’t, we all know Perry Noble will ;-)

  • http://thejazzpreacher.blogspot.com Mark Ribbins

    Like disciplemaker89, our congregation knows I’m a techie and a Mac lover. They like it, even though some don’t really embrace technology. Anyway, my first iPhone sermon was during an outdoor revival this summer. I figured the more casual atmosphere would be a great test. Everyone was cool with it, and that opened the doors for me to use it more often.

    I use Airplane mode to avoid stray calls and pings, and I recommend Olive Tree’s Bible app because it has continuous scrolling, very handy when my sermon text starts in one chapter and flows over into another.

  • Noble Bowman

    Yeah… used it this past Sunday… the new You Version that is.

    About 8 months ago I did an entire special event… ProPresenter, Remote(Itunes) and You Version. Worked pretty good with the exception of the iPhone continually going into “lock” mode and then the battery running down! But that is user error or stupidity!

  • http://www.take2ministries.com Todd McKeever

    I have been using my iPhone to preach from ever since I got it a couple of years ago. I can tell you the first time I used it, I had some people who later came up to me and asked: “Why did you keep taking your phone out of your pocket?” I thought that was kind of funny.

    I use on my phone for the messages: YouVersion Bible, Pro presenter app, my sermon notes keep in iDisk or Docs to Go for download. There may be better ways but for me this works.

    Keep us updated on your experience as you find what works for you.

  • http://www.washingtonchristian.net WCCTechDude

    When our Worship Minister preached last time, he did the entire sermon from his Blackberry… Sermon notes, youVersion Bible for reference. Our church is not Ultra-Conservative, but this did end up confusing some of the “non-15-30″ crowd…
    Many of them thought that he was just waiting on a phone call during church, so the next week, the Senior Pastor had to explain that he had used the Blackberry for the sermon.

    It was an awesome experience for me, as it removed one more wall between the pastoral staff and the congregation… the Pulpit. The Minister had a full range of motion, not having to walk back to a single point for reference, and not having anything else on stage beside a stool and a water bottle…

    Loved the idea… hope it takes off!

  • http://www.trelawrence.com Tre Lawrence

    I do deliver sermons from my BlackBerry… before then, I used my trusty old Palm.

    I truly believe a smartphone can enhance ministry, particularly if the congregation is open to it.

  • Wesley

    I mean, come to think of it, what would you think of President Obama if he were to whip out his BlackBerry and start delivering his State of Union address? You would most probably think he’s trivialising such an important event. Or at your mother’s funeral, your pastor started to preach using his iPod Touch. Would you welcome the thought? You would most probably feel he’s not giving proper respect to the grieving family. Now, if we frown on such usage during important meetings to us, how much more during Sunday services when we’re in the presence of God, worshipping Him, and He’s definitely much more important and greater than our Presidents or mothers. If we think it’s inappropriate to men, how much more to God! It’s all about Dignity and Reverence. I use a BlackBerry myself, but there’s a time and place for technology.

  • caxtonian

    What use would this sort of app be for you then?

    http://www.aimermedia.com/brf/newdaylight/

    Adrian

Designed by EightDay Studio. Powered by the Standard Theme. Developed by Milk Engine.