Preaching from the pulpit takes a ton of work, starting with an idea for your sermon, diving into the Greek and Hebrew, consulting commentaries and past experiences, and structuring the message into an easy-to-deliver message. Many pastors have found that instead of delivering their message with traditional tools like a legal pad and physical Bible that the iPad suits them well. If you are one of these people, we want to share some iOS applications to help you give the sermon a little more effectively.
Evernote
Cost: Free
Many pastors have found that Evernote is the place where they collect all of their thoughts. Many pastors I know have actually decided that they will use this organizational software to help them from the start of a sermon when they find little tidbits about a great story, a sermon that another pastor gave on YouTube, or a great infographic with some amazing statistics about Bible reading. They then utilize the tagging features with a robust cataloging system that may take some time to make but creates the perfect resource for a pastor to draw inspiration, illustrations, and culturally-relevant facts for a sermon. Taking this system and writing out your own sermon within Evernote how you like it to be structured (bullet points or word-for-word), you can simply take your iPad up to the pulpit, open this application, and preach straight from it.
Podium Cue
Cost: $2.99
Podium Cue is one of those all-in-one presentation applications for the speaker. Within the application, it has a timer for the speaker to keep good time with their sermon or talk, a card system to structure your presentation to go with your projector (think talking points), and a simply swipe-and-continue flow when you are in the pulpit to maximize your attention to your congregation. Unless you have your sermon memorized or simply like to read from a fully written sermon document, this application will help you focus on your talk without losing your place or limiting you from taking advantage of the whole stage. A perfect up-on-stage application for the average preaching pastor.
Proclaim Remote
Cost: Free
We are promoting this application because it has some revolutionary features that work with the Proclaim Church Presentation Software, but you can look into other presentation software mobile applications to help if you do not use Proclaim for your church. This solution is perfect for the pastor that wants to have control of when slides transition on the projector or for the church that is small enough to not have a church technology team. Note: You will need to have an Internet connection for a smooth and responsive presentation.
YouVersion
Cost: Free
YouVersion is one of those applications that simply meet every need someone would have within the activity it was designed for. YouVersion has had many applications to this point. Many Christians have faithfully committed to reading the Bible every day with their daily reading plans, others have found this to be the solution for switching between different translations, and still, others use the application to share a verse or two on Facebook and Twitter and spread the message of Christ. Why not use and promote this application in your church with a customized reading plan that you can go through from the pulpit with your congregation and even live-tweet verses as you preach on them? (Or if that is too distracting, encourage your congregation to do it)
Podium Timer
Cost: $3.99
For those that simply cannot leave the legal pad and physical Bible solution as well as someone that tends to preach past their allotted time, this is the application for you. This simple application will help with your timing of sermons on both an iPad and iPhone and conquering sermon deliver timing. Why is this important? You need to respect the time of your congregation and unless there is a deep moving of the Holy Spirit to preach a revival, commit to the schedule with this application's help.
I am pastor David A. Caradoc; Wisehouse Chapel local pastor in Ghana.
I will say your lists of apps is very useful. I have used a couple of them. However I will gladly recommend “Logos Stream” https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.philecom.logosstream
This app has helped me because it offers a free way to publish my podcasts and at the same time manage my followers including my church members.
I think it is a must have app for every pastor and leader who want a good and free platform dedicated to Christian content to manage their audience.
you can also listen to preaching and messages from other pastors and christian leaders.
[…] in ChurchTechToday, Podium Timer is the equivalent of that sand timer, all teched up for the 21st Century. No more […]
Thanks for the mention, Kate!
Keynote is the best for preaching. Especially if you use a lot of powerpoint slides as I do.
After you make your powerpoint presentation email it to your ipad and open up in keynote. Add notes if needed, or you can make your presentations directly in keynote. What ever works better for you, Keynote is the best.
Thanks for your two cents, Corey! I haven’t tried it yet but need to give Keynote a whirl. Blessings on your ministry!
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[…] Podium Cue is one of those all-in-one presentation applications for the speaker. Within the application, it has a timer for the speaker to keep good time with their sermon or talk, a card system to structure your presentation to go with your projector (think talking points), and a simply swipe-and-continue flow when you are in the pulpit to maximize your attention to your congregation. Unless you have ….to continue reading click/tap link 5 Apps for the Pulpit. […]
[…] From Church Tech Talk Source- churchtechtoday.com […]
Great info Lauren, always looking to work smarter, not harder.
Thanks for your comment, Phil. Hope you had a wonderful Easter!
Posted this on twitter, but I believe it bears repeating. If you are a pastor and you preach from your iPad by opening the file in mail and scrolling. Send it to iBooks instead. You get distinct pages and all you need to do to go to the next page is swipe a finger.
No scrolling past your place, no getting lost. Just one swipe and you can move on.
I only bring it up because other pastors have seen me preach and marvel at how I do it.
I love the intentionality of keeping it “stupid proof” because I make so many stupid mistakes when preaching. Do you have any “how-to” guide links on sending a file into iBooks that you found helpful?
Simple – just email it to yourself and when you open it in your email program – tap and you are give an ‘open in’ option – Iphone ipod ipad