A Bible Reading Plan in your app makes it easy for your community to read the Bible: the day’s reading is always accessible on their phone, and it provides an easy structure to follow. In this article, we’ll talk about some easy ways to equip your congregation for daily Bible reading in a tech-driven world. You can get started with a quick video here.
Tools:
Desktop wallpapers. These beautiful phone and desktop wallpapers serve as simple reminders of the benefits of reading scripture. Share them with your participants in an email, on your blog, or anywhere else!
Create a signup form. If your church is hosting reading groups, create a reading group signup form. You’ll also need to coordinate with group leaders, of course.
Add the signup form to the app. You’ll want to make the signup form available before you start publicizing the campaign. A home tab or an event are both great locations for your signup form in the app. To learn more about creating a home tab, check out this article.
Send a Push Notification. It’s time to get the word out! Send a Push Notification to your app audience to generate excitement. If you created a signup form, attach it directly to your Push Notification for easy signup.
Want to read the whole Bible? Join our reading plan starting [START DATE]! Tap for more information.
Our Bible Reading Campaign starts [START DATE]! Tap to learn more about joining a reading group.
Ready to dive into the Bible AND make some new friends? Our Bible Reading Campaign starts [START DATE]! Tap to sign up for a small group!
Set up a Reading Plan Push Notification group. Once you launch the campaign, you can use this group to periodically send encouragement to reading plan participants.
Resource: To learn more about group Push Notifications, check out this article.
Make an announcement. Announce the plan from the stage at church. Explain some of the benefits of reading the Bible as a community and joining a small group (if you’re hosting small groups). If you added a reading group signup form to your app, encourage people to sign up right in the moment while they’re thinking about it.
Announce on social media. Social media is an easy and effective way to spread the word about the campaign.
Include in your bulletin. Your bulletin is another easy way to spread the word. Include the start date and instructions for downloading your app, if you don’t have instructions in your bulletin already.
Tip! The printable provided in your app promo packet is a great and simple way to showcase your app share page!
Make another announcement. Announce the plan again from the stage at church.
Include in your bulletin. Include another announcement in your bulletin.
Announce on social media. Write a new post to share on social media.
Create discussion questions. If you’re facilitating small groups, create your discussion questions. See our example here. Instead of creating unique discussion questions every week, groups can also use the same questions for every meeting. Here are 5 great questions from Community Bible Experience:
What’s something you noticed for the first time?
What questions did you have?
Was there anything that bothered you?
What did you learn about loving God?
What did you learn about loving others?
Provide simple reminders. A simple reminder of the reading plan can help people remember to read throughout the day. We’ve created beautiful wallpapers that you can share with your community.
Send a welcome message. Send a welcome notification to your Bible Reading Push Notification group.
Today’s the first day of our Bible reading campaign! Welcome!
Our Bible Reading Plan starts today! Read from anywhere, right in the app.
Publish your discussion questions. Make sure to publish your questions before the reading groups start meeting. A home tab or a resources tab are both great places for your questions.
Going forward:
Continue publishing your discussion questions: Publish discussion questions for every reading group meeting.
Send Push Notifications. Send periodic Push Notifications to your Bible Reading Push Notification group. Make sure to send encouragement as they reach milestones!
Got 5 minutes? Rest in God’s promises today and catch up on our reading plan.
Check out today’s reading and celebrate- you’re halfway through our year-long reading plan!
Today is the final day of our reading plan! Time for a happy dance!
Tip! You can schedule Push Notifications in advance!