Way back in 1999 George Barna (The Habits of Highly Effective Churches) suggested that “printing the Bible verses used in a sermon, in the service bulletin or projecting them on a large screen” was a harmful habit.
He maintained “this has encouraged many people to stop carrying their Bibles to church and ultimately from using them through the week.”
Is that so?
Randy Wray
October 28th, 2009 at 8:53 am
That was last century, wasn’t it? I had mixed feelings about that. We had such a high percentage of older members at Long Beach, printing the verses (and song slides w/ notation) just made it much easier for them. Most of the people there would follow along in their own Bibles. I think it is most helpful when the preacher is using a less familiar translation just so people can see the Word in that version.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Was one of the reasons for the audience to follow along in their own Bibles to make sure the preacher was truly using the correct Scriptural references? An approach of mistrust of sorts?
However, I have observed in the past 20 years or so (am I really that old?) that there has been a steady decline of members bringing their Bibles to Sunday class and church services. And that started before it was popular to project verses on a screen.
Perhaps an approach to get people curious enough to find their Bibles, blow off the dust, and crack them open would be effective for today’s church.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:28 am
That statement implies there’s a relationship between bringing a Bible to church and using one during the week. Did Barna’s research back up the connection?
More importantly, his conclusion assumes reading the Bible on a regular basis equates to greater spirituality and/or makes one a better follower of Christ.
Is that so?
October 28th, 2009 at 11:58 am
who is he addressing, the people that do not attend a class or study, where a bible is usually helpful to have on hand?…because their study habits are tenuous at best, with or without the projector verses.
October 28th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I just remembered the last time I was a guest speaker I referred to 2 Hezekiah 3:16 to drive the point the need to know our Bible more. After seeing the scripture projected on the screen several of the church’s youth picked up a pew Bible to see what the verse had to say. Deceptively fun, but kind of sad too. But at least I got some to look.
October 29th, 2009 at 8:59 am
I guess George couldn’t dream of i-phones “back then.”
For that matter, an i-phone is only a dream to me with respect to owning one.
October 30th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Any comment I might make would sound crass, so I’m not sayin’ nuttin’!